We have some updated information on the Saab Support Convoys taking place on January 17th at various locations around the world – including a couple of NEW ones!!
Click here to visit the Saab campaigns website.
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NEW!!
Poland
From Justyn at the Saab Club of Poland:
Our plan is to gather at 11.00 o’clock on the 17th January at the parking near a Broadcasting Station in the Center of Warszawa. . At around 12.00/12.30 o’clock we will form a big Saab Convoy through the city of Warszawa, going to the USA Embassy , GM Head Quarter in Warszawa, the Swedish Embassy and ending aprox. 14 o’clock on the park lot near a TV-station. We had already contact with Polish media and hopefully the local media will be there.
You can find out more details at the Saab Club of Poland website and there is also a Facebook page for this event.
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NEW!!
Queensland, Australia
Date: 17th January.
Meeting Point: IKEA Logan, Brisbane, Exit 23 Pacific Motorway, 3539-3565 Pacific Highway, Slacks Creek
- 8.30 – 9.30 am: Car parking at IKEA’s open-air car park (upper level), meet & greet, photo shoots
- 9.30 – 10.30 am: Breakfast/coffee at IKEA
- 10.30 am: Depart IKEA for Mt Coot-tha
What to bring:
- “Save SAAB” signs which you can download and print from here.
- Any SAAB paraphernalia (flags, stickers, caps, clothing, etc.)
- BYO tea, coffee, thermos and cups
- A picnic lunch if you wish
People wishing to attend should email Lars Salle at larscsalle-at-gmail.com for full details. Or they check out further details at the Saab campaigns website.
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NEW!!
Adelaide, Australia
From Mark C, the organiser:
- Date: Sunday 17th (Hopefully it’s a bit cooler than this weekend)
- Meeting place: IKEA (near Adelaide Airport)
- Time: 10.00 am.
- Plan: To drive from Ikea to General Motors Holden at Elizabeth.
This will be a peaceful rally to show solidarity with our overseas counterparts and we don’t want to antagonize Holden workers, many of whom are still working short shifts. We want to save Saab. We don’t want to damage Holden!
I’m hoping to get 10 Saabs. That would be a good achievement for Adelaide.
If people want to know more about this one, email me (swade99-at-gmail.com) and I’ll forward your email on to Mark, who is the guy organising it.
Mark is hoping to get some Channel 10 TV coverage for the event, so it’d be great to get as many Saabers as possible attending.
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NEW!!
Latvia
I am told that the Saab Club of Latvia is also organising a convoy and hoping to attract around 60 vehicles.
The convoy will be crossing the capital and with stops at U.S. Embassy and Riga Motor Museum. They will try to attract local media attention and to feed in from LATVIA into the global picture of 17th January SAAB support events.
I don’t have a contact point for this one, but I assume the club website will have details.
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Holland
The Dutch event – which is the one that started this whole thing off – is now well and truly overbooked and the guys are scratching themselves as to how they’re going to accommodate everyone. 
If you’d like to add to their problems, the event website is here. Of course, only add to their planning problems if you really do intend to go. No mischief!
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Sweden
The Swedes will be meeting in Trollhattan in an event organised by the Saab Turbo Club of Sweden, but you don’t have to be a member of the STCS to come along. In fact, they’re hoping for 500 cars there – 10,000 meters of Saaby goodness!
The event website is here.
I’m told that drivers from the Saab Club of Denmark and the Two Stroke and V4 Club will be going over to join the Swedes, which is fantastic to see.
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England
Some new information has come in about the English convoy. And don’t forget to watch the video at Bloomberg, featuring Erik Carlsson himself.
Details at a glance:
Participants list: Click here to add your name
Individual Saab owners from various areas meet at :
- From Midlands, Northern areas – 8.30am-9.00am M1 Jct 15a – Northampton Services (Rotherthorpe)
- From London, Kent and Essex areas - 9.00am-9.30am M25 Jct 23 – South Mimms Services
- From West, South-West areas – 8.00am-8.30am M4 between Jct 12 and 11 – Reading Services
- Proceed to Luton via M1, Jct 10
- 10.00 – 11.00 – Meeting of Saab owner convoys CAR PARKING and line up of cars at Stockwood Park, Discovery Centre London Road LU1 4LX Luton
- 11.00 – 12.00 – Time for meet and greet, Car Show, photo shoots, etc.
