Part of today’s program saw us stop in at a warehouse for Nokian Tyres. The Finnish company has around 5,000,000 or so tyres come through this warehouse every year. It can hold up to 900,000 tyres at any one time.
As well as storage for the summer and winter range of tyres, Nokian also has their studding machines at the warehouse.
Here’s how your Nokian winter tyres go from non-studded to studded, in around 60 seconds.
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Finland! What a place. The language is from another planet, but the countryside and the people are magnificent and I’m soooooo very happy that I’ve finally made it to an IntSaab event.
IntSaab is the gathering of international Saab fans, hosted in a different country in Europe every year and organised by the various Saab clubs in the region. You don’t need to be a club member to attend, but of course supporting your local Saab Club is a good thing and when you see what these clubs put together for IntSaab, you’ll be quite amazed.
I’m here as part of a small Saab contingent, five people, lending a little corporate presence to the event. The feature of this presence is a show by Kenneth and Kent from the Saab Performance Team tomorrow afternoon. We have a few surprises in store for that, so I’ll keep it short on that subject, but it should be a whole lot of fun and IS readers will get to see it all.
I’ve met a number of old friends here already and I’m sure I’ll meet more tomorrow. I was especially excited to meet former Saab works driver and Finnish rally legend Simo Lampinen. I’m going to be chatting some more with Simo in the next couple of days (this is not a challenge – the man loves a story!) and plan on sharing a lot of that here at Inside Saab in the near future.
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We got here a little late today as we called into a few dealerships along the way. Therefore we missed the presentation by Hanny Berger about Saab’s manufacturing history in Finland (I’ve owned several Finnish Saabs, another reason why it’s so great to finally visit here). We also missed a presentation by Simo Lampinen on his rallying history with Saab.
Tomorrow’s program will feature a tour around the countryside surrounding Ellivuori, including a stop at the Nokian tyre warehouse, where the Saab Performance Team will do their thing. The drive will finish in the afternoon, followed by the awards dinner and (yes, really) a magic show!
Sunday sees the daily parts market continue as well as a big closing lunch.
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Catching up with people is one of the great things about IntSaab, but of course, it’s a car event and I thought I’d kick off the car coverage with a look at some of the more non-standard sights in the carpark.
Some people add driving lights to their bumpers. Others build them right in. It’s a curious look, but you can’t look away from this Saab 96…..
Click any of the images to enlarge
Saab 96 with custom stripes and a custom garden on the rear parcel shelf……
There is every likelihood that I’ve seen a rear window louvre on a Saab 96 before, but I had to photograph it again.
One of the great things about IntSaab is that all attendees get a goodie-bag, including one of these magnetic rally-style signs for their car, to commemorate their attendance. Many attendees also did a “pre-tour” in Finland on their way to the event, and their signs are marked accordingly…..
Old-school kiddie seat…..
First generation Saab with second generation wheels……
…..and third generation badging…..
Interesting roof apparel part 1….
Interesting roof apparel, part 2….
Aussie Aussie Aussie!!! I had the good fortune to meet the other Aussie at the event, John G from Brisbane. John’s in Scandinavia on a family holiday, fortuitously timed to coincide with IntSaab.
I hope these aren’t like notches on a cowboy’s belt……
This is not a standard colour….. in fact it’s anything but standard, it’s literally outstanding!
There is lots of camping and caravanning going on this weekend. More campers, below….
Inside one of the Saab 95s. Signatures on the door panel include that of Erik Carlsson….
Toppolas are popular again this year…..
….. and whilst I’ve seen plenty of Toppolas on 900s before, I can’t recall seeing a 99 with one on it. From Holland…..
And a curious detail on the 99….. click to enlarge….
I spoke with the owner, Tom, and whilst he has a couple of Saabs imported from the US, this isn’t one of them. A previous owner found the badge somewhere and stuck it on the car.
IntSaab 2012 is already being advertised at the 2011 event. Next year’s IntSaab will be held in Belgium and knowing how crazy the Belgians are about their Saabs, this is going to be one cracker of an event. Start making plans now…..
Our final series of images for today involve this modified Saab 96. You could change the name from Ninety Six to Nine-V-Six if you felt like it…..
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Stay tuned for more from IntSaab 2011 tomorrow……
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Finally, some of the arty, interesting and funny images from the Saab Owners Club GB annual meeting I attended last week in Haydock.
