by Tim
May 7, 2013 in SAAB Festival 2013, Saab Museum
For everyone visiting the SAAB Festival the dinner party on saturday night is usually the highlight of the whole weekend. This time it wont be different and tickets for this dinner have always been sold off pretty fast. The Museum has now started to sell the tickets through its web shop, be quick to grab one because this is one thing you don’t want to miss! Click on the image below to go to the museum.
by RobinM
May 7, 2013 in News, SAAB Parts
After a successful first year of trading, Saab Parts UK is announcing a new line to help owners and independent repairers of older Saabs. Looking through the Saab back catalogue, there are more than 70,000 Saabs on UK roads which are maturing into Saab “classics”.
Included in the classic group is the original 900 series (already referred to by many as the 900 classic, made from 1979 to 1993), the 9000 hatch and CD saloon (from 1985-1997), the 900 series 2 (from 1994-1998), and the 9-3 (generation 1 from 1998 – 2003).
by Tim
May 7, 2013 in Editorial
I’ve been looking through the recruitment page of SAAB Cars and I have to say that it sure puts a smile on my face because the guys they are looking for now are the ones you’ll need if you want to start production, although the number of positions open is so far fairly low it makes sense to start small.
Make no mistake, the number of positions open for the specialists that they are looking for now is not enough to start full scale production, at least not on the scale that Saab used to have, but we all know that this is just the beginning. Expect the process of recruitment to take about a month or two at least and the people being hired will most likely start working after the swedish industrial summer vacation which usually lasts for about 5-6 weeks. These guys will probably walk through the gates of Saab again sometime in late august.
We’ve made estimations about this kind recruitment and said a few months ago that if production was to be given a chance to start in 2013, NEVS would need to make the kind of recruitment they are doing now sometime in middle of May. This proves that the guys we spoke to about this knew very well what they were talking about.
by JasonPowell
While doing what seems to be the daily ritual of looking through the NEVS/SAAB website, I came across a number of job postings today, 6 in total. Now I don’t know if any former Saab employees who have held these positions in the past read our site to keep updated or not but these seem like fairly important roles to be filled.
All positions look to be important to the restart of production. They were all listed today as well. It would appear that we are edging closer to a production facility that is operational once again. It has been pointed out before that there would be no business sense to hire production staff and such until they were needed because you are then spending money on something with no product being made to sell to offset the expenses. This is the next natural step in getting operational and I would have to think that production staff is not too far behind.
Below is a short list of the positions listed:
by RobinM
May 5, 2013 in News
Just over a week ago I mentioned that there was going to be a special Golden Flag relay around the country to celebrate The Saab Owners Club of Great Britain’s Golden Jubilee.
Well today was the start and members of the East Sussex branch met up with members from the South West Branch to hand over the flag.
It was a pleasant day with sun shining and warm tempatures.
The next exchange will be at Swedish Day next Sunday.
by JasonPowell
by JasonPowell
May 3, 2013 in Fan Stuff, Sotw
This weeks Saab Of The Week is a little special to most of us here. It is that of a 2012 9-5 Combi that is owned by non other than Markus Lafrentz, who has done what most said could not be done. He and his dealership have certified this beauty and others making them street legal. Rather fitting that this photo has generated lots of conversation in the last few days and for those attending the SAAB FESTIVAL in Trollhättan, I believe this car may even be part of the convoy of 32 or so cars heading your way. Thanks for sharing with us Markus and more so for making these cars see the open road.
by Tim
May 3, 2013 in Editorial
Its right now 01:25 at night and by this time tomorrow I’ll be experiencing something that I have never done before. I will be on holiday with my girlfriend Johanna on the sunny island of Mallorca. We first met in 2004 and have been a couple ever since, she is the best thing that ever happened to me and we’ve shared many happy and sad events over the last 9 years. On May 7th we’re celebrating our anniversary of becoming a couple, 3 years ago we got engaged and so far, with careers in the making we haven’t really had time to get married… but for the first time in 9 years we finally have the time to go on vacation.
So why is it, that when my life should be so happy, that I would like nothing more than to go back to the year of 1997, and especially the summer of that year…
Well back then, life in Trollhättan was great, Saab was about to launch a new car, the 9-5 and I was one of the Saab kids who mostly played around with all the other Saab kids. We were the sons and daughters of employees who all worked at Saab.
I especially remember 1997 because thats when my father brought home a brand new midnight blue Saab 9000 CSE 2,3 Turbo. A very nicely equipped car and man it was beautiful. My family spent a lot of money on cars back then, my dad used to bring home a new Saab at least once every 2 years, sometimes more often and I could tell that he was especially proud to own this one. This was actually the first car I drove…
In Sweden, 16 year olds are allowed to practice drive with their parents for 2 years until they are 18 years old, only then are they allowed to actually get a drivers license. I had the pleasure of driving that amazing looking Saab 9000 CSE for 2 years until 1999 when the car was damaged in an accident at the Saab parking lot, my dad never really got over that, even when we traded the car in for a brand new and beautiful beyond belief frost-grey Saab 9-5 SE in the autumn of 1999 I could tell that he still missed his 9000 CSE.