- 12.00 – > – Depart of Cavalcade for Drive by to the Saab UK Headquarters, Griffin House Osborne Road Luton Bedfordshire, LU1 3YT
- Proceed via A505 to Imperial War Museum, Duxford
- 13.00 onwards – Arrival at Duxford Museum and line-up of 50 cars
- Best examples of 62 years Saab car history in front of Wing Co Joe’s Café
- Raffle of Saab memorabilia
Full details and press release are available at the Saab campaigns page.
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{ 61 comments }
Great work, folks. Great work.
Still one week to go in order to organise more Saab Support Convoys….
About those organised already: excellent stuff!!
Keep on Saabin’!
Thanks for helping us Queenslanders, Steven! We’ve just got back home from cruising the neighbouring suburbs looking for SAABs to put our invitational flyers under their wipers and we’ve already got 12 confirmed drivers for our convoy. I’m sure we’ll get more in the next few days when SAAB-affiliated business check their Inboxes.
Man, I feel left out up in Alaska! Guess I could meet my brother for some coffee in front of the GM truck outlet. :0 Good luck guys I wish I could be at each one of your gatherings. This is unprecedented and impressive!
SAAB UP!
I sure hope these convoys and all other efforts work.
With GM saying that they will only sell to someone that knows what they are doing I am really nervous…
That reason alone is why I am really starting to believe that GM will close Saab. They have no clue how to run a car company and now they are trying to decide if someone else can!?
Well I am hoping for a miracle despite this!
Thanks Steven.
I’m a little low on numbers at the moment, but hopefully that will pick up during the week.
Cheers,
Mark.
BTW. We will have breakfast at IKEA before head to Holden at a leisurely pace.
Thanks to Aussielars for that suggestion.
Good luck to all the other rallies.
Nice going, Markac, especially when South Australia is the only state that doesn’t have a Saab club. So this an achievement in itself!
If you hadn’t mentioned IKEA, I wouldn’t have thought about their value-for-money breakfast!
Won’t 17th be way too late?
Just 500 cars here in Sweden? OK, that’s almost 5% of the cars Saab Automobile sold here in Sweden in 2009 but I guess it says a lot how interested most Swedes are in saving Saab.
I tried to start an SA Saab club three times in the nineties but failed. I have also tried a couple of times to get a branch of the national started since then. Some people were interested, but it was always a case of “give us a call when it’s up and running!” Maybe this will be a new beginning?
Fantastic job guys.
If GM sells Saab, this can be a wonderful tribute to this decision! If they do not sell, the media will call it a funeral convoy …
But lets stay positive! With all the bad media GM has been getting this past week and with 5 offers on the table it’s a no-brainer! GM, SELL SAAB!
SAAB UP!
If GM sells Saab, it will be a celebration rally and a farewell to GM. I don’t want to think about the other option just yet. Hopefully sanity will prevail?
I think you missed the point of these events, Dan. They were never intended to be a public thing to try and influence GM. They’re just a tribute to the love for the brand.
That’s right, and if it does make some people sweat in some GM HQ-office, we score a little bonus
“OK, that’s almost 5% of the cars Saab Automobile sold here in Sweden in 2009 but I guess it says a lot how interested most Swedes are in saving Saab.”
I don’t think so.
Using that as figure of interest is kind of pointless.
I agree with you. If the possible sale decision should take place no later than on the 15th of January, then we’re late with our “demonstrations”.
We ought to do a BIG one in the US. Perhaps in multiple cities on the same day!!! Each local Saab Club chapter should organize the event or something!!!
sad!
update from germany:
as things stand, on 15-01-10, part of the production line from the new 9-5 to China
loaded. However, from Rüsselsheim to China. Because there is a part of the plant
landfilled. It is probably only a matter of time until the rest of Trollhättan plant in china
about. SAIC will build the new Buick. SAIC is the partner of GM in China.
This is the new Buick in China are produced. The management of
Saab was not informed about this step. Buick is GM’s strongest brand in China.