If you haven’t seen them already, you can also view:
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Click to enlarge any of these images.
Yesterday we covered some of the older cars at the Saab Owners Club GB annual meetup at Haydock Racecourse.
Today, we’re looking at the 1980’s and onwards. The cars of this generation are those that will likely be more familiar to the modern Saab enthusiast and the vehicles on show were just as beautifully maintained and presented as the older cars.
The Young’uns
Click any photo to enlarge.
Let’s kick things off with the (second) youngest vehicle at the show, Mike’s 2010 Saab 9-5 in Glacier Silver. I saw four new Saab 9-5s on the roads that day, and all of them were this colour. Obviously, all of them were owners with impeccable taste.
There was another Saab 9-5 at the show, a 2011 model, which was brought along by Graeme Lambert of Auto Express magazine. The vehicle is their long-term tester. And yes, it was also in Glacier Silver 🙂
There were plenty of Saab 900 Convertibles on show and it was the perfect day for some topless exhibitionism…..
I have to draw some special attention to this next one. It was a limited run of convertibles specially made by Saab City, the Saab GB owned dealership in central London. The paint and interior combination was specific to these model and the car was badged as the Diamond Edition. It’s unknown to me how many of these were made or how many still exist, but I sure hope the owner understands and appreciates the rare gem he has there.
And some more modern convertibles……
This one stunned me when I first saw it. Try as I might, I can rarely remember seeing one of these in red (a red Viggen convertible in Minnesota comes to mind, but not much else). I don’t know why there aren’t many of them as this looks sensational.
…..And a beautiful blue Anniversary convertible, or “Cerulean Edition” as it was known in England.
There was only one Saab 9-3 Viggen at the show, in the perfect combination of Lightning Blue paint and 3-door body.
To my discredit, I didn’t get an exterior photo of this Saab 9-5. I can assure you that it was as black as the darkest night, totally spotless, as is the engine bay and interior you can see below.
The ‘Best prepared current production vehicle’ award was one by a Saab 9-3 that was truly magnificent in its presentation. The detail in the engine bay and body kit (carbon fibre) was amazing.
This Saab 9-5 had a very unusual set of almost-Saaby wheels…..
And another very nicely turned out engine bay as well….
Saab 9000s were a little under-represented in terms of numbers (as they often are) but this Aero was a treat….
And this Saab 900 was just plain good fun…… more pics of this one in our final post, coming very soon.
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Last weekend I had the distinct pleasure of attending the annual meetup of the Saab Owners Club of Great Britain. Th event was held at Haydock Park Racecourse at Merseyside and it was great to see so many beautiful Saabs in one place.
I’ve been the SOCGB national once before, in 2010. There were a few of the same cars as last year, but it was good to see quite a few different cars as well.
The oldies – click the image to enlarge.
Most of us in the enthusiast crowd are appreciators of the older Saab fleet and the English do attention-to-detail as well as anyone else out there in Saabland.
This Saab 95 was so clean – everywhere – that you could have eaten your dinner from any surface you liked (if the owner let you, which he wouldn’t).
Even the springs and hinges are painted and cleaned!
This is about as old-timer as it got last weekend – a Saab 92B. Like nearly every car at the show, it was pristine.
This early Saab 96 stroker caught a lot of attention with its bright red paint in the sunshine.
And I had to do a double-take at the interior. You’d think a guy who grew in Australia would be accustomed to right-hand-drive but I’m so used to seeing 96s in Sweden now that I had to look twice and figure it all out in my own head.
An image that harks back to a day when car companies sold cars with a range of real colors…..
….of course, if people bought cars in great numbers that were painted in something other than silver/black today then companies would produce more colors, but neither party seems willing to do so.
That first car in the row is a Saab 96 Souvenir edition, a limited model of just 150 units, sold in the UK in the late 1970s.
Some more fantastic Saab old-timers…… I love the minilite wheels on a Saab 96.
And this bright blue V4 was an eye-catcher not only for it’s paint….
An early Saab Sport……
And a 96 that’s done the rounds….. I guess it’s one of the blessings of being in a big club with proximity to the continent. Great people to see and great events in the warmer months.
This year’s Top Saab 99, a beautiful 1984 model, which I got to drive home!
This one had some very nice twin pipes at the back and sounded fantastic!
And finally – I got Sonett fever once again. Every time I’m close to these babies I just lose it. I spent a lot of time on the green one, chatting with the owner, etc. Absolutely beautiful and officially on my automotive bucket list.
