Now the title may sound like a call to action and I guess in a way it is. We keep seeing comments about this, that and the other on NEVS and how they should or shouldn’t be doing business and as I keep pointing out, I for one am willing to wait and see before I pass harsh and rash judgement. My call to action if you will is to see some stories on Saab Clubs or fan stories about meeting others with this passion of ours and the friendships that have come out of this thing called Saab.
When I first began reading stories on Saabs United and meeting Saab people, the thing that struck me was the way the people were bonded. The first time I read comments on Saabs United, it struck me that even in the comments sections of posts that the readers seemed to know each other, now in most cases obviously not face to face knowing each other but none the less they seemed to enjoy conversing on this blog. Working in a Saab dealership the thing I noticed with the Saab people was a love to talk about Saab and more so about their cars which is great for someone like me that loves cars.
One of the first things I looked into when exploring all things Saab was Saab Clubs. A club is something you belong to and brings like minded people together and the knowledge shared is one of the best benefits of belonging. I was excited to know that in BC we had a strong club that met regularly and were eager to come see us when we became a Saab dealer. Since the first time they visited we have seen many of them come back to visit as a group or just in for a visit or service work. The Saab Club Of Western Canada is a great bunch of people who I enjoy immensely when they visit and they have taken part in events like the Save Saab in the past as well as the We Are Many recently to show their support.
It may sound cheesy to some but to me it is very important to stay “United” through all that is going on. Don’t take this the wrong way because I don’t mean it to sound disrespectful but I don’t care what side of the NEVS fence you are on and I don’t care if you think Saab will never come back even though I don’t share those thoughts. What I do care about is that we are still a community and if I in any way can help to continue bringing that community together then I will keep doing what I do and unlike some, I will keep going and I welcome all of you to stick around and be a part of that ride.
If you are a Saab Club out there, please share your story of history of how the club formed, how many members, how often you meet and send me photo’s of one of your meets or photo’s of your history. I really want to profile as many clubs as we can find to take part of this to have a nice idea of all the people around us and why Saab will always be important to us. If you are a fan who has made some lifelong friendships through Saab cars, do the same. Email me through the [email protected] or personally email me at [email protected] Let’s bring some fun back, these are the little things that will always be a part of the bigger things and make us different.
Great piece Jason and so true.
Have sent you an email.
Thanks Martin, I very much remember your story of connecting with a long lost friend through SU. We are a community and we need to remember what brought us all together. The Saabs in showrooms and on the roads right now are still great cars, lets celebrate them.
Great write-up, Jason.
And what a great-looking club and bunch of folks ! 😉 (wasn’t that the day I was home sick ?!?)
Stayed tuned, this will be a fun summer for SCWC (lousy local weather notwithstanding) especially in August.
Saab UP !
Kenneth Kuo
Founder, Saab Club of Western Canada (SCWC)
https://www.bigtent.com/group/buzz
Vancouver, BC
Yes it was that day Ken, pretty nice turnout considering the snow.
Hi Jason,
Funny enough, I would have probably been in that/or similar photo, as way back in 2000, I came so close to buying a business in Vancouver [Pine Furniture Business] and shipping all & sundry out there.
Sadly, after 9/11 [11/9] it never happened, but still have a cravings to get to BC one day……in my 9k of course!!
terry, you would have loved it out here, we have a great group of Saab people out here and they seem to be a very close group.
Jason, I agree 100 percent. By the way are you going to National this year in Iowa?
Chris
No Chris, unfortunately I’m a little tied to the store which I guess is a plus for anyone out here or on a road trip to Canada. You can almost always reach me at the dealership. I try to live vicariously through everyone else who attends these events across the USA and will look forward to yours and anyone else’s stories from the event. I can’t stress enough to people attending these events though, send pictures, I want to feel as if I were there. lol
For those that are not aware this will be the annual SCNA Owners Convention; http://www.saabconvention.com/Pages/default.aspx
Thanks for the link Ian
The North American Saab Owners Convention needs to added to the ‘Upcoming Events’. Surely the most attended dedicated Saab event in North America — must rival ‘The International’ for delegate numbers. And for Canadians too! As a matter of fact, for members of the The Saab Club of Canada (www.saabclub.ca) there is a reciprocity agreement with our American colleagues so that we enjoy equivalent status/discount for registration. At least that’s how it has been in the past, as arranged by Scott Hutchings [President of Saab Club of Canada] and I trust that is the same this year. One of the benefits of being a member of the Canadian Saab Club. I’ll certainly be there [Iowa City, Iowa] as will many other members of our Club.
