Just before the holidays, a nice reading tip for Saab enthusiasts: the book The Spirit of Saab by Vaughan Grylls, published by Batsford Books. In this nicely sized yellow book about Saab, the author (a Saab driver himself) sums up 50 reasons why we love our beloved brand Saab so much. It’s a nice read, ideally segmented in 50 short chapters with texts about and of course also pictures of Saabs and everything related to Saab.
In recent years, following for example the Hagerty Bull Market List with which Hagerty identifies collector cars rising in value which in turn triggered car media and mainstream media and subsequently the wide public remembering how great Saabs are, Saab has experienced a great impulse of attention worldwide. It’s a testament to the immensely strong brand value of Saab and it’s idiosyncratically loyal fan base that even 10 years after the most recent Saab rolled of the production lines in Trollhättan, all these great new developments are taking place. Such as the making of this book as well. I’m thankful for everyone who writes a book about Saab to celebrate it, giving the brand the attention it deserves.
Grylls writes very respectfully and lovingly about Saab, in which you can easily recognize the author has a connection with what he’s writing about. He includes many important parts that make Saabs Saabs, such as marrying the engineering with the aesthetics from the beginning like an airplane designer, the typical Saab dashboards, the power in the middle range to safely overtake other vehicles, safety itself, turbo engineering, all the beautiful angles of a Saab and Saab wheel designs. And he adds nice little facts about the brand, interesting for everyone interested in Saab, mixed with personal experiences. This quote immediately intrigued and resonated with me:
“Saabs are wonderful because their best models blend Swedish design engineering with the soul of a classic Italian car.“
In some cases, I personally would’ve chosen alternative pictures to illustrate some of the subjects, hence I’m missing some possibly more iconic images of Saab, but in general, I think this book is a must-have for the Saab book collection of every Saab enthusiast. Give it as a present to make a loved Saab enthusiast extra happy at Christmas or get it for yourself to indulge in the world of Saab during the holidays. The book is filled with 50 reasons why we love Saab. This quote really stood out to me, and exemplifies my personal connection with Saab and why I love Saab so much:
“This extraordinary attention to detail is characteristic of Saab, a small manufacturer of mass-produced cars. They always insisted that what they made was first designed by them, or at least sourced and altered to fit their needs to such an extent that it became theirs.”
Thanks to Batsford Books for sending me a copy of this lovely book!
