Since the very early days of our marriage Jeremy has always driven Saab’s. My favourite was an old, white estate 95 that we ran in Devon over 40 years ago. I once sat in the passenger seat with Jeremy driving and me trying to prevent a large (and rather tetchy) Jacob ram from clambering over the back seats. This was a journey from the weekly livestock market at Hatherleigh to our hamlet in Stoneshill near Crediton. That ram fathered a number of Jacob lambs but he was also a b……r and used to bash me with his horns and jump over the hedge from our field to that of Farmer Isaacs next door. Farmer Isaacs had a flock of white sheep but one year he had several black and white lambs due to our rampant ram chasing and catching his ewes at just the right time. Eventually we had to tie a long rope with a log at one end around the ram’s neck to stop him jumping the hedge and racing next door . He could still move around his own paddock but no longer reach his previous hurdling heights!

The next Saab was red, then a white and the last (before this trusty steed) was a dark blue racy machine that was written off by a careless driver who went into the back of us after we had spent a day at the seaside and the races. We arrived home in a car transporter much like the one that arrived to remove the Saab today. It was a sad end to a rare day out – but a memorable one!

The silver Saab was the newest car Jeremy had ever bought – ex demonstration, solid and ( to my mind) rather middle aged in appearance. It has done 95000 miles after 18 years service. We have nursed it along with the help of our friendly local mechanic, Jim, but now the end has come. Saab has ceased operations and our final Saab has gone to the great scrapyard in the sky. Farewell old friend.

Click below for the final crawl up the ramp