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Chunk of ice smashes man's windshield

Driving a car piled with snow isn't just lazy, it's dangerous. A driver on Interstate 495 South in Massachusetts learned that the hard way last week after a huge chunk of ice flew off the top of an SUV and onto his windshield. Jeffrey Cote's dashboard camera was running as he drove his Saab 9-5 Aero Wagon down the freeway in Haverhill, MA, Wednesday morning. He was following an SUV in the left hand lane. The SUV doesn't appear to have too much accumulation on it, but the owners clearly didn't remove the snow and ice from the very top of the vehicle. A large chunk of ice flew off the top of the SUV, spun through the air and shattered Cotes windshield. Cote's must be one of the cooler heads on Massachusetts' roads. He didn't swerve, or swear or even gasp. Despite being unable to see the road and covered in glass Cotes safely moved over to the right lanes and safely pulled off on to the shoulder after the accident. The ice not only totally destroyed Cote's windshield but damaged a wiper arm and his side mirror as well. "If I had braked harder, I could have avoided impact," Cotes wrote in the video description. "But it initially appeared the piece was going to fall in front of me." Cotes couldn't read the driver's license plate on the footage and told CBS Boston that he doesn't think the other driver even realizes what occurred. He told the news station he hopes the video reminds people to do the right thing and clear the snow off their cars. "Just a few seconds, just try to slam as much ice as possible off your roof," Cotes told CBS Boston. "Because, it could have gone a lot worse, and it could save someone's life if you do a better job cleaning," Cote said. News Source: CBS Boston Saab Driving Safety Videos snow winter driving cold

Saab to hire 200 engineers, might build gas cars with Mahindra

The brand formerly known as Saab is still intent on teaching The Little Engine That Could a few ticks about persistence. We say "formerly known" because it turns out that National Electric Vehicle Swedent (NEVS), the Sino-Japanese investment consortium that just bought the majority of Saab's assets, minus Saab Automobile Parts AB, may not actually own the rights to the Saab brand name. According to a report in Di.se via Saabs United, NEVS will need to negotiate with Scania and the Swedish aerospace and defense group, Saab AB, for the right to name its forthcoming electric car the Saab 9-3.
NEVS is hiring 200 engineers now to work on its electric car program, and reports are that it will hire more as it gets closer to the 2014 launch. It will be based on the current (read: ancient) 9-3, and we hope NEVS is succeeds in getting the naming rights, because the NEVS 9-3 just doesn't have the same ring. NEVS will likely target China as the model's main market.
However, it's rumors of their second negotiating ploy that we're really rooting for: to work with Mahinda & Mahindra, the Indian company once in the running for Saab's assets, develop a petrol-powered 9-3 on the next-generation Phoenix platform, based on Jason Castriota's design.

Junkyard Gem: 1988 Saab 900

Saab had a cult following in North America going back to the two-stroke Saab 96, but it wasn't until the 900 made its debut for the 1978 model year that the marque started to be considered a mainstream – if still a bit odd – brand here. Based on the venerable 99 but seeming a lot more modern, the 900 sold well to those who wanted to drive something sensibly Scandinavian but didn't want the stodginess of a Volvo. These cars were especially popular in Colorado, and I found this high-mile-but-solid '88 in a Denver self-service wrecking yard. Nearly made it to 300,000 miles, but it never got the chance. The key is still in the console-mounted ignition switch, and the steel lanyard indicates that this car went to the wrecking yard via an insurance-company or dealership-trade-in auction. Since the car has no major body damage, that means that its final owner traded it in – reluctantly, we hope – on another car, and nobody was willing to bid over scrap value for the elderly Swede at auction. Most such auctions have an arrangement with a local wrecking yard to take all the unsold cars for a set price, and that's what we can assume happened to this car. Chances are that it was still in running condition when it showed up here. You could get a 1988 Saab 900 with a three-speed Borg-Warner automatic transmission, but I can't recall having ever seen one so equipped. Most Saab 900 buyers insisted on manuals. The engine in this car is a slant-four based on the same Triumph engine used in the Triumph TR7. By the 1980s, Saab had made sufficient improvements to the design that it was several orders of magnitude more reliable than its British Leyland ancestors. This one made 110 horses, which did an acceptable job of moving the car's 2,695 pounds. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. This ad sums up the way Saabs were marketed in the United States in 1988. Related Video: Featured Gallery Junked 1988 Saab 900 View 16 Photos Auto News Saab Hatchback