You are browsing the archive for 2011 September.

SF Bay October Fest Prep. and … MapTun!

September 30, 2011 in Uncategorized

 Preparations for the Saab OctoberFest in the San Francisco Bay Area are underway!   I have a box full of SU License Plate Frames and StateOfNine goodies anxiously waiting at home,  the folks at Dirito Brothers Walnut Creek Saab are setting up.  Tonight I will be prepping all of the activities.  Most of the details of the event are continuing as planned but I have another announcement to make:  Once again, thanks to Dan’s efforts at StateOfNineWe will be taking MapTun software-upgrade orders, at an awesome (one day only) discount, during the event!  Included here is the special price-listing for MapTun performance upgrades: Retail 26-Sept-2011 Maptun Offer Summary.  And once again here is a complete rundown of the SF Bay October Fest Details.

Avatar of TimR

by TimR

People arriving

September 30, 2011 in Uncategorized

20110930-202418.jpg

20110930-202434.jpg

Avatar of Rune

by Rune

First service — checking the fluids

September 30, 2011 in Editorial

Draining the oil

After 30000 km on the road, my 9-5′s first service was finally due. I headed over to my local dealer, Gustaf E Bil in Mariestad, and received excellent service as usual. Urban changed my oil, oil filter and inspected every inch, nook and cranny. All the door hinges were oiled and one of the hooks in the trunk had a screw tightened as a bonus.
Read the rest of this entry →

Avatar of TimR

by TimR

Hirsch has arrived in Sweden

September 30, 2011 in Hirsch

Last night this photo popped up on Facebook. It is the 9-5 Aero with all the Hirsch goodies you can find, and it has arrived in Sweden. The photo taken by Till72 onboard the ferry to Sweden form Germany.

Avatar of TimR

by TimR

SAAB supporting the October Fest!

September 30, 2011 in SAAB Automobile AB

Our good friends at SAAB Automobile have had a tough time financially over the last months, and that is no secret. Even so SAAB has gone out of their way to try to support the October Fest as much as they can with no less than two 9-4x’s, a 9-5 SportsCombi and the e-Power cars.

 

However yesterday we also received some more good news. Saab has arranged for us to borrow a 9-3 TTiD “119g” 180 Hp SportSedan and a 9-3 2,0T BioPower Griffin Aero Convertible, and yes, you guys get to drive them on October 1st! I would like to extend my deepest appreciation for this, I know a lot of hard work went into getting these cars to us and we owe them a big thank you for this!

Avatar of TimR

by TimR

October Fest, The Program!

September 30, 2011 in SaabsUnited Related

EVENT SCHEDULE TROLLHÄTTAN (CONFIRMED)

FRIDAY September 30th – TROLLHÄTTAN

Convoys to Trollhättan:

18:30 – Gathering at the SAAB CAR Museum with transport to various hotels.
19:00 – Welcome mingle starts at hotel SWANIA, everybody is welcome!
22:00 – Good night, see you all tomorrow
Read the rest of this entry →

Avatar of Red J

by Red J

Saab Engineers believe in the future of Saab

September 30, 2011 in Saabology

Being an engineer myself, and being quite devoted to what I do, I could not understand some comments here and on the press, telling that Saab engineers should leave the sinking boat and run to Volvo.

If you compare engineers with artists, to leave Saab and start at Volvo would be like stop painting in expressionism style and start painting in cubism style. Some may do it, but not the most.

The engineers association was the only one that never filled Saab for bankruptcy. The engineers believed in the future of Saab, and without knowing the outcome they put a bet on Saab to succeed. This shows their faith in the brand, or maybe, and I know we engineers are sometimes a little bit egocentric, in themselves and their work.

Read the rest of this entry →

Avatar of Jeff

by Jeff

CPP Responds to Proposed Spyker Sale

September 29, 2011 in News

It appears that despite their MOU with SWAN’s lapse in June, CPP still wants Spyker. I’m not sure what is going on behind the scenes here and I really don’t want to speculate, but it’s always nice to have both sides of the story presented. While this is first and foremost a Saab site, I’ve developed an affinity for Spyker in its own right, and considering this deal has an impact on SWAN’s debt situation, it directly affects Saab’s turnaround.

Read CPP’s press release after the break.

Read the rest of this entry →

Avatar of TimR

by TimR

RBM October Fest Special offers!

September 29, 2011 in Uncategorized

Our good friends at RBM Performance are doing a special deal for all SaabsUnited readers!

