INTRODUCTION

Sunday, January 17th, 2010 :  The day enthousiastic Saab owners will show that their Saabs are still going strong !

Recently there has been a lot of media attention for Saab. Companies from the Far East, sport car builders from Sweden and even the Dutch company Spyker have been named as candidates to take over Saab. Although not much is clear at this moment, one thing is for sure: GM will sell or end Saab.
Most of the news has been grim, pointing at bad weather ahead. Saabs, though, are built for Sweden, land of ice and snow and roads that are hard to drive. They’re not afraid of some bad weather.

Whatever the future of Saab will be, it will never disappear. There are simply too many fanatical and dedicated Saab owners. Even when the production lines stop, Saabs will survive and embellish the roads for ever. Saab is totally different from characterless cars from America, Korea and Japan. Saab has character! Saab has an easily recognized vision and identity.

The same goes for Saab owners that drive their cars with pride and pleasure, against the grain of characterless metal. Saab drivers are creative people, enterprising and exploring. This character of the Saab drivers will make the Saab Support Convoy a success!

We are going to give Saab some positive media attention to support our brand. We will support Saab! People will talk about it during their diner: “Guess what I’ve seen today… beautiful… beautiful cars.. and a proud group of car owners”.

THE PLAN

At several meeting points in The Netherlands and Belgium Saab owners will gather and enter the roads in convoys. All Saabs will drive to a central point in The Netherlands to bring all cars together. At that point there will be a short meeting and photo shoot. But we will keep the best till last.

If you get attention with one Saab, you will get more attention with ten Saabs in convoy. How about a hundred Saabs in convoy on the road? That will generate positive publicity for Saab and the people of the Swedish Trollhättan.

At the end of the day all cars will form the biggest Saab convoy ever! They will enter the Dutch highway and drive in a long convoy to the final destination. We will end the convoy at Muiden close to Amsterdam.

It would be brilliant when Saab communities in other countries would start the same action on the same day. That would give world-wide attention to our beloved Saab. Proud to own, happy to drive!

Check the Dutch page for the list of people that will join the convoy

HEADLINES

Check our twitter, follow our twitter to stay updated and informed!  Also some links to serval other sources.

PRESS RELEASE        

585 Dutch Saab-enthusiasts in Saab Support Convoy

Saabforum.nl initiative shows dedication to the Saab brand

Sunday, January 17th 2010. 

The Dutch Saab Support Convoy has been an enormous success with 585 participating cars and almost 200 other Saab cars
joining the Convoy at the end location. Starting at eight sublocations in the Netherlands and Belgium the Convoy convened at the Military Aviation Museum in Soesterberg. From there on the Convoy proceeded to Muiden, a 45 minute drive.

 Sidney Polak, together with Eric van Nimwegen one of the initiators of the event: "It's incredible to see how this has evolved. With 585 participants and over 40 volunteers, this event is truly a positive message around the Saab-brand. We're very proud that so many Saab-enthusiasts have joined us in sending this message". The Dutch initiative was picked up in many countries around the world, leading to 38 Saab Support Convoys from China and Australia to several countries in Europe and several states in the USA.

 "The enthusiasm I've seen today warms my heart," according to Eric van Nimwegen. "Saab is not a mainstream brand, people driving a Saab really connect with it. Today we've shown that there are many aficionado's in the Netherlands, thereby achieving our goal of creating attention for Saab in a positive way. I get goosebumps when I hear this large group of 900 Classics with their unique sound driving off to Muiden."

 Apart from Dutch and Belgium drivers, also people from Sweden, Finland, Luxembourg, France and Germany joined the Dutch Saab Support Convoy. At the Military Aviation Museum almost all models ever made were present, from a Saab 92 (1951) to the newest model a Saab 9-3X. Blue and yellow Saab Viggens, Saab Sonetts and Saab Monte Carlo's were stationed in the colors of the Swedish
flag. Furthermore a complete overview of all convertibles, 900 Classic turbo's and 900 Classic models were shown.

The Saab Support Convoy ended at Muiden, at one of the few parking places large enough to accomodate all participants and sightseers. Another 200 Saabs were present there, that couldn't participate in the Convoy.

 
More information about this event can be found on www.saab9k.nl/index_gb.htm and www.saabforum.nl (Dutch)

NOTE TO PRESS:

And many thanks to our sponsors for their positive help !