You are everywhere and that is awesome in itself.
I did add the event, should be up there now.
Good Man!
[Greetings from Istanbul — on Saab lookout…none yet. Though given Mano-a-mano driving culture here would not go amiss! Surprising (?) number of Bimmers, all series, new too]
Wow, you’re in Turkey, I was thinking it was rather early in Toronto for you to be on here as its 1am in Vancouver. Have you taken one of the hydrogen ferries over there that we heard about from the guys at Brightwell? I understand that fuel is insanely expensive there too, does that make travel a lot more expensive too? Have a safe trip.
From what I could see Gasoline about $2.00 USD per liter (in line with other Europeans). Hydrogen ferries, eh…Only IC experienced thus far via nondescript Seat (I think) taxi from airport. Daha sonra konuÅŸmak 🙂
On Anna’s and mine trip through Turkey last year, I remember spotting only one Saab. It had dutch number plates and was driving in the wrong lane (low speed – third lane). I changed lanes, flicked my emergency blinkers and then resumed normal cruise speed, but got no reaction from it.
Add Australia to the list , the Saab Car Club of Australia represents 100,s of passionate and proud owners of Saabs across this continent , here is our web site; http://www.saabclub.org.au and those Saab owners that visit Australia there is always an open invitation to make contact with the club and to meet up .
National Chairman the Saab Car Club of Australia
aeroo, maybe you could put something together for me like the club posts I’ve been doing and we can let everyone know about the Saab Club of Australia.
Personally I have not formed the club, but I am with a group called Central Pennsylvania Saab Club. It is one of the bigger saab groups along the east coast with at least 100 members under its belt. When my father.was still a service manager for Saab he was a part of the group, along with many of his customers. Now that I own two classic 900s, I have them.both registered.
It is a very friendly group with many friendly members and an active community, not to mention I get to interact with people who know of my father as well!
Kyle, maybe you could get someone there to send me some info to tell their story, isn’t @julie from Kelly Saab from that club too??? Maybe I’m mistaken.
So true. Even here in Bulgaria we have strong Saab club. During all 10 years I have worked for Saab I tried to do all my best for all Saab fans in our country. That’s why I decide it’s my duty to organize a “Saab Club Bulgaria”. It’s all started in 2004, and each year we have at least 2 big events and all we visit good places in Bulgaria for few days. Everybody love these meetings and waiting impatiently for each next event.
Currently our club can be found here: http://www.saab-club.com
Pictures from our meeting are here: http://www.saab-club.com/gallery/categories.php?cat_id=2
My best regards.
Andrei Iliev
Saab Club Bulgaria
(Griffin Models)
Andrei, would you have time to put something together for me to introduce your club to the Saab world?
..and of course, there are groupings who are not affiliated to any Saab Club, who do not like their formal, nee political and rigid structure, preferring the informal gatherings which are so successful, reaching those ends of Saab fraternity, friendship and co-operation by other means.
Great Western Saabs, and Saab Enthusiasts spring immediately to mind.
e-mail to be forwarded in due course
Look forward to the email, I was hoping to get stories from people too that have stories of life long friendships through Saab too. I had some great responses from clubs and a couple of short stories from individuals that will be made into a post once there are enough. Everyone, keep the stories coming, this makes for some really great reading.
Sold!
thanks, will post it a little later. It’s done, just going to let the CRS story be there for a bit. Really like the look of GWS store, prices seem really quite decent too.
oops screwed up, it’s posted… Hard to understand the whole scheduling of a post when I live in a different time zone. Hope you enjoy, thanks for sharing
Hi jason.
I´ve done my presentation of the Saab Portugal Clube in here…
I don´t know if you still wish me to do it again…
If so tell me so ok?
A saab friend in Portugal:
J.Galvão
I haven’t seen it, maybe you could email me the presentation [email protected]