But as I live in todays world where the Saab factory is closed down, even though it has a new owner and things might work out. Most of my friends, family and other people I meet in Trollhättan are unemployed or only getting very short part time jobs. Those days in 1997 were free of trouble for Saab, even though the 9-5 was the car that was supposed to save Saab it still didn’t feel that bad. Saab had a lot going for it with 2 new models in the making and the 900 series was still pretty, selling well and soon getting an upgrade. Who would have known back then, that the next 13 years would be a continuous painful fight for survival…
I visited Trollhättan a few days ago and I cant feel anything else than sadness as I drive on the roads I’ve always driven on thinking back to the good old days of the 90′s when people were happy about going to work for Saab, no they were not just happy, they were proud of it and I know that even those who complained back then, miss it now…
Brand new Saabs were a constant thing on the streets of Trollhättan and every now and then you could even see some cool development car driving by at high speed trying its best to avoid cameras!… I remember that me and some friends used to go out to the factory some times just to be there in case we would see something brand new and secret, in fact I don-t think we ever did, but there was no shame in trying and we had some good times sitting there talking, dreaming of what kind of cars we would buy in the future.
Well I bought several of those kind of cars and today I’m an extremely proud owner of the car of my dreams, a fully equipped Saab 9-5 SC Griffin from 2010, but even so I miss that Saab 9000 CSE… I miss the time when my father had an important job at SAAB, I miss the times I could visit the factory and it was full of life with lots of great people being proud of what they did, I miss seeing all of those employees getting into their own Saabs driving home, knowing that they were part of creating something that mattered a lot, to a lot of people…
I know those days are gone and reality is what it is…
by RobinM
May 2, 2013 in Events, Saab Clubs
I had a message from Carsten about a tour that he is putting together for this weekend, a tour through The Black Forest in Germany.
As he tells me they are very busy getting the final plans together.
The main details (in German) can be found on the forum www.saab-cars.de,
http://www.saab-cars.de/aktuelle-saab-termine/60460-das-saab-cars-de-treffen-2013-a.html
This is the 10th anniversary of the forum…
Here is the message from Carsten
Hello, SAAB-enthusiast,
Like every year, the first weekend in May is the weekend of our “Black Forest Trip”. In a few days we will meet up again for the 2013 tour.
by JasonPowell
May 2, 2013 in Fan Stuff, Saab Clubs
Wether you are part of a Saab Club or a group of like minded Saab nuts that like to just get together and talk cars, nothing beats having a clean car and being able to have a little car show or to even be a part of a large car show.
Often we hear stories about what Saab has meant to individuals and how connected they are to the brand. The one important side to the connection to the brand is that connection runs deeper and there is a connection to the people. Most will join a club or group because they want to have a place where they feel they belong or are appreciated and as a whole, Saab fits that bill very well because to the outside world, they don’t get it.
I have heard of Clubs and Groups that are not overly welcoming or not welcoming at all to people with newer Saabs and have even heard reasoning in a way that is beyond anything that could ever make sense to me. The reason I keep hearing is that the cars are not Saab enough. My way of thinking to these kinds of statements is that if Saab is put into a box of what it can or can’t be by anyone, that will be it for me. I like new and old and everything in between. As I said to people in a conversation in the social media world this week, if you have a new 9-5 or an old 96 and want to talk or share your car with me, I am all ears and eyes and will give you my time. We all belong.
by JasonPowell
April 30, 2013 in Editorial, SAAB Parts, SAAB Parts North America
Ever since SPNA has existed there have been questions about how well stocked they are, what they are doing to replenish the Saab parts supply and even others that just want to see inside. Recently Tim Rokka was at Saab Parts in Sweden and his visit prompted me to contact the guys at SPNA to see if I could get some photos of the warehouse and to answer some operational questions. This is what I got.
by Tim
April 30, 2013 in Projects
Here is a video from the engine test we told you about yesterday! Big thanx to Jani for getting it online quickly! The final seconds of the video shows the actual run and its pretty nice to se how the exhaust turns red! =)
by Tim
April 29, 2013 in Press Releasse
There was enormous interest in the 78 unique Saabs at KVD’s car auction held at the beginning of April. The greatest interest was reserved for the few 9-5 Aero Sportcombi 2012 models that were for sale and the Saabs’ new owners are spread across Europe.
The auction of the unique Saab cars ended on 3rd April and received a lot of attention, both in Sweden and internationally. The most expensive was a Saab 9-5 Aero Sportcombi, where the winning bid came in at 364,000 SEK. There was then a Saab 9-4X 3.0 V6 XWD at 350,000 SEK, followed by a Saab 9-5 2.0 TiD4 Vector Sportcombi, which sold for 319,500 SEK.
by Tim
April 29, 2013 in Projects
The legendary P-A Johansson who several times have graced the Saab community with serious powered cars has now achieved his goal of creating a SAAB with over 1000 hp’s in it. The engine was put to the test on sunday morning at Trollspeed’s facilities in Trollhättan, Sweden and it delivered 1032 Horse-power and 1080 Nm of Torque.
The inlet pressure reached a peak of 3,7 bars and the engine is a custom built 2,35 liter Saab Turbo engine. The guys who have put in many long hours into this project have done an absolutely amazing job!
by Martin T16s
April 29, 2013 in Editorial
Following on from Madelene’s post, I thought I would write my own tribute to the wonderful Saab 900 Turbo. (my example pictured)
Turbocharging was once the domain of the fast and exotic, till Saab got to work and offered the 900.
Prior to the 1980s, mainstream motoring was largely devoid of turbochargers. During the 1960s, Chevrolet and Oldsmobile had experimented with turbocharging in the US, and BMW and Porsche were to go further the following decade by developing two iconic sports cars the 2002 Turbo and 911 Turbo respectively. But neither of these were the sort of vehicles you’d see very often in the real world. Especially not suburban Wales!
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