the saab 900 harkens back to a period when european cars truly looked european and exhibited certain traits that even revealed the country in which they were built and designed. the saab 900 is an unconventional vehicle that clearly could only be swedish and a saab. i really wish we could have enlightened european automotive design once again…. it seems currently everything is designed by a computer which waters everything down to some lowest common denominator formula…. it is a sad day indeed when a hyundai is hard to discern from a mercedes.

(photo courtesy of clive bullian) next to subaru, the volvo wagon is the unofficial car of the people’s republic of portland. with the pacific northwest being the unofficial scandinavia of the usa, it makes sense.

Something of an anachronism in the 2000s, the Defender has no unibody structure and is still largely hand assembled. All its major body panels and sub-assemblies simply bolt together. Thus not only can a Defender be literally broken down to its chassis with simple hand tools, there are no irreplaceable stress points. While appreciated in the field and by enthusiasts, this method of manufacture has become increasingly expensive relative to unibody and modular construction.

shortly after i captured the porsche 996 with me trusty iphone, i spied this here audi A5 in the swedish countryside. i’m not so sure i “get” the A5…..is it germany’s answer to the camaro? or perhaps it is audi’s answer to the bmw 335i coupe. either way i think i will pass

the great icelandic ash-cloud had me stranded in stockholm sweden and i was getting restless. by the 4th day of being stranded i decided i needed to make a break for it so i rented a car and drove a ford ka all the way from stockholm to amsterdam. along the way i spied this handsome porsche 996. i generally have a degree of disdain for the 996 but this one looked pretty good….. but then again everything in sweden looks pretty darn good