Saab replaces million mile car

Company extends the 1m-mile offer

Peter Gilbert's Saab 900SPG

The man who gave his Saab to a museum after notching up one million miles has been given a free replacement.

Saab didn't give anything at first to US driver and travelling salesman Peter Gilbert after he gave his 1989 Saab 900 to the Wisconsin Automotive Museum. Saab has since relented, following huge media coverage of the story, and decided to give him a new Saab 9-5 Aero.

"I am on cloud nine right now. This is exactly the car I wanted," Gilbert said.

Saab verified the high mileage on Mr Gilbert's car last summer. He had hoped they would give him a new car then - but he didn't get so much as a T-shirt.

The company has now decided to make the most of the situation: anyone who puts a million miles on their originally owned Saab can benefit from the offer too. "We have no idea, frankly, how many cars that will be. At this point, we only know of Peter's car," said Saab spokesman Jan-Willem Vester.

What we don’t know is whether the offer extends beyond the US -- but it's worth a try. For the Imperially-challenged rest of the world, that's 1.6 million km.

Saab will also take his old car out of the museum for a showing at the auto show in Detroit next week. "We thought it would be great to have the car there with a big sign on the windshield that says a million miles," Vester said.