Saving the Saab Museum
December 30, 2011 in News, Saabology, SaabsUnited Related
Today is the last day that the Saab Museum is open to the public, if it will open after new years is depending on the will of the receivers and if a potential buyer is found that is willing to take over the museum itself. It is our belief that the museum should be separated from Saab the company!
We want to save Saab Car Museum… if we have to! This is a very important phrase, because we might not need to. But as I have hinted before we have been working on different backup plans for many months drawn different conclusions from that. I have today had a long and very constructive talk with Karl Ask chairman of the Swedish Saab Club and we agree completely on how things needs to be done if we as a world-wide community are to make a contribution of this size.
No individual organization or small club has even a chance to actually save the museum, it needs to be a united action by people, clubs from all over the world if this is to work! Even so we might not be able to do it.
Here is part of the plan which might be the way to save the museum, note the word “might”…
1. Start an association “Club”, for example called the Saab Cars Museum Association (SCMA)
2. Anyone who wants to join in and contribute to saving the museum needs to become a member of this association and pay a membership fee which will be used to cover the running-costs of the museum.
3. Clubs around the world will need to commit to aiding the association with funds to preserve the cars and cover costs, details about how this will be done is private information for each club.
4. A 5 year pure business plan needs to be established on how to cover costs
5. A 10 year plan to display the vision of the association needs to be established
6. Rules and regulations needs to be established
7. The people who will do the actual work will need to display their interest.
8. An temporary management group of the association needs to be established which will run the association for one year until a more permanent team can take over.
This is a joint effort by the whole Saab Community world wide. SaabsUnited is NOT a leading factor in this but only a small contributor and a part of the big picture.
To do this we will need the support of EVERYONE! If you are willing to join in this cause, we want to know. That is why we have created an e-mail where you can declare your intention to join the cause and become a member of the association once it starts. The membership fee is not yet established but should in my mind be in the regions of €50,- / $65,- per year. The people working on this project will do so completely without payment and no company will be involved or any purpose of profit making for anyone except to cover ongoing and future costs for the association.
Please declare your intention to help out at museum@saabsunited.se
JH said on December 30, 2011
Would this be some sort if “ideell förening” or “ekonomisk förening”?
TimR said on December 30, 2011
It will be a club based on a “förening”…
Oskar Malmgren said on December 30, 2011
Is it your opinion that the musum should be bought off even if Saab is sold in its entirety?
TimR said on December 30, 2011
Yes, it is our joint opinion. The museum should not be put at risk if an owner of Saab should get in financial difficulties…
DanSaab said on December 30, 2011
I agree very much with Tim!! The safety of the museum cannot be adventured again if the new owner of Saab would have difficult financially…
xelav said on December 30, 2011
Förening??? Meaning?
TimR said on December 30, 2011
Association or club
Yerrun said on December 30, 2011
There are 3 conference rooms inside the museum, with some small modifications this could be even 4-5. As I remember, SAAB could use these rooms for free but other companies have to pay. Trollhättan has several companies (e.g. Innovatum) who could use these rooms. The few times we had meetings there, our foreign guests were always very happy with the Saab museum as conference location. This could be a significant contribution to the revenues of the museum!
TimR said on December 30, 2011
sorry, not going to work… right now the only source of income are membership fees, everything else will just be a nice extra that can not be counted as a stable income! We are not even sure that we can keep the current facilities due to their high leasing costs…
Arne Höglund said on January 3, 2012
But how about entrance fees then?
Yerrun said on December 30, 2011
I see… So the “museum” should be seen as a collection of cars, rather than the actual building. Does this also mean that the building is owned by Innovatum and not by Saab Automobile?
Still, I think a conference room should be something to consider, but maybe at a later stage.
TimR said on December 30, 2011
The facilities are not owned by the museum. Leasing fees have been paid by Saab but due to their high costs we might not be able to stay there if we decide to do this. That is all part of a negotiation process with the owners of the building. Right now, we need a head-count to see how many are actually interested in actually paying 50 euro’s yearly to save the museum for 5-10 years.
We would need about 20-3’000 members at least if this is to work! so far 31 people have signed up!…
jouni72 said on December 30, 2011
Think about possibilty to have “golden members” or something who could pay more annually or for example a system that You can buy in a way a “share” for example certain museum cars and that can be seen in the museum who are “part owners”. I could for example “part own” models in the museum I have driven. Or is it just best to have one “vote”, one membership fee / person? In the beginning I anyway think it would be good to have a bit more expensive entrance membership fee (100-200 euros) and then annual fee like 50 euros as you propose.
StateofNine said on December 30, 2011
Great idea! Count us in. Let’s get the word out to the facebook pages, etc.
SteveW said on December 30, 2011
Hi Tim
First of all I’m so glad you feel so determined to rescue the museum, if that proves necessary. I visited back when the 9000 was brand new so that’s quite a while back and I’d hate to see the collection break up or pass into unreliable hands.
A few questions as I am not familiar with the workings of a club in Sweden …
1. Who will be the legal owner of the vehicles and ancillary items? If your reply is ‘the club’ what does that actually mean? In the uk if a club terminates the assets belong to the current members at that time.
