I feel like I’m in a small plane when I’m driving my convertible … for good reason

“My Saab is a 2008 9-3, four-cylinder turbo model, the last year Saab produced cars (other than a brief restart from 2012-2014 by National Electrical Vehicle Sweden, but produced without the Saab logo). It’s navy blue with two-tone cream-and-grey leather seats. It’s the third Saab I’ve owned. I started off with a four-door Saab sedan, then a red convertible, with a manual transmission, that I bought second-hand. The red convertible was a fabulous car, but once I was caught in traffic gridlock for a trip of about 80 kilometres and the constant changing of gears almost killed my knee that I’d injured in a horseback riding accident years before. That convinced me to give up driving standards.

When it was time to get rid of it and buy another, my husband called a dealer, but he said they didn’t have any in stock. But my husband checked online and called back to tell the dealer he did have one in-stock. It was a convertible with an automatic transmission. It was in the back of the room, as it was fall when people aren’t interested in driving with tops down. Timing is everything.

The car’s really cool, incredibly well built, and was ahead of its time. In the 16 years I’ve had the car, we’ve replaced the tires, the back brakes, and done regular maintenance, but that’s it. It’s now on the road to becoming a classic and you see very, very few of them on the road now. When I park it in a lot, often someone walking by will stop, look and make a comment. It’s a conversation starter. It’s almost like there’s an unknown fraternity of Saab owners.

It drives like a dream and is a true driver’s car. I love driving it in the Caledon Hills, as it’s so beautiful there. I’ve driven it in Naples, Florida, where it was a bit of a showstopper, and I’ve driven it along the west coast of Florida, stopping at various state parks and beaches.

My main joy is driving it in the country. Although it’s very good in snow, I want to preserve it, as it is in great shape and has only 72,000 kilometres on it, so I store it in the garage in winter. This year, however, we had it shipped to Florida, where we spent the winter, to have a second vehicle for when family visited. Other than winter, it’s the car I use on a daily basis. My grandchildren get a kick out of it, especially when you push the button to make the top go up and down.

I used to fly kites as a child, and I flew kites with my children. It’s almost kite-like to put the top down and drive in the country. The sense of freedom is almost unspeakable. I love having a convertible so much. It’s heaven. Sometimes even if the weather isn’t warm enough, I’ll put the top down but keep the windows up, just to have that free feeling.

“This is, by far, the best car I’ve ever had.”