The bankrupt Swedish car manufacturer, SAAB (Swedish acronym: Svenska Aeroplan AkiteBolaget), has had its loans repaid to the European investment bank by Sweden’s debt office. This move will make it easier for a would-be buyer as the Swedish government is now one of the major creditors in the company.
Never having owned a SAAB I have no emotional ties about their demise. When talking of SAAB I always seem to call them SAB. The extra A seems convoluted, almost like a filler track on a record. The difficulty of pronouncing SA-A-B means that it can be prolonged into a bout of SA-A-A-A-B’s. It is hard to stop the A’s flowing. It feels as if you’re at the doctor’s surgery.
SAAB is almost an anagram of Sweden’s most famous export: ABBA. If only Bjorn (Ulvaeus) was called Sven or Benny (Andersson) was called Sammy they could have rearranged the initials into SAAB or SABA or ABSA or BAAS. As these non-palindrome capitals trip off the tongue the band might have met their Waterloo early in their career. As it was,with the moniker ABBA they flew high becoming immensely popular. Nothing lasts forever (as the two divorces in the group prove) and ABBA are now in the history books where they are joined by their compatriots, SAAB.
On their frequent appearances on Top of the Pops it was always Agnetha for me: Agnetha the blonde. Good as the band were she was the stand-out. She looked pretty, pretty, pretty good. As a youngster, this was my pre-rock period and while I’m now a fully-fledged, devilish head banger, I will admit to singing, if I could find a willing female accompaniment, some SAABBA songs at karaoke. So many good tunes to pick from.
15 comments:
I love Abba. I watched the Eurovision Song Contest live where they won with Waterloo. That was 1974 or thereabouts. I was married with two babies by then. Am I really that old? And the music has enjoyed such a resurgance! My daughters-in-law are big fans. Did you see Mama Mia? I missed the stage version but caught the film. I love Meryl Streep but Julie Walters has als been a favorite of mine since Educating Rita. Calendar Girls cemented that.
I read a little while ago that the object of your affection became a recluse and lives alone on her private island, rarely venturing to the mainland. That is sad.
Smarting a little from the loss to Liverpool today...byt I bet George is pleased.
These freekingly short visitations to the local library here on IOW are driving George and I insane! So we have decided to take over the "Canary Islander" franchise.
Henceforth, until further notice, all "CI" postings should be treated as "DD" postings, and if you muddle up "DD" and "CI" you will "C" "DD" as "I".
It is confusing, but hey, that has never stopped us yet, has it?
(I think I need to swop an avatar...)
:-)
I admit to being confused...
Crikey Expat - I completely misread your penultimate paragraph - I thought you were referring to Dolores! So knowing that she is otherwise occupied, I dreamt up my madcap idea of speaking up on her behalf!
Ho-hum... egg on my face...
:-(
Not at all, CI. Though the idea of DD as a recluse boggles the mind.
I've been trying to remember all the cars I've owned. The first car to come to mind was my first car - a 1964 Mini 850cc in British Racing Green which I swear gave me more pleasure than any car I've owned since. When a wife and then kids arrived, the car became too small. But my mother took it over and it ran perfectly for her until 1993. So the car stayed in the family for 29 years - one of the best investments of my life!
How about you chaps? Do you have a special car story?
:-)
Hi Expat,
My wife saw the musical in London a few years ago. Much as I like some of their songs it’s, er, not on my bucket list, I’m afraid. I’m sure she has the DVD somewhere. Might dip into it but don’t hold your breath.
Man United’s Javier Hernandez is nicknamed Chicharito. I’m wondering if you have your own little pet name for him. Something like Chiquitita, perhaps?
Hello there CI (or is it DD?)
I’ve not many motoring tales as I’ve only been driving about 6/7 years; I was too fond of the drink before that. Have had quite a few accidents. Luckily, none of them serious. I’m not that much into cars, to be honest and have only ever driven modest little cars. The only criteria I have when buying is that the car must not be coloured green. Forgive me for not sharing your love of the BRG car you owned. :-)
Oh, clever, JW, with the chiquitita!
We've been a jeep family since 1988when we bought our first Jeep Cherokee. I loved it and swore that I would drive it until it fell apart. Some 12 years later it was still going strong despite being driven hard and put to bed wet. It never let us down...until one fateful day. I was driving to the grocery store when the accelerator stuck. There I was, hurtling downhill towards a multi-lane highway...have I told this story before?
Well, to go back in time, before we were amrried John had a minivan. He was travelling back from a weekend at home to his jobsite in Southampton on what was once a Roman road. He crested a hill and drove down into a valley shrouded in fog...and right into a herd of cows! One landed on the roof. Needless to say, the mini was no more...which may have had some subconscious bearing on the much later choice of an iron clad jeep.
Ouch! What happened, Expat? And dammit, I may not find out for a while (I'm off to hospital now).
Back soon, I hope. :-)
Well, the road was one lane each way and undulating (this was in Pittsburgh) so I was going up and down...but not slowing down. The foot brake didn't work, the hand brake was uselss. And the accelerator was well and truly depressed. I couldn't switch the engine off and coast to the side of the road because I had power steering and I wouldn't be able to steer it. It was way too heavy, In desperation, I tried to put it into neutral just as I reached the top of a crest. It went into reverse instead. Everything shook and suddenly I was hurtling backwards, cars behind me moving fast to get out of the way. Horns blasting. I tried to steer to the side of the road as best I could...and slammed the back end of the jeep into a telegraph pole! I was stationary! I love that telegraph pole.
All of this, from initial panic to telegraph pole encounter could not have been more than about 45 seconds to a minute but it seemed like forever. My old jeep was built like a tank and I was badly shaken up but completely unharmed. Miraculously, no other vehicle was involved.
As I sat by the side of the road waiting for the police and a tow truck, with my lovely jeep rammed bum fist into a telegraph pole, all I could think of was that people driving by would be thinking "How on earth did she manage to do that? Women drivers!"
The worst part was John had jetted out to parts remote that morning so I was completely on my own.
Now that’s what I call a story, Expat. No, I haven’t heard that before. Puts my little shunts into perspective. You should sue Hollywood for using your accident as the basis for their film, Speed.
Hmm...CI's angiogram was yesterday. In and of itself, that not much. Just some dye and film. We haven't heard from him, as promised, so I'm wondering if during the angiogram they didn't much like what they saw and decided to go ahead and do angioplasty.
Hi Expat,
I left a comment on CI's blog earlier but haven't had a reply. Fingers crossed that he is OK.
Hello Dear Friends!
I'm OK! Just tired, and I'll write tomorrow. Thanks a bunch for your concern.
:-) xxxxx :-)
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