It will probably start hardly a mass of 9-5 II. There are only a few “handful” produced 9-5 II and were much more it will be difficult.
I’m afraid I still can’t see the point of selling a re-badged 9-5 and the the LaCrosse in China. They are both the same size. Isn’t the LaCrosse good enough for them? A re-badged 9-5 will just steal sales from the LaCrosse which would be pointless.
http://www.autoevolution.com/news/buick-lacrosse-sales-explode-in-china-12422.html
If GM indeed kills Saab, we’ll trade the “SAVE SAAB” boards with “GM betrayed SAAB” or similar ones.
Maybe GM wants to secure the right to produce the new Saab 9.5 under the Buick label at China, before selling Saab Automobile.
agree to you markac
with the tooling you can produce every car on the epsilon plattform.
why should GM sell the 95 in china as buick if they already have one.
i think they only need the tools to increase the capacitys for more lacrosses.
Impressive with all these convoys!!!
If GM is selling tool to China because of a higher expected economical gain instead of selling to one of the bidders, could GM still claim “good faith” towards the dealers?
Just a quick update from the states. The SoCal Saab Club is going to do a run on the 17th as well. Meeting place is Walter Wong’s shop in Culver City. Anyone interested can email me directly at m.c.lawrence@gmail.com.
Great to see so much support for SAAB here in Australia.
It’s 420 kilometers from Stockholm to Trollhättan… hm. Maybe!
Swade,
With regard to Latvian convoy you can contact me back on my e-mail (where I did inform you about the event). Thank’s for including info here.
KurBads
BE/LV
Is’nt there anyone in Germany interestet in a Save Saab Convoy?? From Dresden to Rüsselsheim eg.
The Danish Saab Enthusiasts will use the slogan:
“GM – Yes You Can – SAVE SAAB”
printed on strikers 100×1500 mm placed on the side of our Saab´s.
The Danish Saab Convoy will be assembling members and the Saab vehicle along highway from Jutland – 16. of Januar.The first stop will be at Vejlby turn no. 58 at Fyen at 09.00.
Then crossing the famous surpension brigde 1,7 km long to Seeland and second stop will be at Tuelsø between Sorø/ringsted at 10:30.
We will be parsing Copenhagen at lunch time 13.00
The Saab Conway will be at Ellsinore the town of Hamlet, “to be ore not”, and then pasing by ferry to Sweeden at around 15.00.
At 17.00 going north to Trollhättan, and staying overnight at campsite before arriving at the Saab museum Sunday the 17. Jan.
Best hope for all of us, many greetings to the Saab Enthusiasts all over.
If you want to join us – please be in contact – we will try to get accomodation and information direct to you.
Keep the Saab Spirit
HC Thing
Denmark
consult@hc-thing.dk
0045 99 55 27 86
Good to see so much supporters
Great things people!
I’m trying to “move” Italian SAAB club but nothing seems to happen yet…
There are now 61 Saabs declared to take part in SSC.
I think the number can be bigger as the whole action is not completely fixed (we know more les the timing but not a route) the number is also not official as it is just a number of people who declared joining through facebook and Saab Klub Polska discussion forum.
There’s still a week to call other Saabbers and tell them to join.
If we reach 100 cars it’ll be visible.
Of course I was writing on SSC Poland.
Great initiative!
A great idea that could also be picked up by Saab Turbo Club of Sweden organising the Swedish convoy; cruise the neighbourhoods for SAABs & put invitation flyers under their wipers.
Focus on the area around Trollhättan.
Even though the convoys were never intended to be a public thing to try and influence GM, I believe it´s important that minimum 500 cars are shown up in Sweden. I’m a bit concerned that this will not be the case..
Great effort shown by all!!!
Simply wonderful to see such support and I am sure it means a lot to our friends here who work for Saab.
So how long would it take to drive from Melbourne to Adelaide…. or would a Victorian number plate at an Adelaide meet be poor taste?
Mike, about 8 hrs I think. You’re most welcome! Doesn’t the Saab Club in Victoria have anything planned? I thought Victoria had the highest percentage of Saabs in Australia? Stir them up!
Excellent point!