I want to be in this picture one day…… it looks so “must drive”
One of only 258 ever made……. and gorgeous!
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I’ll have more from the Saab Owners Club GB annual event coming soon…..
It’s a little late for posting to the events page, but later today I’ll be jumping on a plane to head off to England.
Part of my weekend visit will include a couple of days at the Saab Owners Club GB annual gathering, being held this year at Haydock Park. All the info is available at the club website. If you’re in the area then I’m sure they’d love for you to drop by, say hello and maybe have a cup of tea!
There will be all the cars, of course, but there will also be parts sales, show-n-shine and all the other usual events that accompany a big nationwide event. Personally speaking, I’ll be spending a lot of my weekend trying to steal either Peter’s Sonett II or Chris’ 99Turbo and then heading for the chunnel.
Last year’s event in Bath….
I was fortunate enough to spend a day at last year’s event as well, in Bath, and am looking forward to a return visit this year.
I’ll have plenty of pics from the event and hopefully a few stories to tell, as well.
Naturally, if there’s any urgent breaking news (i.e. the official kind) then I’ll be updating the site as soon as possible. Griffin up!
I’ve added another event to the events calendar.
This is one that I won’t be bale to attend myself as I’ll be back in Australia, but it’s one that I definitely wish I could.
It’s being hosted by the Saab Club of Italy and the theme is “Flying Saab”
The event will be held on September 10th and 11th at the Boscomantico Airport in Verona.
Being held at an airport is significant. Not only will there be a large variety of old and new Saabs for attendees to try out, there will also be helicopter, glider and light aircraft flights available, as well as tandem parachuting!!!
The cars on offer will date back to the Saab 96 and there will be a full range of vehicles for inspection and driving, right up to the new Saab 9-5.
The event is being organised by the Saab Club of Italy in conjunction with the City of Verona and one of the local Aeroclubs. A true partnership effort that’ll offer some great experiences for those who can make it.
Websites:
Both sites offer the opportunity to download a PDF leaflet for the event, as well as registration information. You don’t need to be a member of Saab Club Italy to attend – all are welcome.
I wish I could be there.
Something quite cool happened at the recent Almedalen conference – a big gathering of political, social and business movers and shakers here in Sweden.
A small company called Great Beyond wanted to show their skills (PR, social, etc) and decided they’d help out at Almedalen using Saabs as their vehicle of choice. What unfolded was a wonderful service for busy attendees, a useful promotion for Saab and a useful vehicle for Great Beyond to show their services.
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The basics of their service was to make available the fleet of three Saab 9-5 Aeros they’d borrowed, to be used as free taxis at Almedalen. People could contact the Great Beyond crew via Twitter on their smartphone and request a ride. The crew looked up the person’s GPS co-ordinates, located the estranged client and delivered them to where they needed to be.
Almedalen is centered around Visby, on the island of Gotland, off Sweden’s east coast. Being an island, the number of regular taxis is limited and well, let’s just say Almedalen’s a very busy time of year.
How busy? Here are a few of their stories.
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The Saabs drove when all others were unavailable
When Anna-Sara and her colleagues from the Swedish Exhibition Centre in Gothenburg, landed at the airport outside of Visby, the focus was on quickly go into Almedalen. But 
After an hour, people start walking to town from the airport. Along the highway you could see hordes of people dragging a whole week’s luggage along behind them. Meanwhile, a friend of Anna-Sara tweeted about the fact that they could ‘fly’ all the way to Almedalen (in a Saab).
– Is it really true, can you at Saab bring us all the the way?
– Just tell us your coordinators, and we will spot you on the GPS!
By iPhone and Twitter, it was easy to come into contact with Saab. The rest of the week, Saab team get many greetings from Anna-Sara with colleagues.
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She has previously worked at one of Norrland’s largest newspapers, but is now freelance and is a frequent lecturer on the topic of social media. A trendspotter in the field, many are listening to her words.
Just one hour after the first journalist had a ride with Saab, more journalists started to contact us. For example Sara Gunnarsdotter or @Saragugu as she is called on Twitter.
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The G-man and the Saab
All countries have men of influence behind the scenes. Sweden is no exception. Kristoffer Tamsons was (Prime Minister) Fredrik Reinfeldt’s personal speechwriter during the 2006 election and is now the Prime Minister’s head of planning.