2. Does club status give the members limited liability for any debts accrued by the club?
3. Your original plan seemed to suggest the museum being open every day. I really don’t think this is viable. IMHO one week day and either Saturday or Sunday ie 2 days a week would make more sense and reduce costs considerably.
I have recently visited the heritage motor museum in the uk and it is superb http://www.heritage-motor-centre.co.uk Perhaps making links with an organisation like this to share ideas about funding, commercial and preservation might be a good idea. I see on the website they have national lottery funding. Is there something similar in Sweden that could be tapped?
Anyway as long as I’m happy with your answers to the above, “I’m in” as they say on Dragons Den
TimR said on December 30, 2011
1. The club will own and operate the museum with the management of the club being responsible for the operation.
2. No member is in any way liable financially. No loans will be taken for this, what we buy we buy with money we have, if we can’t afford it we don’t buy it…
3. This is something we have to consider as well… we will do what we are able to do…
Thanx for wanting to help out steve, please send in an e-mail! =)
SteveW said on December 30, 2011
Hi Tim
Thanks for the quick answers, however I’m still not clear who owns the assets if the club ceases to exist. I think this is a very important point that needs to be clear as in the UK it’s the members of a club not the management committee.
TimR said on December 30, 2011
Well here in Sweden the club can have assets registered on the club, its more like an association which is registered but it does not need to pay tax on any sales etc that occurs within the association, i.e. for its members…
SteveW said on December 30, 2011
Great stuff, as I read that – the club own the assets and the entire membership own the club.
My concern was that someone with less than altruistic motives could manoeuvre themselves into a position of power within the club in the future and take the lot! I’ll send my sign-up email right now.
Tulsaab said on December 30, 2011
Thank you for the amazing amount of hard work you’ve done in to this. Never been to the museum, but hope to go someday and i’m definitely in.
One item that I see quite a bit in foundations/museums/sponsorships of events is different tiers of membership – i.e., for a one time donation of X, you’d get to be “Aero” level which would get you a grille insert for your Saab and a brick out front of the museum with your name on it, or something along those lines. Then, perhaps you could go from Arc, Vector, Linear or something along those lines for the rest of the tiers? (heck, if those differentiations worked for the cars we love, they might just work the museum as well! Not sure if it was just a US-thing though…) Just a thought…
jouni72 said on December 30, 2011
+1, exactly same what I just commented to TimR…:)
Anders said on December 30, 2011
I have just now said that you can count me in. I wish us all best of luck.
Anders
Saabissimo said on December 30, 2011
Great initiative.
I agree with other commentators that apart from the base level membership fee @ EUR 50 or so, you should also try to solicit donations on a higher level from individuals or corporates who are willing to support with more. With ONLY base level fees it will be difficult to raise the necessary funds, and there will always be some Saab supporters who will have a little bit deeper pockets.
Try to compose attractive packages with a varying degree of exposure for the supporters on brass plaques or something like that. Arc, Vector, Linear, Aero is a cool idea, or you could use the more neutral
Or you could even let companies/individuals “adopt” specific cars (and get exposure on a sign next to the car). Or both options.
Just differentiate so that you capture those who potentially are able to support more than the base membership fee.
Saabissimo said on December 30, 2011
one sentence got cut off for some reason:
“… more neutral silver, gold and platinum membership.”
TurboLover said on December 30, 2011
were do I pay?
North Toronto Punter said on December 30, 2011
I’m in an individual basis. Also interested to see what would be available on corporate/company side…
Must admit, I see the existing museum space has being integral to this effort in so far as I can’t imagine a more wonderful setting, having visited several times…with the restaurant next door, meeting rooms (as mentioned above). Hell, what a great place for corporate retreat–or wedding/function (as many other museums do).
[BTW: I know our Peter 'Million Mile Saab' Gilbert has several ideas on this front and has been among the strongest supporters of the initiative to save the museum; would recommend (and nominate) him as one of the 'Advisory Board' if this comes to be]
Peter Gilbert said on December 30, 2011
My Dear Friends,
This has been a rough month to say the least but I have an idea to finance the SAAB Museum in Trollhättan. I am very disappointed that I only received one reply to this very idea two weeks ago. I did send this to many people at Saab and I realized this may not have been a priority when the news hit so it is time to re-address the point. Ironically I have had people approach me with this idea, even though they do not own SAABs.
Living in Wisconsin we are blessed with the number one team (from the smallest city in the whole game) in American Football the Green Bay Packers. Recently they just issued stocks to raise money for the improvement of their stadium. The main purpose was to have the fans through a fancy certificate, feel like part of the fraternity. This is just in addition to other methods.
Packer Fans are like SAAB Owners with their fanaticism. We could issue designed certificates at different donation levels with iconic SAABs on them. This is not stock like in the IPO sense but more like a donation to feel ownership. The Packers raised a few million dollars and I am convinced we can do the same. Most museum rent space for receptions, another great fund-raiser.
