Pilots wanted 2020 - the Saab meeting in Kiel!

Two years have passed again and a new edition of Pilots wanted is pending. The international meeting for the Saab 2-9 NG is taking place for the 5th time in Kiel. As in 4, the owners of a Saab 2018-9x, which is even rarer than the last big Saab, are invited this year.

Pilots wanted 2020 will take place in Kiel in June
Pilots wanted 2020 will take place in Kiel in June

The meeting has long been a fixed institution and cult. The fans accept long journeys for the two days in the north, the audience is international. As always, the event takes place in June, this year the 5th and 6th of June have been set as the date. The traditional host is that Car dealership Lafrentz - the point of contact when it comes to the last Saab generation and the 9-4x.

The last events were very successful. The weather is almost always perfect, an exciting supporting program, a friendly atmosphere. That raises expectations for 2020 again, and the Lafrentz family in Kiel has been working on the program for months. The event has grown continuously in recent years, and there were often more reports than there were places available for the participants. This year, Pilots wanted will take place on a smaller scale for the first time. The organizer practices voluntary self-restraint, he has several good reasons for this.

The family atmosphere should be preserved, and the preferred gastronomy for two event days in Kiel and the surrounding area is spatially limited. This will mean that Pilots wanted will shrink to a maximum of 2020 cars in 35, after almost 50 vehicles before.

Registration for the event is possible from the beginning of February on the blog, because as always the blog team and the Autohaus Lafrentz are cooperating. If the event is overbooked, the organizers decide on the respective participation. The start will be on Friday June 5th.

The traditional supporting program will include an event on Friday evening, preferably close to the water and in a saab atmosphere. On Saturday, according to previous planning, breakfast, a joint trip and another gastronomic event are on the agenda. Details will come in the next few weeks, the exact procedure will be published here on the blog. As in previous years, participation is free of charge.

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Ebasli
Ebasli
4 years earlier

Yes, the NG is such a beautiful car! 🙂 We have just overtaken a silver one in front of the Elbe tunnel heading north (maybe on the way to Kiel?). What a beauty! It is now my third that I happen to see in "the wild". Always an exhilarating and at the same time saddening experience,

What a pity that this car could no longer be produced and developed! 🙁

Maybe I should get one too someday? However, I think the sedan is much prettier than the combi. The hatchback coupé, from the outside already laid out in the sedan, that would have been it for me if…. Yes if. 🙁

Maybe the blog will get information about the fate of the two prototypes after all ??? 🙂

Herbert Hürsch
Herbert Hürsch
4 years earlier

@ Kepi,

the NG SC, or rather, its lack, is also my personal sting in the flesh. It seemed so close and was so beautiful. ,

Freising86
Freising86
4 years earlier

A blog meeting would be something. Maybe one of the blog supporters in Bamberg or Frankfurt would be interested and get involved? Or one size larger and you rent a suitable area? Maybe something for 2021 and maybe some readers would like to get involved in the organization? For my part, I would be there!

crept
crept
4 years earlier

Great idea!
Would like to be with 2 and 3
Unfortunately not with 1 due to the lack of a suitable vehicle ...

LG sneaked
9-5 NG @ 9-3 convertible

cap
cap
4 years earlier

Have fun and a successful event in Kiel. ... I would think a SAAB blog meeting would be fantastic, because I can mobilize the family and don't have to decide between SC and CV. Hopefully I'll be able to get enough of a 95 NG SC again, because I still mourn that it never really came onto the market, otherwise one of mine would definitely be mine.

Ebasli
Ebasli
4 years earlier

... personal MACKE ... I meant 🙁

Ebasli
Ebasli
4 years earlier

@ Herbert Hürsch - this and that meeting

The Griffins are similar to the 9-5 NG: they are the very last 9-3 built. In my opinion (and many blog posts as well) they are the best and most beautiful 9-3 series ever, and with various - also technical - changes and perfections it wasn't just a facelift. They had completely different engines, a significantly improved and modified interior and, above all, are immediately recognizable as Griffin from the outside. In addition, they are extremely rare because they were only built for one year (if at all, since the belts were mostly idle in 2011 to early 2012).

