Petrolhead heaven in North Wales

TWO rather tidy Rover SD1s, several confused-looking sheep, a charming countryside cottage ironically called The Ugly House and a disused viaduct stuck halfway up a mountain.

These are just some of the sights I’ve clocked on a bit of a petrolhead tour of North Wales, which saw a Mazda MX-5 (driven by Yours Truly), a Ford Racing Puma and a diesel Saab 9-3 (it’s the economy, stupid) pitted against some of the windiest roads I could find in the AA road atlas I’d bought three days earlier.

More importantly, what I saw a lot of on these trips is mile after mile of deserted tarmac, criss-crossing remote bits of moorland in the middle of nowhere in particular. If you’re really, really keen on driving then the words Croeso i Gymru should bring a smile to your face!

Admittedly, the staff at the bar in Betws-y-Coed we always stay at on these trips are probably getting familiar with our faces by now, but I’m always happy to chuck a few quid at the Welsh economy given what we always get in return. In this case, it was heading up the back road towards Ffestiniog, turning a corner and being greeted with a glorious panorama of the countryside stretching out for miles below us, a faint blue sky above us and the Irish Sea somewhere in between.  Staggeringly beautiful scenes like these are what motoring through Wales is all about.

Then of course, there’s the driving itself, which as long as you stay beneath the speed limits and keep an eye out for the real troublemakers of rural driving – sheep and hairpin bends – is truly good fun. At one point on the Evo Triangle (if you haven’t heard of it, Google it) we got overtaken by a souped-up Subaru Impreza, a MINI Cooper GP and a Porsche Boxster S and I don’t think any of us were particularly bothered, because even at sensible speeds we were loving every minute.

These roads were enjoyable even in a diesel Saab (especially if you’ve got the smug factor of overtaking just about everything and getting 50.3 to the gallon while you’re at it) so you can imagine how much of a ball it would have been in a Ford Racing Puma and an MX-5 with its roof down.

I know I’ve said it before but it’s worth saying again - if you like your driving there really are some stunning roads that aren’t a million miles away. Get out there and give them a go – you won’t regret it!

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Correct Parking Alignment

One of the ongoing debates in the country is "how far from the kerb can you park". Indeed, there is a (very abusive) web site dedicated to criticising drivers.

We are different, and strive to praise everyone for their efforts.


Here, for example we can clearly see that BX54FVC has managed to get their kerb-side wheels as close to the kerb as is possible without damaging them,  and both wheels are perfectly aligned.

This is skilled parking here on Brighton Mews, Clifton. Residents of Montpelier should consider themselves show up by such skill -except they have to fit into narrow gaps on the pavement, whereas this car probably didn't even need to reverse, just drive up on the dropped pavement.

Is the writing on the wall for troubled Saab?

I BEGIN this week not with an intro, but a disturbing statistic. In December 2011 just eight of you treated yourselves to a brand new Saab.

That's not just the figure for a particular showroom or part of the north west, but for the whole of the country. I've refrained from writing too much about Saab's slow and painful demise until now because the story's a bit too soap opera even for this column, but unless a miracle of Lazarus proportions heads their way it's safe to say the Swedish firm is another motoring name consigned to the history books.

Which is a shame, because Saab made some cracking cars right up until their final dying moments, even if they did knock a few stinkers out along the way. They were a firm renowned for sticking their fingers up at the motoring establishment and insisting on doing things differently. Even when it annoyed the hell out of General Motors, their very boring and very American former owners.

How else do you explain efforts like the fabulous 99 Turbo, a quirky saloon renowned for its mid-range punch? Or that middle class icon, the original 900 Cabriolet? Admittedly, they weren't cars modelled on jet fighters (despite what the ads would have you believe) but nor were they automotive flotsam created by committees either.

My own favourites are the two generations of the 9-5, which disguised their humble Vauxhall origins to offer up their owners a masterclass in comfort and refinement.

Their killer problem was that 99% of the potential buyers decided they'd still rather have the BMW 5-Series instead, leaving the Saab to survive solely on its “at least it's not a BMW” appeal.

Saab could and should have flourished once it passed into independent ownership, but GM's insistence that nobody should have access to its technology has ruined any chances the Swedes had. There are all sorts of complicated reasons why the firm's Dutch owners have gone bust, but a big part of it was that General Motors vetoed any ideas of Beijing's car makers coming to the rescue in case the Detroit-funded tech underpinning today's Saabs fell victim to a bit of a Chinese takeaway.

Ford happily lets Indian-owned Jaguar use its technological know-how, and BMW grants MG's Chinese custodians the same privelige, but the idea of a Chinese firm getting GM's inside info via Saab just proved too much for the Americans.

Unless Saab is treated to a miracle which brings its UK sales above eight a month, I think the writing's on the wall.

Life On Cars has just enjoyed its best month ever, with the site being viewed more than 3,500 times in January! I'd like to say a big thank you to everyone who reads and enyoys this site and the column in The Champion (published each Wednesday).

