Saab Saga

The cold winter months have slowed down progress on the Saab. We haven't dared slide her out of the garage because of the rain, and it doesn't seem like the right time to attempt starting her up when it's hovering around O degrees. Roll on spring!

The delight on the boys' faces when they saw that the old car had arrived this afternoon on return from school and nursery was delightful. They demanded to "have a 'drive' (i.e. sit and marvel!) in Saab". We lifted the bonnet, a marvel to watch in itself with its unusual front pivot. We had a little engine 'walkthrough'. Really we're all learning together but Daddy could at least show off the fan, battery, exhaust and suchlike!

We found a haulier to pick up the car, and she bounced her way up the motorway to Leeds on the back of a trailer. She arrived in the gloom of an October night, floating high in the air like a bird. I’d forgotten what a remarkable shape the 900 is - you could almost place a mirror between the front and back doors and not be able to tell the difference. The windscreen is almost vertical with a beautiful sweeping curve and the bumpers stick out like park benches. My wife’s family used to do just that; many a picnic was had on the back bumper! The first hurdle was trying to start the engine. We failed repeatedly to bump it from our 9-5, so we had to roll it off the trailer into the garage. I exhausted myself trying to wiggle it into position with one handed full lock after full lock (no power steering with the engine off!) but we got it into place eventually.