saablog

I’ve now been enjoying the BSOS 900 for 27 months, and have put about 11,000 miles on it during that time. At this point it is a fairly nice car, with pretty-good condition interior, 15-foot shiny paint (i.e it looks great from 15 feet), and it is comfortable and fun to drive.

Because this summer’s autocross season has been cancelled, I’ve got no competetions to run. I’ve been using the 900 to commute to customer’s sites to save gas instead of driving the R. It’s an enjoyable drive, and a distinctive vehicle no matter where it is parked or driven.

As my writing has picked up on autosavant.net, I’ve been approved for many manufacturers’ test vehicle fleets. In the next month I’ll be driving a Jaguar XJ Super V8, Mazda MX-5 (Miata) Power Retractable Hard Top, Suzuki SX4 Crossover Touring, and Land Rover LR3.  I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to drive each of these vehicles for a week. As my friend Dr. Casey Shillam said, we’re growing up and our dreams are coming true. But it leaves me with a bit of a problem regarding where I should park all of these cars… Ani’s 9-5, my V70R, my 900, and my press vehicle.

At  the same time, my dad has been shopping for a third car for their household, one that gets better fuel economy than his V8 Nissan Titan 4×4. He sent me a link last week to a clapped-out 1989 Honda CRX with some ridiculously high mileage on the odometer, with faded paint and a ruined interior, for $2700. Unacceptable.

That said, I’ve proposed to my dad that he drive the 900 for the next few months, and he is “really excited”. It will save him gas, and it will free up parking at my house.  All of my hard work on the 900 will not go unappreciated; and I don’t have to sell my “toy” car which has been my favorite hobby since I bought it.

I’ll try to keep you all posted on the 900’s sojourn in Kennydale, and maybe I can convince my dad to write some blog posts to keep you all up to date.

My 900 is cool! Freezin’ cold actually.

It’s April 18. It shouldn’t be snowing like this. Boo!

Last month the WWSCC’s Autocross schedule dates were all tentative, and this month the calendar shows no WWSCC autocross events.

I checked with Zane (who helped me get started in Autocross) and he said that Boeing isn’t offering their lot for events this year, so without a venue the season is off. Two other organizations are offering events, but those events are run in Bremerton and Packwood, both of which are a long way from here.

In any case, this means I’ve got no season to run. Suddenly I find myself at a crossroads. The whole reason I bought the 900 was for autocross. Now that I’ve got it, and have been driving it regularly, I can’t imagine selling it. But at the same time, I don’t need a third car, even though it’s a great commuter that gets better fuel economy on regular gas than my Volvo does on Premium.

For now, I’m making no decisions.

I did have a fun drive through downtown Seattle the other day… going down Columbia, I bottomed out the front lower frame member when coming across a cross-street going at least the speed limit. It was hilarious.