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From the New York Times 9/23/03
Vail Police Switch From Saab to Ford
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 5:12 a.m. ET
DENVER (AP) -- Officers will miss the luxury and tourists will miss the novelty, but after 25 years, Vail police are giving up their trademark Saab patrol cars in favor of cheaper Ford Explorers.
The nation's most popular ski resort and the Swedish car company, which sold to Vail at a loss, say they can't afford to continue the deal that had benefits for both.
``Saabs were good for the town image. Our visitors would stop and have their pictures taken in front of the cop cars,'' said Suzanne Silverthorn, spokeswoman for the mountain town 90 miles west of Denver.
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Saabs are used by police in some European countries, but Vail and Aspen are the only communities in the United States that use them. Aspen officials may also be considering dropping the cars for a cheaper ride.
``If you add up our losses through the years, it was millions of dollars that we have donated to the Aspen and Vail police departments,'' Saab spokesman Kevin Smith said Monday. ``We were happy to do it. It was great exposure for us.''
Smith said Saab, like Vail, has had to tighten its belt during the economic decline.
Aspen Police Chief Loren Ryerson would only say: ``We are still negotiating for our next year's contract.''
After Saab proposed raising lease prices from $319 per month to $350 per vehicle, Vail officials talked with BMW and Land Rover before choosing the four-wheel-drive Explorer.
Each of the seven Fords will cost nearly $6,000 less than a Saab over the term of a five-year lease, Vail said.
``Town council members were disappointed to see us going to a more generic vehicle for Vail,'' Silverthorn said. She said the town had been criticized for using Saabs by people who didn't know they were getting them below cost.
Rusty Jacobs has been driving Saabs since he became a Vail police officer 13 years ago.
``It's fun to drive them,'' he said of the black turbo-powered car with black leather interior, CD player, sunroof and heated seats. ``Most people thought it was cool to see us in Saabs. It was an icebreaker that it made it easier for them to approach us.''
Only once was he unable to get up a snow-packed hill with Saab's front-wheel drive.
``I think we are going to miss them,'' he said.
posted by 68.162.1...
, Tue, 23 Sep 2003 06:28:09, Tue, 23 Sep 2003 09:15:01
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