Dragon Saab ‘Spring Roll’ Rally

• Well, the much anticipated Dragon Saab event of 2014 titled ‘Spring Roll’ took place on Sunday amongst concerns over the impending weather. The clouds were low, the skies ominously dark but thankfully the rain held off, for the first part of our day at least! Things got under way from 9AM to 10AM where some 21 Saab’s gathered in preparation for the start of our convoy. It was fantastic to see each of the cars arrive and take a place in the line up with many onlookers taking time out to admire the spectacle. Considering this is a relatively new club/SOC group, we were overwhelmed by the terrific support for the event with some SAABISTAS travelling from as far afield as Plymouth, Birmingham and the West Country.

Following chats and early morning coffee the convoy got under way and began it’s 5 mile run to the Cardiff Bay Barrage where we had been granted special permission to access and cross the barrage which is not normally open to traffic. This really was a spectacle to behold as each car in turn checked in by barrage control and allowed to proceed to an area of the roadway where we all lined up for some great photo opportunities.

It was then on to our reserved parking area where we were allowed to stay for a couple of hours to either take a stroll and take in the exceptional scenery, visit one of the many attractions including the Dr Who Experience or just take a coffee and chat.

It was soon time to re group in preparation to leave the barrage and take in a quick tour of the marina before heading to the picturesque Penarth esplanade and pier. This was the beginning of our convoy tour of the Welsh Heritage Coast which was to cover 70 miles, passing through some beautiful coastline and countryside and onward to our first stop at stunning Ogmore-By-Sea. By now the threatening rain had materialised but in some ways only added to the dramatic feel of the location.

By now it was getting a little cold so following yet more photographing we moved off to head for our final stop which was a late lunch at the Wenvoe Arms, which incidentally is now run by one of my ex Saab dealership customers. He was delighted to host our lunch and was so pleased to see so many Saab cars in his car park. We also surprised Anne Dallimore with a card and flowers as she was celebrating her birthday with us, what better way to celebrate a birthday than a lovely Saab rally!

This was a great day spent with a lot of old friends and quite a few new ones. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Cardiff Bay Harbour Authority in particular Chris Seddon, Simon Allen, Mark Cranmore and Andrea Davies who expressed the greatest enthusiasm in allowing us to visit the barrage and who have already granted us permission to use it again next year if we wish. We even had a mention in our local newspaper, see photos.

Here are a few links to member photos and videos of our day, and again a particular thank you here to Kyle, Chris and Alex whose photographic prowess is superb! (due to an internal issue you may have to copy and paste these links into your browser)

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/7668zeysfdlwysg/L2dtOg1M8O