The 5. Osnabrück SAAB Saturday
A great location, good weather and an award ceremony that is impressive. As in previous years, Saab Freunde Osnabrück have become 5 again this year. SAAB Saturday invited. Another saabiges event where Justus and I wanted to be there!
After the meetings in the Harz or Hamburg and the fair in Neumünster, Osnabrück is the last big highlight in May before the event of the year - the festival in Trollhättan! So we are also in the Republic for the fourth weekend in a row to hold up the Saab (blog) flag.
Industrial culture in Osnabrück
The location fits really well and welcomes us in the most beautiful sunshine. Not for nothing invites the Industrial Museum already to 3. Time. The old brick buildings, the historical background to the industrialization of the city - the combination is right and fits the small brand from Sweden. In addition to the many classic cars, this weekend also mixes the "current" vintages under the visitors vehicles.
Various 96 with and without two-stroke, plus a decent collection of 9000 models. Cars, which disappear more and more in everyday life, come here in larger quantities together. The same applies to the - in SAAB circles - unloved 900 / 2. Just like the 9000, the 9-3 / 1 is also represented in larger numbers. One of the emerging classics presents itself here in really every model variant. The NG models complete the entire package of vehicles, and briefly forget that there is no longer the brand.
Saab Saturday: the SportCombi
A little later - the event is already somewhat more advanced - a SportCombi rolls over the grounds. Conversations are stopped, heads turn around hectically, the car draws complete attention. In Java Brown and the Edge rims, the 9-5 NG SC slowly pulls to its place. It is justifiably the only car that is not shown with the front facing, much more the rear is the focus.
The bright interior, the manual diesel generator and only 27.000 Km on the clock provides the Combi even seven years after the legendary auction of the insolvency administrators attention. The car seems so modern today, many would (financially) want to be weak again. And opposite him is almost the same car. A sedan. Color, rims and interior are (almost) identical. Seeing a NG is something special even years later. Both model variants in (almost) identical design - as good as impossible.
A long award ceremony and the Danish SAAB support.
Of course, the annual award ceremony was not allowed. Since the first meeting, 4 prizes have been awarded every year. Three prizes in the category of special vehicles and one for the longest journey.
This year's prize was won by a SAAB driver from Denmark. From Vikborg to Osnabrück are exactly 572 km - mind you for a stretch. That's great support. One of the three prizes for one of the special vehicles went to the owners of an 9-5 stretch limo. It is a special conversion of the British company Colman Milne and accordingly as a right-hand drive in Germany on the way. A highlight of a special kind.
A win for the brand
The following applies: whether a 9-5 NG SC or the stretch limo from Great Britain. It is just such moments that make the meeting in Osnabrück special. It looks like a small class reunion, the young meet the old. A sentence that not only fits the cars, but also their drivers. Because what has already been hinted at in Hamburg also continues in Osnabrück. Many young drivers are among the more than 150 vehicles. Some have been around for a long time, others have only recently acquired their first SAAB. This not only pleases the scene, but also the organizers. No offspring? - a fact that changes from meeting to meeting.
What remains is a praise for the organizing team of the Saab friends Osnabrück, The location, the award ceremony and of course the many different Swedish cars from Germany, Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands - this meeting will ultimately be an absolute win for the brand and the active scene behind it.
We will also be back next year. The SAAB Saturday in Osnabrück - another saabiger duty dates for the future!
Very thrilling ...
... this report. And four meetings in a row are an impressive workload.
Thank you Jan_HH and Justus.
It was a great event and my Saab can also be seen in the photos.