The Saab Spirit Lives On, USA.

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February 23, 2013 – March 17, 2013

The Saab Spirit Lives On

VICTOR MULLER TO SPEAK AT SAAB SHOW LAUNCH
AT THE SIMEONE AUTOMOTIVE MUSEUM
Philadelphia, Pa. – Mr. Victor Muller, founder of Spyker Cars and the recent CEO of Saab, will address the current state of the Saab bankruptcy and his efforts to preserve Spyker and Saab in remarks to be given at the Launch Party for “The Saab Spirit Lives On“ at the Simeone Automotive Museum, located here. The Launch Party will be heldon Friday, February 22nd, from 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM.  Mr. Muller will be speaking promptly at 5:30 PM.
Guest of honor for the event will be John Moss, Senior Instructor for Saab, who will share memories of working for Saab for 37 years.
Cost for the Launch Party is $25 per person. Museum Members tickets are $20 per person.  Tickets to the Launch Party dinner must be purchased in advance by Noon on Thursday, February 21st, at the museum’s Web site: http://simeonemuseum.org
“” runs from February 23rd to March 17th. The exhibit will feature 18 cars from the collection of Bill Jacobson, owner of Sports Car Service of Wilmington, Delaware.
Admission to the Saab Spirit Lives On Show is included with regular museum admission: $12 adults; $10 senior; $8 students; children 8 and under are admitted free. For more information call 215-365- 7233 , or visit the Web site at: www.simeonemuseum.org. The Museum is open Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Saabs on display will include a 1956 Sonett 1, of which only six were produced, a 1996 “Saab Talladega Challenge” 900 model, and a Barber Saab Pro Series open-wheeled racer.  Many notable Indy Car drivers such as Juan Pablo Montoya began their racing careers in a Barber Saab. The newest Saab on display will be a 2011 9-5 Aero, which was the ending production of the Saab era.Saab (in English, Swedish Aeroplane Limited) was formed in 1945 out of Saab AB, a Swedish aerospace and defence company, when Saab AB started a project to design a small automobile. The Saab 92, Saab’s first production model, was launched in 1949. GM gained control of Saab in 2000, spending $125 million to turn the company into a wholly owned subsidiary. GM sold it to the Dutch automobile manufacturer Spyker Cars N.V. in 2010. After struggling to avoid insolvency throughout 2011, on June 13, 2012 it was announced that the National Electric Vehicle Sweden had bought Saab Automobile’s bankruptcy estate.The list of cars to appear in the show are:

1956 Saab Sonett 1 (white w/ blue stripe) – Serial #6 of 6 ever produced

1959 Saab 750 GT (Red) – Featured in Autoweek magazine article “50 years of Saab & Ferrari” also appears in Michael Furman’s Automobiles of the Chrome Age

1964 Saab Quantum Formula “S” (blue with yellow nose) – Sold in “kit” form through Saab US dealers only. Raced in the mid 1960’s with S.C.C.A.

1964 Saab Bullnose Wagon (Tan) – Acquired from the GM/Saab Heritage Collection

1965 Saab Longnose Wagon (Red) – All original, only 75,000 KM

1967 Saab Sonett II 2-stroke (Silver) – One of only 258 produced, most of them were sold here in the US.

1970 Saab 99 (Tan) – Acquired from the GM/Saab Heritage Collection

1978 Saab 99 Turbo (Burgundy) – Acquired from the GM/Saab Heritage Collection, the first of the turbo charged cars that started the “Turbo” powered era.

1980 Saab 900 5 door (Black) – Acquired from the GM/Saab Heritage Collection

1986 Saab 900 T Convertible (Red) – Saab press car for the release of the Saab convertible.  Was always owned by Saab and the only red 1986 produced.

1990 Barber Saab Pro Series Formula Car (Red) – Series featuring open-wheeled, Saab-powered formula cars ran from 1986 – 1991 giving many race car drivers their start, such as:  Robbie Buhl, Bryan Herta and Juan Pablo Montoya

1991 Saab 900 SPG Convertible (White) – Custom ordered and made for the former Saab president Jim Crumlish 1993 Saab 9000 Cut away (Yellow) – Acquired from the GM/Saab Heritage Collection, shows the steel reinforcements made on a Saab giving them their high standards in crash safety records 1993 900T Limited Edition (Black)  – #139 of 325 produced.  The last year of the “classic 900” 3 door body style

1996 900 Turbo SE Talladega Challenge (Silver) – The 1996 event Oct 16 – 24th, the Saabs in the challenge bettered 18 of their own records and set 22 more.  On the last day the fastest 900 averaged 143 MPH for 12 hours 1998 Saab 9000 CSET Aspen Police (Silver) – Former Aspen Colorado Police car for the first 19,000 miles and then sold back to Saab Cars USA for resale in 1999.

2000 Saab 9-3 Viggen Convertible (Lighting Blue) – 1 of 41 produced in this color in the production year 2000

2011 Saab 9-5 Aero (Silver) – One of the last Saabs to be produced, ending an era in the Saab world.

The Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum is a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation and includes many of the most significant racing sports cars ever built. The International Historic Motoring Awards selected the Simeone as “Automotive Museum of the Year”.

17 thoughts on “The Saab Spirit Lives On, USA.”

      • Hi Allan!
        Missed your comment. I would love to cover an entrance ticket to get info on what VM would tell at this event.
        I have no idea of how to get that ticket to you. But my offer was to SU and they could have sent you or any one.
        Hoppfully, there will be new opportunitys

        • @TTAero, we don’t have anyone out that way but I know of about 4 people that went and hope to receive some info from them on the event and what was said. I’m glad that it seems everyone enjoyed themselves and it seems that people have come away from the event with the same thoughts of mine on the type of guy Tim C is and his commitment to all of us.

  2. It’s interesting to me that Victor Muller will be making an appearance. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great that he will be there! It’s too bad things couldn’t work out for a man who so obviously loves this brand and what it stands for. His ambitions were very large, but who can blame a man for dreaming so big? Better to dream & fail, than to never try.

    • The announcement of Victor’s appearance is what made me decide to order tickets to the Launch Party rather than just attend the exhibit itself. This pushed the event from “love to go” to “can’t miss it” status, particularly being so close to home.

      • I would love to be there too. Should be a great story having Victor there. Hopefully someone will be nice enough to post video footage…

  3. I will be there in attendance, if they allow it I can do a Full Video Setup with my ShotGun Microphone (Rhode) so I can record it and share the speech with everyone.

  5. Hey, kanundrum! I am checking with one of the organizers to see if the video will be allowed… hope so!
    Can’t wait to see everyone, meet Victor, and drool over all the beautiful cars! 🙂

  6. I just got a reply from Simeone that not only is it OK to record Victor (and John Moss) but they also plan to video. : )
    The only reason we would not be able to is if VM had an issue, but that is not expected.

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