Right now we need all the feasible ideas possible. Please give this some thought. I will ask my friends at The Wisconsin Auto Museum where my SPG is displayed for ideas on fund-raising. Ironically Museums are my hobby as I am committed to preservation and I certainly hope for better results than the SK-37 Viggen that I tried to preserve for the USA that ended up being scrapped by the Swedish Air force.
http://www.packers.com/news-and-events/article-1/Packers-stock-sale-underway-250-shares-to-support-Lambeau-Field-expansion/17178be6-6fdc-49a2-bffe-d650bda38ef5
PS Green Bay is just twice the size of Trollhättan. Think BiG! Even the Packer own Hall of Fame is separate from their club.
saabyurk said on December 30, 2011
May I suggest looking at the Studebaker Museum in South Bend, Indiana for ideas. Their goals seem similar to yours, and they have been around quite some time now. Your suggested fees seem comparable to theirs although they have many fee options. They have a very nice facility. An Online store might raise meaningful funds.
http://studebakermuseum.org/
Peter Gilbert said on December 30, 2011
Thanks, this was just one facet to raise money. You still have functions, admission fee, endowments, etc.
derek said on December 30, 2011
URGENT REQUEST!
Can someone go to the museum today, take a lot of pictures, and post it here? Seeing pictures is not the same as visiting but it is better than nothing.
Requested pictures: the “Daihatsu” Saab 96/99, the EV-2 (the 1980′s concept car) and the dashboard, if possible, any classic 900 3 door, the first Saabs, overall pictures, like from the lobby or a shot of many cars from a distance.
If you know of links to photos, post those but 2011 pictures would be nice.
Rune said on December 30, 2011
Sorry derek, they closed 45 minutes before you posted your comment.
I have been out cold this week with the flu and have not been up early enough to get there. It takes me an hour to drive to the museum.
KoGa said on December 30, 2011
I think you will find plenty of photos around on the Internet, maybe even this site or inside.saab.com, etc.
Mandy said on December 30, 2011
Hope for somebody to post pics of the Saab Museum on this site. Until that happens you may wish to go to google.com and write the following options:
youtube saab car museum.
video saab car museum
Also try writing only:
saab car museum.
That would give you a number of private and other videos, also articles.
Should you come across swedish text pls note the below short translation:
bilder – means pictures
fler bilder – more pictures
fler video – more videos
mer – more
————–
Wishing you all the best for the coming New Year 2012
————-
We are many
We are Saab
Let’s find a Solution
is our New Years Resolution
derek said on December 30, 2011
If we cannot save the museum, could we save the cars and store them? Perhaps, they could be seen by appointment and if admission is paid. Later, a museum could be created.
TimR said on December 30, 2011
Saving the museum or saving the cars and storing them would be about the same costs… A ventilated warmed up warehouse will cost about the same as the museum itself…
tknage said on December 30, 2011
I will support the idea, Tim. Good work! I will make one subscription pr. Saab I own. That’s at least two subscriptions here. If the wife would let me have a dog, it could have a subscription too.
TimR said on December 30, 2011
Thank you =) If you haven’t done so already, please send an e-mail about this to museum@saabsunited.se =)
tknage said on December 31, 2011
You are the best.
CoolCombi said on December 30, 2011
Count me in! I sent you a separate e-mail with my info!
TimR said on December 30, 2011
So far 131 people have signed on, not too bad for the first day =)
SPG900NY said on December 30, 2011
I would commit to a few years at $65 a year.
manuel said on December 30, 2011
I´m in, whatever we can do we will do!
nickX said on December 30, 2011
does that mean, the club would buy and own the vehicles?
Andrei Iliev said on December 30, 2011
Great idea !!!
I sent you my e-mail confirmation.
Also I published this information on my web-site http://www.saab-club.com
bpsorrel said on December 31, 2011
Email confirmation sent!
Donald Munro said on December 31, 2011
Email confirmation sent!
Sergey Malinin said on December 31, 2011
I was not able to read carefully all comments so sorry if I repeat somebody’s ideas.
Me personally ready to pay 50 Euros year fee for membership. Also if you need any help in Russia to promote Museum for newcomers please count on my labor free of charge.
Moreover I agree with one comment about “gold members” because I think there are famous and rich people throught out the world who is fan of Saab or like it. Or like other guys I see above ready to be involved, football team or rugby team etc., could help to save the symbols of turbo era.
In this case just send emails via usual social networks like Facebook to them could be useful. For example I guess Mr.Branson or other similar enthusiasts even not big fan of Saab could answer us.
I mean for some aged people Saab history is a part of their own life. For example if somebody asked me 50 – 100 Euros to save soviet Lada museum I do because it is part of my childhood in Soviet Union.
plojaa said on December 31, 2011
Someone should contact Jay Leno…….he’s a car guy.
Muppen said on December 31, 2011
Here is his agent´s mail.
slevine@icmtalent.com
I´m not that good writer in english, so someone else should write that letter.
Ida Wedin said on January 2, 2012
Yes! Fantstic idea! Though I still think that Trollhättan and the region should take responsibility for the museum. Bot if they don’t…
H started thes group on facebook some months ago please join!:
Vi som vill rädda Saab-museet i Trollhättan
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Vi-som-vill-rädda-Saab-museet-i-Trollhättan/