Saabforum.nl

Through the late 60s and into the early 1970s the Aspen Police Department used Ford Torino 4-doors “rear wheel drive monsters,” according to Michael Chandler, who worked at the department from 1971 to 1978 in varying capacities. At about 8,000 feet in altitude and at the base of a ski mountain, the rear-wheel-drive vehicles were a poor fit for the environment. In 1973 a personnel change brought in a new police chief and with that... an open mind about changing the police department. Chief Marty Hershey gave permission to replace the Ford Torino with the Saabs.



The Saabs were excellent cars in the snow, though they lacked ground clearance which posed a threat at heavy snow times. They were very nimble, and at a police ice driving training in the late ’90s, I remember just how seriously they out-performed the traditional police vehicles. And they were fast, really fast, and fun cars.



We didn’t leave Saabs, they left us. We had continued to work with the advertising campaigns of Saab throughout the years of the relationship, however, when Saab was purchased by a large corporation, it came down to us that they had decided that our little cooperative effort was not worth their participation, and priced us out of the Saab business.