Viggen on tour. Leipzig spinning mill and Porsche factory.
After returning from Sweden in June, the blue Viggen was again hidden in the garage. Since my fridge is filled by work in the cultural area, a visit to the Leipzig gallery Spinnerei Herbstrundgang offered.
The 9-3 with a large tailgate swallows huge files and large rolls of paper without any problems, just like the good 99 / 900 CombiCoupe. Friday afternoon departure, unfortunately nothing is progressing but no matter. It is always nice to sit in the Viggen especially if you do not ride it every day.
The next day in Leipzig I noticed that there seems to be a stronghold for classic Saabs here? Not only am I here - from Saab's point of view - "stylish" on the road, I discover many well-kept 900 OG in the street scene. In the old VEB cotton mill www.spinnerei.de there are numerous studios and printers, this is where the "New Leipzig School" style was born.
Before the spinning is a real gem, a Saab 9000 i Schnauzer Schnauzer obviously a Switzerland import, color "Rosenquartz" inside color "oxblood". In the main gallery there is an exhibition of Friederike Jokisch and Yvette Kießling, the two have done a painting trip to Vietnam together.
During the day, an old Saab friend, an active 9-3 driver, calls and works as a driving trainer for a South German sports car company. Where I am, also in Leipzig? Well he too. I'm supposed to come to the factory tomorrow to the racetrack, gatekeeper is informed.
For the evening meeting of artists I leave my Viggen in the garage with foresight ...
Journey home on Sunday afternoon and directly to Porsche works in the north of Leipzig. There will be a 2-day performance training on the racetrack with many participants from Scandinavia. The race track with dynamic course has an FIA rating, famous curves such as the carousel at the Nürburgring or the corkscrew curve in Laguna Seca are faithfully reproduced.
There is also a well-stocked Porsche shop and an interesting museum. In the adjacent factory, the models Panamera, Macan and Cayenne are mounted, but the engines and bodies are delivered from southern Germany.
In the pit lane is the entire Porsche model range, I can recommend a visit to any Saab driver there, the program starts with a factory tour with Cathering and goes up to self-drive of high-profile sports cars.
No, don't worry, I will not give my Viggen away for a Porsche, it wouldn't be a comparison ...
In general, my Saab friend, despite the fact that he is constantly working on the latest cars drives his 2008er Saab 9-3 Diesel loyalty. Already 300.000 Km mileage, but the black paint shines like piano paint, the beige leather trim shows no signs of wear and looks like a year-old car.
Reliable brings him the Saab from appointment to appointment in Europe, good care is so worthwhile with a Saab, nowadays more important than ever. A weekend later, I drive in the best summer weather even a longer distance, now a bit braver I drive a little faster significantly above 200 km / h at about 240 at once a gigantic oil cloud in the rearview mirror!
Over all three lanes like in the Formula 1 race, the cloud moves across the track, first thought: how embarrassing! At the same time, of course, step on the clutch, expect the engine to lock and the "chicken leg syndrome" (connecting rod comes through the oil pan), huge oil trail and all red in the cockpit! NOTHING, but really nothing happens, normal noise and full power. Make sense to the next resting place,
Oil level okay, everything is normal. When I return, I see the trigger of the oil cloud, right, the axle cuff outside so to speak literally exploded at 240km / h! The front air line at the front of the cat has reached its wear limit due to aging and heat.
A normal aging on a 18 year old car, I can live with it. The axle cuff (slightly thicker here, from the big brother 9-5) was replaced and the missing crankcase Steg2 was retrofitted. Both parts were delivered immediately by Skandix at reasonable prices.
In general, the parts supply for the 9-3 OG really cheap at the time! The refurbishment of the air conditioning is made after the winter break. So much for the first season with my Saab classic 9-3 Viggen, the ratio consumption to performance was particularly convincing.
SAAB, Porsche and culture that fits! The Viggen is a fascinating car. One of the most beautiful coffins ever.
... yes Leipzig is always worth a trip! I am there on business almost every week and enrich the street scene with my SAABs.
the 9-3I or even the 902 are simply one of the most successful body shapes of all time, and then with the 2,3l_Turbo as the heart :-))
+1
Nice report and great car! The Viggen makes something.
In general, the 9-3I is an incredibly well done car - very balanced in design - on the way to becoming a classic.
In Leipzig's neighboring city of Halle (Saale) there is also a large amount of SAAB to admire. I would also call it a stronghold because there is a very active dealer (Hübner Automobile) who still does the service for SAAB. Our 9-3 LE is under maintenance there.
One more word about the Porsche plant in Leipzig: At first, it was actually a pure assembly line without vertical integration. The Cayene was delivered pre-assembled from Bratislava (Slovakia) and completed in Leipzig. Mitlerweile there are in Leipzig a press shop with Karobau and everything that belongs to it. The vertical range of manufacture is much larger and it will be manufactured next to Porsche even cars for Bentley.
Viggen is addicting! And if there is such a “clumsy” 5 door in silver like mine, nobody can see how this car is going.
Great report Goetz, thanks for that!
SAAB 9-3 OG simply wonderful and incredibly practical ... great report!