Future of SAAB

The international media has been speculating about the future of SAAB, the automaker owned by FORD and now to be sold to the Dutch company, Spyker.

SAAB is not just an automaker.

Here is the latest news about another division of the company.

The Finnish military defence department awarded a follow-on contract to Saab for an additional delivery of the widely deployed air defence technologies.

Swedish based Saab said that it has been selected by Finland to deliver an order for its Robotsystem 70 (RBS 70), a ground based air defence system.

This is an approximately Euro 25.29 million order. Global defence contractor Saab will deliver its RBS 70s, a short-range man-portable laser guided missile system, to the Finnish army.

"This is very positive and it further proves the capability of the RBS 70 system which until now has been exported to 18 countries located on all five continents," Tomas Samuelsson, Saab Business Area Dynamics head, said in a statement.

A shot in the arm for troubled car maker SAAB?

Can Finland afford this extravaganza? Is it really necessary for a small country like Finland to invest in such technologies? Or is it the Finnish male egoists that continue to play war games for their own pleasure.

Since all Finnish males go through the compulsory army service, where they are brain-washed, this would seem a logical move. Very few survive this brain washing process.

If any opposition is voiced, angry fingers will be pointed by the "nationalist"!

The Rabbit has a shiny nose

All through spring, summer and autumn, I have been using the scooter and occasionally the SAAB I bought from Kannan to help him out financially. It gave me a chance to get the Rabbit reconditioned.

The 1984 Ford Escort Farmer has done yeoman service since I got it, thanks to Kamu, in 2000. It has pulled many a car out of trouble, especially in winter. It has towed several cars twice its size and half its age, rushed to start up stranded cars, and it has hardly cost a penny to upkeep.

Of course, I kept it in peak condition, changing whatever was necessary before any troubles came to a head. All the MOTs that it went through were clean sailing.

But Annikki and both daughters did not very much like the look of the car as part of the paint had faded!

So this summer I gave it to my dear friend Nassar, who has a Garage and Paint Shop in Haukipudas. I gave him carte blanche to do up the car. The colours - football fans Samu and me chose red and golden orange (which were my team colours in Oulu when I bought the car).

Earlier today, I drove out the 20+ kilometres on the scooter to Nassar's garage to see the progress.



Standing in the compound, gleaming in the beautiful autumn sunshine, stood the new look Rabbit. Not only had the outside been done, but Nassar had changed the air filter, changed the oil, done some welding work and also got it MOTeed!

I can put the SAAB to hibernation after a thorough service. Although the SAAB is a great car with a lot of power, and it is a super safe car, I will be glad to get back to driving the nippy and powerful Rabbit once autumn is over and I put the scooter away!

Now that the Rabbit is back with a shiny nose and a great tail, I may even think of selling the SAAB if I get a reasonable price. It will be sad to sell such a good car as, on occasions, we do need a larger car for our travels.