They offer 15 % discount on all genuine and aftermarket saab parts available in our webshop so in total about 3000 references… (filters,turbochargers,clutch lighting parts, body parts… ).

The discount applies on all orders placed using the webshop from the friday 30 september to the 2nd of october!

The discount code to use during thee online ordering process is : OCTOBERFEST

Avatar of TimR

by TimR

Swedish Radio interviews ANA about the Octoberfest

September 29, 2011 in News

Lyssna: Uppladdning inför Saabfest

- On saturday we’re having an octoberfest. We have a lot of activities during the day. We will display many beautiful cars: New 9-4x, the New 9-5 Combi, Saabs police car, Saabs electric car and also the biogas version of the 9-3 that ANA has developed said Joachim Lindh, CEO at ANA who is hosting the event.

It was at the end of august when some bloggers at the fan-site SaabsUnited got tired of all the bad news being circulated around the company and decided to arrange an event in Trollhättan. Ana in Trollhättan, where Joachim Lindh is the CEO immediately said yes when asked if they wanted to join in. But this is nothing new to the company.
- We did a similar thing this spring, when both we and SaabsUnited had an event together and displayed some cars. But this one is much bigger so I’m sure we are going to have a really nice saturday.
According to Lindh there is much interest in the event.
- From what I’ve heard from our friends at SaabsUnited there is a big interest for this event with people coming from all over the world.
How important are events like this in times of crisis like we have now?
- When times are tough there is an even greater reason to be creative and host nice events.

Avatar of RobinM

by RobinM

Saab GB will be at Earls Court *Updated

September 29, 2011 in News

Swedish car maker, Saab, is taking to the stand at this year’s Scandinavian Show, which will feature the very best the Nordic countries have to offer; from innovative design to great food and cutting edge entertainment to top fashion brands.
Saab will be showcasing a range of vehicles at the event, which takes place on 8th and 9th October at Earls Court in London, and celebrates everything that’s new, exciting and enticing from Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland.

Visitors to the show will be able to enjoy the powerful presence of the 9-5 Saloon, Saab’s most advanced car to date, in addition to raising the roof of the car maker’s iconic soft top, the Saab 9-3 Convertible, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.

Charles Toosey, Managing Director at Saab GB comments: “At Saab, we are delighted to be exhibiting at this year’s Scandinavian Show and will be showcasing a range of vehicles at an event which celebrates the very best of what the region has to offer.

“We are incredibly proud of our Swedish heritage and this year we mark the 25th anniversary of the launch of Saab’s innovative Convertible, which we are delighted to have on display at the show for visitors to experience for themselves.”

Saab GB is offering Saabs United members the opportunity to win a pair of tickets to the Scandinavian Show. To be in with a chance of winning one of two pairs of tickets, simply tell us how many years the Saab Convertible is celebrating this year by emailing saabcompetition@saab.com, quoting SAABSUNITED along with your full name, address, and telephone number.

Visitors to the Saab stand will also be able to enter a prize draw to win a Saab weekend break with hotel accommodation courtesy of luxury hotel guide ‘Mr and Mrs Smith’, which visits, reviews and recommends stylish boutique hotels. The winner will also have the use of a Saab vehicle throughout the weekend and £100 spending money*.

For details of the Scandinavian Show, visit www.scandinaviashow.co.uk.

* The competition is open to all UK residents aged 18 and over (excluding Northern Ireland and islands of the UK which are not accessible by road). Prize draw consists of 2 night’s accommodation at Cotswold House, Chipping Camden for two people, including a 3 course dinner with wine on one night and £100.00 spending money. The prize also includes the use of a Saab car with fuel for the duration of the prize weekend. In order to take advantage of the Saab car, the winner or their guest must be 25 years or over, have held a full driving licence for at least a year and hold a major credit card. For full terms and conditions, please contact Saab Great Britain Ltd on 0845 300 9395.

For further information please contact: Jackie Allard, PR Manager, Tel: 01234 756 843/07775 824 982 Email: jackie.allard@saab.com
Press materials and digital images of the Saab range are available to download for editorial use from our media website at http://media.saab.com

Avatar of Red J

by Red J

Press Release: Swedish Automobile may sell Spyker sportcar businises.

