A few weeks ago, I published a story about the birth of the Saab Convertible. The man at the center of that story was Bob Sinclair, the former chief of Saab Automobile in the United States.
A friend in the US has since sent through some pictures of a launch event that was held when Saab released the 20th Anniversary Edition of the Saab Convertible in April, 2006. The launch started at El Encanto Hotel in Santa Barbara, moving into a drive prior to lunch at the Latetia winery, following some of the scenery used for the movie Sideways (which featured a Saab 900 Convertible).
Bob Sinclair was invited along to share his Convertible story at the event.
Dick Lague from Ignition3 – a Saab owner living in Malibu, California – was present at the event and took these photos, which make for a wonderful compliment to Bob’s Convertible story from a few days ago.
Dick’s also emailed me his recollections from the event and for Saab historians, it makes for some great reading. I’ve added his notes after the photos.
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Bob speaking to the press corps gathered for the event in ……. you can see the first Saab convertible prototype (in white) built by the American Sunroof Company on the screen. This is the car now housed at the Saab Museum in Trollhattan, Sweden.
This red Saab 900 Convertible was on show at the launch. It was one of the first Saab convertibles to come off the production line as a 1986 model.
A group of five Saab convertibles ready for their test drive….
“Uncle Bob” with one of the later iterations of Saab’s iconic convertible.
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Recollections from the launch of the 20th Anniversary Saab 9-3 Convertible
by Dick Lague.
I remember how excited Bob Sinclair was about being invited to be part of the Saab convertible 20th anniversary edition introduction in Santa Barbara. We spoke on the phone sometime in March 2006 and told me of how pleased he was to be able to reflect on 20 years of production of “his baby” – the Saab Convertible.
The succession of Saab USA presidents after Bob retired did not seem to understand or appreciate Bob’s contribution to Saab, but this took an about face when Jay Spenchian took the position. It was Jay who thought that Bob could make this 20th Anniversary Convertible introduction in early April 2006, a very special event.