The beginning of this Saab 900 advert opens with an unidentified man striding purposefully across a luna-esque landscape and opening the door to what will eventually be revealed as the aforementioned Saab 900.
The ad is accompanied by a background of garbled air-traffic control radio messaging while the 900 zooms off, scattering gravel from the unkempt road surface.
We’re then treated to the sight of our Saab slipping and sliding on a twisty gravel road – a nod to its rallying heritage, perhaps? – accompanied by a suspiciously fruity exhaust not. The car continues its way up what appears to be the entrance road to a quarry of some sort, all the while accompanied by the air-traffic control blabber in the background. It’s now obvious that it’s voiced by some plummy English public-school types (synonymous with flying and the RAF, of course).
To add to the already edge-of-the-seat excitement, we’re treated to water splashes, death-defying drops off the side of the road and more of that super-fruity exhaust note. The continuing ascension towards the sky is significant – as you’ll find out later – as our faceless and nameless driver appears to heading towards a dead-end, with a lethal drop just the other side. He (or, indeed, she) keeps going towards this perilous crevasse at a considerable rate of knots. As the camera flits from one shot to another, at frankly dazzling speed, surely the end is nigh for our intrepid Saab driver as the camera finally heads off over the cliff and, presumably, the car along with it.
But no! Wait! The next shot is from under the cliff lip and, instead of seeing a Saab 900 plummeting to a fiery end, we get a shot of the magnificent JA37 Viggen fighter jet soaring overhead. Finally, the over-the-radio chatter is explained to us – the Saab 900 is exactly like its aeronautical brethren.
Watch the ad below and enjoy, Siera, Alpha, Alpha, Bravo…