– Is that you, Kristoffer? (One of the Saab team knows Kristoffer after meeting him several times.) Are you waiting for a taxi to Visby?
– That’s right, this is a taxi disaster…
– We have a seat over in a brand new Saab Aero XWD.
– Is it true, do you run the taxi? Saab? Do you really mean that you run that nice car? Of course I want to go with you!
During the trip to the Almedalen an informed conversation about Saab follow. The journey ends with best wishes for Saab.
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The (friendly) competition
When we rolled in at the airport – three Saab 9-5 Aero XWD’s in convoy – it was a powerful feeling to see everyone’s eyes on the cars.
Our concerns over taxi drivers’ reaction? There were more passengers than there were cars on the island. After a few rides, we were even friends with some of the taxi drivers.
– Is that the new Saab?
– Brand new!
– Great. I love Saabs, I was driving one before but now I drive minivan. Oh, how boring my new life is in comparison.
– What do you like most about Saab?
– The feeling! What does it cost?!
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Award winners
These contacts – and all the other rides – resulted in Saab wining a prize. Saab won ”this year’s excitement at Almedalen”. Read more here.
What have we learned from this?
That a good story spreads itself!
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Swade here…….
I should stress here that the crew from Great Beyond took it upon themselves to do this. It wasn’t a request from Saab. They came up with the plan, contacted a dealer, secured the cars and provided all the services. We only found out about it as it was just beginning.
These stories and the notation they received for their services to attendees at Almedalen is a credit to them and we’re thankful that they chose to spread the news about Saab at this all-important Swedish event.
I just wanted to add this release to finish off our Best of the Road coverage. I really enjoyed the Wynns’ work and am so happy for them taking out this prize. They’re going to love that 9-4x.
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Rand McNally sponsors — “Best of the Road” — rally to 30 cities, with media partner, USA TODAY
ROYAL OAK, MICH., July 19, 2011 – Saab automobiles traveled across the U.S. in the Rand McNally “Best of the Road” rally presented with media partner, USA TODAY. Five two-person teams spent three weeks experiencing the best small towns in the United States in a mix of Saab vehicles as the final phase of Rand McNally’s search to find “Best of the Road” and the best small towns in the United States along with media partner, USA TODAY. The winning team was awarded a Saab 9-4X crossover at the finale event in California on July 15.
The teams were judged on the number of towns visited along their route, the quality and originality of their journal and the quality of their category descriptions.
“The 9-4X is the perfect vehicle for the Wynns to continue their traveling adventures,” said Tim Colbeck, President and COO, Saab Cars North America. “We know their Saab will continue to provide them the ‘best of the road’ in safety, performance and thoughtful design.”
Driving a unique route from metro New York to Los Angeles in a mix of Saab 9-3s, 9-5s and the new 9-4X crossover, each of the teams visited towns which were selected online in one of the five “best” categories: most fun, most patriotic, most beautiful, friendliest and best for food.
Along the way from coast to coast, each team posted an online travel journal, combining blogs, Facebook posts, Twitter feeds, texts and videos, with the best journal earning a grand prize of a new Saab 9-4X crossover and $10,000.
Towns were nominated at the Best of the Road Web site and a panel of travel experts along with public reviews and comments narrowed the selections down to six in each category, including: Baker City, OR; Franklin, TN; Walla Walla, WA; Rapid City, SD; Park City, UT, and Lafayette, LA.
The 10 “rallyists” earned their way into the Saabs by submitting a one-minute video on why they deserved to participate. They teams were judged on the number of towns visited along their route, the quality and originality of their journal and the quality of their category descriptions.
I hadn’t been down to the locks for around 6 weeks (here’s the report from last time) but my wife and I headed down last night for a slice of life in Trollhattan in summertime – the Wednesday night car show at the locks.
It was a good night to go, too. The weather was great and the cars were 90% different from last time I was there. It always amazes me how many incredible vehicles are located within close driving distance of this place.
If you ever come to Sweden in the summer (and you SHOULD) then make sure you schedule a Wednesday night in Trollhattan. You won’t regret it.
First up, the Saabs…..
OK, so that’s not a Saab, but it’s an interesting way of introducing the first Saab I saw last night. The DeLorean was, of course, clothed in rust-free stainless steel and last night’s example (the first I’d ever seen in person) did look impeccably clean.
The same couldn’t be said of this very curious looking Saab 9000…..