For this reason, the three Saab models on our beautiful Saabblog homepage are probably the ones that are at stake: 9-3 Griffin, 9-4x and 9-5 NG. But, and in this respect I am absolutely right: the 9-5 NG was a completely new model, the 9-4x anyway, but the 9-3 Griffin in the narrower sense only the last, perfect series. The enthusiasm and the special “eye” for this series is probably only available as the owner of such a rare piece. For me it was almost a coincidence and I only really realized after the purchase what a rare and really very special copy I had laughed at. I would really like to see a few more Griffin "sisters", talk shop, compare the equipment, etc. This is probably a personal brand of mine by now ...

Such a convertible meeting of course depends very much on the weather. But assuming rain-free days in summer, I imagine a convoy of all open, wonderful, (as you rightly write) comfortable, open Saab beauties of various models and years of construction simply as a wonderful, very special experience.

Anyway - with the Saabblog reader / member meeting we should really "annoy" Tom together until it takes shape ... so That was just a great idea for a reader a few days ago! 🙂

Ken-Daniel S.
Ken-Daniel S.
4 years earlier

I wish all the 9-5NG drivers and 9-4X drivers a lot of fun in Kiel. We still don't have one, but someday one will come

Ken-Daniel S.
Ken-Daniel S.
4 years earlier

To Ebasli

Regarding convertible meetings, there is a Polish convertible meeting, not a Saab meeting, but a general convertible meeting, in which the Saab density is very high.

Herbert Hürsch
Herbert Hürsch
4 years earlier

@ Ebasil,

I share the ranking of your suggestions. I like number 1 best.

No. 2, due to the lack of a convertible, excludes many Saab drivers (me too), but it sounds appealing and represents a comprehensible and thematically valid wish. The open pleasure is special and the Saab convertibles are particularly good for this.

No wonder, because Saab (relatively late in the history of automotive engineering) rethought the convertible with high standards. That had practically nothing to do with the open motorized carriages from other manufacturers, which were originally often cheaper and less comfortable than a closed body ...

No. 3 does not reveal itself to me personally. Isn't every Saab of every model year unique in its respective color and equipment? But you write yourself that you should “probably worry about the number of participants” ...

I also share this assessment.

Ebasli
Ebasli
4 years earlier

Yes, I also envy the participants a little and wish you interesting and happy days with a lot of Saab for your heart and nice weather for the excursions into the beautiful landscape around Kiel! 🙂 A great idea and initiative of the Kiel family and staff around Markus Lafrentz, who will certainly organize it in an exemplary manner! And in Kiel they are committed to supporting the 9-5 NG.

I would have - freely imagined and quite spontaneously - three suggestions for “exclusive” meetings:

Saabblog meeting (the reader or future members, as suggested here recently by a reader.)
Saab convertible meeting (all models and vintages, should be wonderful in summer!).
Saab Griffin meeting (from MY 2012).

The meeting no. 3 of the REAL Griffins (not retrospectively partly just pimped up in look) would be much more exclusive than that of the 9-5 ÑG. Only around 1.000 Griffins were built in total (Limo, Combi and Cabrio) worldwide. Even if you added the very last series of limos from 2013 from NEVS, which I think would be great, you would have to worry about the number of participants. In the two years that I have now been the proud owner of a real Griffin myself, I have unfortunately never seen another real Griffin in the “wild” - only two 2013 NEVS limos for sale in Kiel and Halstenbek. Of course, a Griffin meeting would be all the more awesome (because of the cars!).

No. 2: A convertible meeting would be a really great thing. The Dutch organize one every year (last year in Sweden, this year in Croatia). But seems to be quite expensive and can only be found very hidden on the Internet. Has a reader ever taken part in it, or is planning to do so, or has anything else to say? Personally, I would find a somewhat more modest alternative without having to pay a few thousand euros for the hotel.

But my favorite is No. 1 – not because of the cars, but because of the people! 🙂 No matter what age or body shape the respective treasures have, Saab connects! And I would be very happy to get to know the committed and competent blog team and the lovely readers in person! Nice and interesting conversations would certainly be guaranteed! 🙂

What do you think?

Herbert Hürsch
Herbert Hürsch
4 years earlier

I wish all proud owners of an NG or 9-4 a lot of fun.

Although I look at the exclusive event with a certain amount of envy, I think it's good, correct and even a little bit ingenious that it exists in this form.

The latest models from the Saab brand have certainly deserved special recognition. And their owners too. Especially when it comes to loyal buyers of the latest and most recent new cars ...

Even with just a pair of chrome glasses, it works well if this loyalty is recognized and honored. This is great cinema….