If you've got a motoring story or event you'd like to share get in touch by sending an email to david.simister@hotmail.co.uk or leave a comment below.

Saab isn't dead yet, former chairman insists

DON'T write Saab off as a name consigned to the history books because the company and its models aren't dead yet.

That's the message former chairman Victor Muller has told the world after most turbulent month in the Swedish firm's history, and suggested that a buyer for the beleaguered company may yet be found.

After personally declaring Saab bankrupt, Mr Muller told national media: “Under the new situation of bankruptcy, perhaps another type of scenario could be conceived, one where perhaps no Chinese parties are involved because that seems to be the sensitive element for General Motors.

"Perhaps Saab can find a new lease of life in a new structure with new ownership."

General Motors, the American automotive giant which owned Saab until 2010, still supplies Sweden with parts and technology for the 9-3 and 9-5 models, and has vetoed interest in the firm from Chinese firms after fearing that GM intellectual property would end up in the wrong hands.

Following the bankrupty declaration Saab's operations have been put under the control of receivers, but Swedish law allows companies that are in bankruptcy to be revived if an investor is found.

Do you own a Saab? Have you been affected? Let us know by sending an email to david.simister@champnews.com or by calling 01704 392404.

Fire up the... Saab 9-5

IT'S a company that - despite a proud history of its products proving popular - seems to go from crisis to crisis.

No, it's not News International but Saab, the Swedish car company which only a few weeks ago narrowly avoided closure after it got a huge order from China. An order that'll include the impressive second generation of the 9-5.

This car, a distant cousin of Vauxhall's acclaimed Insignia, is the model which will make or break Saab's future, and if it's going to succeed it's got some very strong competition to see off. Is the 9-5, which starts at a shade over £27,000, good enough to tempt you away from not only the BMW 5-Series, but also a revitalised Jaguar XF and Audi's A6?

The good news is that you shouldn't let its General Motors origins put you off; not only is the Insignia a startingly good base to start off, being an impressive cruiser in its own right, but the 9-5 is sufficiently Saab-ish in its own right.

Thanks to an ergonomically-gifted dashboard all of its own, clever toys like the night function for the instruments and an exterior that's challenging without being ugly, you're in no doubt that the new Saab is light years ahead of its predecessor.

Yet it's successfully carried over the one thing I adored about the old model - the comfort. Even though the model I tried was the 2.8 diesel version, it's near-silent once you get up to speed and the seats, front and back, are among the comfiest I've ever experienced. If you're an executive who regularly gets a numb bum, this is the car for you.

It's just a shame that - at least on the particular car I tested - builld quality wasn't quite up to the standards of its rivals, with a chrome surrounding on one of the rear doors coming loose. I can only hope it's an isolated incident, but even then you'd have to concede the bunker-like BMW 5-Series feels more solid.

The 9-5 might not tick as many of the boxes as its rivals but feels somehow more engaging for it; what it lacks as an all-rounder in makes up for in personality, which this saloon has in spades. If you're in the market for an executive saloon but find the big sellers a bit boring, you won't be disappointed with this leftfield alternative.

We should do our bit to save Saab, because they make good cars.

Why Saab deserves a second chance

THERE is, positioned in the House of Commons alongside some other Prime Ministers, a statue of Magaret Thatcher.

This is unusual for just one historical reason, no matter what you make of The Iron Lady. Say what you like about The Falklands, the miners' strike, the Poll Tax, the right to buy and the fact she wasn't for turning, because you're wrong. What makes her statue unique is that - unlike all of the other PMs staring down on in the successors from their stoney perches - she hasn't died yet.

A bit like Saab, then, which this week was given a shot of adrenalin in the form of an order for 600 cars from a mysterious Chinese company. It's a step in the right direction, but it's still an Elastoplast on the gaping war wound of a company that - as of last weekend - couldn't pay its own workers and had seen two rescue deals fall through. If cars were Members of Parliament - and I know I've already touched on this crucial topic in a previous piece - the stonemasons would be getting busy.

If all this sounds familiar it's because we British have already shown the Swedes how to utterly cock up a car brand through the final fling of Rover in 2005. The crucial difference is that the Rover 45 was a terrible, dated bit of rubbish that wasn't a patch on its predecessors, whereas Saab's latest 9-5 is an impressive executive express that really can hold its own against BMW's 5-Series. I know because I've driven both.

Saab has a long and colourful history of producing some of the quirkiest saloons in the business, and I'd hate it to end at the 9-5. The guys from Gothenburg are the people who brought you the multiple rally-winning 96, the rampant 900 Turbo, the smart and sophisticated 9000 and even the middle class icon that is the 900 Cabriolet. You, the car-buying public, ought to give them a second chance.

There will, in the next few weeks, be a test drive of the 9-5 in The Champion. I just hope it's not too late.