Tuesday, January 26, 2016

What do Saab- and Scottie fanciers have in common?


ACCORDING TO TOP GEAR, many Saab owners were members of “the intelligentsia” that included, but was not limited to, architects, graphic designers, civil rights lawyers, and specialist doctors. Top Gear also claimed that Saab´s main target group was the best educated of any other target group in the car industry. Owners were often quirky, successful, understated individuals who shied away from the stigma of driving a BMW or a Mercedes.

Saab owners usually identified with one or more of the following reasons for having purchased their vehicle:
- Integrity, and spirited engineering
- Design with meaningful lines through the whole body and details which support the wholeness
- Understatement
- Trustworthiness
- Intelligent and non-traditional solutions to major and smaller problems
- The courage to think and act for sensible reasons, instead of commercial fanciness/trendiness
- Saab's iconic cult-like following
- Admiration for a small brand with a very innovative heritage
 


I think there are several similarities between Saab owners and Scottie owners. Please humour me a little, and I´ll tell you why: 
- Scottie owners have integrity, and spirited opinions
- They appreciate sound lines through the whole body and details which support the wholeness
- They always prefer an understatement, rather than the (blatant) opposite
- Trustworthiness is essential
- Traditionalists at heart, though highly intelligent and well-educated, they (will) eventually find new solutions to major and smaller problems
- The lions share of people in the Scottie-fancy are never bold over by fanciness or trendiness
- The breed has a well established and iconic cult-like following
- Fanciers share a common admiration for a small breed with an illustrious heritage
 

Let´s hope the Scottish Terrier doesn’t share the same tragic demise as the Saab car manufacturer. Saab went into receivership in 2011. The Scottish Terrier´s fate is presently in the hands of all the intelligent breeders and owners. With so many sensible people in the Scottie-fancy world wide, how could the Scottish Terrier´s future be anything but bright? 

Photo montage: P R Hewitt