Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

You must have some insider information. Good to hear it and thanks Melissa. Though he's often working on more than one guitar at a time as he is now so there's no telling.

No insider info, just taking a guess, based on Paul's hints that he's been polishing today....

Why else would his fingers smell like Zymol?

Ummmm, then again, best not to answer that...

Ummmmmm....yeah, so which one is it, really, Paul?

I don't know whether the attractive young lady wishes to be coated in Zymol and/or coconut milk but I'm prepared to guarantee that she doesn't want to be rubbed up (or down) with a pineapple!

Ouch!!

SAAB sure is looking good this morning...

"A lovely bunch of coconuts" springs to mind....

SAAB make guitars, too?

Paul,,,be careful that Keith Richards does not fall on you from the coconut tree..

A Saab is just a very expensive case for guitars!

Actually, these days a Saab is just a very expensive Vauxhall.....

An interesting topic, this...

"Very expensive" is Bentley. "Quite expensive" is upper-end Mercedes. "Expensive" is midpriced Mercedes.

Saabs are a bit more than a Buick these days. Upper end of mid-priced is how I'd put it ($40K for my convertible when it was new).

And that's part of their appeal, I guess. Around here, they are very, very thick on the ground. Back East you see far fewer, except in horse country or Martha Stewart suburbs.

I've driven SAABs since I bought my first new Turbo 3-door back in '79, and that was a heck of a car. Sounded great, handled amazingly, had lots of comfort, loads of room, etc.

I'm on my 5th one right now; it's a 2001 convertible that I got almost new in a great deal, and I've got to tell you, I am a bit disappointed, all things considered. This is a darned sight better than most new cars I've had, which failed to thrill me at all after a couple of months of ownership...except for my Miatas, which were and are terrific little beauties.

It all has to do with SAAB's GM connection (GM owns SAAB, for all intents and purposes).

Pros: The car is a TANK. It is built very, very stiffly. The convertible top is marvelous. Brakes and engine are trouble-free. Styling is more mainstream that the 900s of old. Much faster than old 900s.

Cons: The car is a TANK. My non-GM 900s got well over 30 MPG on highway trips. This one managed 26 on the last one. Barely tops 20 in the city. Built stiffly, yet the convertible body shakes and rattles, too. My old SAABS never did either. Styling is too mainstream. Handling is not quite in the same ballpark as older SAABs. Tires feel too small (look that way, too) although they are actually bigger than those on the old 900s. Good old burbly exhaust note of the old 900s is gone.

If I could find an '80 900 Turbo 3 door with less than 20K on it, I'd buy it in a heartbeat. Great cars!

But the newer one will do until one of the oldies comes along!

I loved my Saab 900. It was totaled in a wreck in the Avenues Paul. I always regretted not buying another one. Next time!

Traffic in this city is the weirdest I've ever encountered, Brian. And it's not gotten any better since you've left, either.

Wreck in the Aves. I'd dearly love to once again commute on a motorcycle, like I did for years in SoCal. But every semester, at least two or three of my students get mowed down by terrible SF drivers...keeps my wrapped in my 4-wheel cocoon.