In my slackness I haven’t become a Victorian member yet….. must get it together and investigate further
Any Melbourne Saab Clubbers out there?
We probably have the lowest percentage of Australian Saabs in South Australia, so if I get 10 cars, I’ll be pretty happy. You’re welcome to attend. A car from interstate will help my media coverage, but it might shame Victoria. Isn’t Victoria Swade’s old home ground?
Come on Victoria. You can easily out do me. New South Wales too. Queensland and South Australia will show you up!
I thought Adelaide had a fair amount of Saab owners. I see heaps of them around. I’d like to attend but I don’t have a Saab at the moment. I’d feel out of place in my Mazda. Unless some one wants to lend me a Saab. LOL.
Btw before anyone questions why I’m here in the first place:
1)I’ve always liked Saabs and hate to see any good car company go to the wall like this. I had good memories of the 900 as well. Great car.:)
2)My uncle lives in Sweden and works for a component supplier and I’m fairly certain he will be affected.
There’s a few Saabs, but we seem to keep ourselves to ourselves. I believe we have the lowest number of Saabs per head of population, compared to other states. Perhaps the dealer will loan you a demo for the rally?
SLOVAKIA – it’s been announced a few day’s ago – 17th January in Bratislava
Griffin Up
Why not a SAAB procession outside the Capitol building in DC? US truck drivers have done this in the past to protest high fuel costs.
Saab Support Convoy in Warszawa IS official. The decison was taken one week ago. We had aprox. 60 cars on our Club page and aprox. 60 on Facebook. We expect 100-150 cars.
Happy to see there are some Saab supporters in the DC area. We would participate in a DC event.
Hi Mike,
I’m from Melbourne, but not (yet) part of the Saab club. I was thinking of ringing them up to see whether they were organising anything (or even had any idea this was going on…). I’m in! I suppose we could get in touch with some of the dealers?
Why don’t you drive down here instead? Koko Black makes Haigh’s look like Cadbury.
Is a dealer actually getting involved? I assume that would be Metro Saab since I think that’s the only one left in Adelaide.
Koko Black does make a mean chilli hot chocolate, but I guess it might be the wrong season for that kind of thing?
Will send of an email immediately to the Melbourne SCCA to see what the go is.
In the mean time… Griffin Up !!!
Just registered #452 on the Dutch Event.
It gives us headaches, but we won’t give up.
The model showcase is getting pretty nice. Several other nice plans are still work in progress.
We’ll produce a list of links to the Dutch trafic monitoring camera’s later this week, so you can spot them live.
And good luck to all the other convoys with this historic event!
When is it ever the wrong season for chocolate?
I sent off an email this morning, no word yet. Forms are members only, or else I would try that route. I really hope we get something together here.
Nice .jpeg!
Mike and Flygirl it looks like a convoy in Melbourne this Sunday may happen yet,, log onto SCCA site or contact me and will pass on details
Steve White
Info re the Melbourne event being planned at the moment:
http://www.saabclub.org.au/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2511
Main chair is currently away on holidays so Sandra is helping to get this off the ground.
FUGM!
sab (steve)
Thanks, Kinglake and sab! Still haven’t had a reply back from SCCA.
Should we getting the word out to dealerships as well?
Get Your Griffin Up!
flygirl> Shane, the chairman of Vic Branch is currently on holidays and not accessing his email. Your best bet is to call or email Sandra (ex-Chair of Vic Branch) who is organising this event for our branch. Her details are on the link I posted above.
I shall be there! FUGM!
steve
sab> Done and done! Thanks! Hopefully can get two cars along.
Steve .. Dealer involvement ?? yes or no .. it will affect them also and the more cars the better.
SAABs UP and UP yours GM
I will speak to Metro Saab, but it is tricky as they are also Metro Holden. Adelaide has only ever had one Saab dealer (at a time). These have been, Chateau Moteur, Adelaide Saab and now Metro Saab. Incidentally there was a dealer appointed before Chateau Moteur, but for various reasons, it never sold any cars.
I’m just trying to prove that Adelaide actually has Saabs!
South Australian Rally is now posted on SCCA
forum. Includes contact details.
Excellent news regarding Melbourne…. but sadly I won’t get to help Markac in Adelaide now
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