September 29, 2011 in News

SWEDISH AUTOMOBILE REACHED CONDITIONAL AGREEMENT ON MAIN TERMS SALE SPYKER BUSINESS

Zeewolde, The Netherlands, 29 September 2011 – Swedish Automobile N.V. (Swan) announces it has reached conditional agreement with North Street Capital, LP (North Street) about the main terms of the sale of the Spyker sportscar business.

Read the rest of this entry →

Avatar of Trued

by Trued

Per Eklund Swedish champion in a Saab 9-3

September 29, 2011 in News, Rally Team, Uncategorized


The young swedish driver (65 years of age) became Swedish Champion in RallyCross last weekend at Kinnekulle Racetrack near Trollhättan.
Let´s hope for a fast return to motorsport for Saab once the economy is squared out. RallyCross is great but even greater is WRC Rallying. When it comes to Historic Rallying & Racing there is SUHRT of course.

A big round of hurray for good old Per still possessing the true Saab fighting spirit. Will he ever step down? No I do not think so.

Taken from Per Eklund Fan site:
The final weekend of the Swedish Rallycross Championship held at the Kinnekulle circuit near Götene hosted a Supercar final that would be a clean final competition and would thus crown a Swedish Supercar champion, (the championship having this year only hosted Super Nationell, National 2400 and the Swedish Junior Championship). Hedström had initially taken an early lead in the Supercar final but had his lead snatched away from him after his Skoda Fabia ‘Helga’ recently rented from Belgian Rallycross star, Jochen Coox, caught fire. Race Marshalls immediately ‘red flagged’ the race, leaving the race set to be restarted, and Hedström left to exit the circuit deflated and out Championship contention; his car’s damage too significant to enter the Final restart. It was Per Eklund who emerged as leader in the restarted final snatching victory form Swede Stig-Olov Walfridsson. The Swedish legend and Rallycross veteran took the win after passing Walfridsson who was forced to slow due to a puncture.

For Peter Hedström, the events in the race could lead to damaging consequences. Hedström on ‘Facebook’ post-race: “These things happen in this sport, it is just a shame I was struck by such bad luck whilst taking the lead in the final, but it’s the nature of Rallycross.” Peter Hedström had rented the Skoda Fabia with hope of taking the Swedish title in Götene, the place where he grabbed the Swedish junior Rallycross Championship ten years ago. Hedström was reported to have had his sights set on gold here, and then to follow he would compete in the Czech Republic in the ERC, if the car was in good condition for the event next weekend. Speaking to Swedish Newspaper, “Värmland Folkblad” Hedström said: “It will be a tough competiton but my sights are set on gold. We take one thing at a time. But if the car is not too demolished then there is an absolute chance that I had could compete next weekend. You just have to hope that the sponsors are as generous as they are now.” Hedström was focused on a good European Championship effort which could pave the way for a hefty investment in the championship next year for the Swede. The Norwegian Ole Håbjørgtook the touring cars in Sweden ahead of Lars Rosendahl and Irishman, Derek Tohill.

Avatar of TimR

by TimR

October Fest Information: Dinner tickets

September 28, 2011 in SaabsUnited Related

Thanks to the big help of Nova Mat & Möten who is the restaurant we have partnered up with for the dinner on saturday night we are now able to offer tickets up to the last minute when ANA closes. You will be able to reserve your place. The amount of seats is limited if you want to make sure to get a seat, please send an e-mail to dinner@saabsunited.se and reserve your place at a table. The booking is binding.

The dinner tickets can be paid at ANA or at the restaurant upon arrival on saturday.

We are sending out reservation confirmations as fast as we can but due to our high workload right now, please have some patience! =)

Avatar of Jeff

by Jeff

Spyker Cars sold to US Private Equity Group

September 28, 2011 in Uncategorized

This is hot off the presses and I can’t really comment much about it, but it appears that the Spyker Cars arm of Swedish Autombile has been sold to US private equity group North Street. You’ll recall the deal to sell the car company to CPP/Atnonov fell apart a few months ago.

According to this report, the reconstruction of Saab will continue on. Clearly this should ease the liquidity of SWAN to some extent, which is welcome news. Whether or not Spyker will rejoin Saab down the road is certainly in question. Read the article from the Financial Times (subscription only) after the break.

Thanks to Mihow for the tip!
Read the rest of this entry →

49 visitors online now
35 guests, 14 members
Max visitors today: 82 at 02:17 pm CET
This month: 336 at 01-03-2012 03:25 pm CET
This year: 336 at 01-03-2012 03:25 pm CET
All time: 509 at 12-06-2011 09:07 pm CET