International SAAB Club Meeting 2008

Written by SAAB Club Latvia

However unbelievable it sounds, at last, it has happened – International SAAB Club Meeting 2008 has taken place in Latvia! For the first time we have had the honor to welcome the greatest number of SAAB enthusiasts that we could ever imagine!

A couple of years ago at the meeting of representatives of SAAB clubs a SAAB fan from Latvia, Normunds Kalvāns, put forward an incredible offer – we would have liked to welcome the SAAB enthusiasts from all over the world in Latvia on 2008, on the 10^th birthday year of SAAB Club of Latvia.  Although it looked unlikely to us, the others who had heard the keen and earnest speech of Normunds and had seen his gleaming eyes were ready to believe and accept this offer unreservedly. No need to say, what a surprise it was for us to get to know all these intentions just post factum!    

It was really a challenge for us as a small SAAB club to organize such a great event! Nevertheless, we hope that during this meeting we have given our best experience that could be as an example and good motivation for the next organizers!

237 participants, 122 SAAB, 16 countries, the 8th - 10th of August, 2008, International SAAB Club Meeting 2008, Latvia, Cēsis, Mežrozes, this is the official statistics of this meeting.

This year more than 100 crews from different countries and about 30 crews from Latvia registered for the meeting. Eventually we counted 122 SAABs and 237 participants from Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, Russia, Poland, the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxemburg and Austria.

Traditionally the annual SAAB club meeting starts with the tour round the host country of the meeting. This idea of tourism rally round the regions actually has been born in Denmark. Itinerary proposed by SAAB club of Latvia this time included the most beautiful places of Kurzeme region. Therefore, about the 40 SAABs gathered in Liepāja on Tuesday, 5th of August, to join the "Nice Place Latvia" tour. The tour was opened at the camping near the seaside with the most delicious salmon soup ‘ala Latvian style’ made in the large pot on the fire.

Despite the fact that most of the participants had already made thousands of kilometers to Latvia, everybody enjoyed a trip to the interesting places of Kurzeme – the Horn of Kolka, Liepāja, Karosta in Liepāja (former Soviet Army area), Kuldīga, falls of river Venta and other remarkable places. Travelers stayed for the night at Miķeļbāka camping.

Following the tour route, we arrived in Talsi just on the town festival. Every town guest as well as a local was interested to see such a multiplicity of SAAB - 9-3 and 9-5, 900 and 9000, but no doubt, the favorites were classical 92, 93, 95 and Sonett models with the sound of two-stroke engine so rear nowadays in the world.

On Friday, the 9th of August, Nice Place Latvia tour had a stop at the Riga Motor Museum, were the local visitors were taken by surprise with the “supplementary exposition” outside the museum premises.
Read more on the Nice Place Latvia tour in blogs: first and second and see photos.

On the Friday afternoon, SAAB cars one by one arrived in camping “Mežrozes” near the town Cēsis. The team of organizers welcomed everybody, instructed on program and planned tasks, gave tips on the sightseeing possibilities, put up everyone in camp houses or tent places, and gave orders for SAAB parking which ultimately formed a wonderful SAAB exhibition.

Some classic models had to be helped with the technical support – handling of carburettors, ignition and clutch, change of axle-shaft – all these things belonged to the feeling and atmosphere of the SAAB event. The evening concluded by common supper, slide show of the first day photos and sauna. (Apropos, sauna got status approved by Finns).

On Saturday morning, everybody woke up early in order to manage all the activities planned for the day. Supplied by maps with control points and photo-control points of the famous and most beautiful places of Cēsis and Sigulda area, everyone has free choice for the next 6 hours – to participate in the contest (drive about 200km and find all the control points) or to spend time on sightseeing according to the map. Of course, the locals preferred contest, while guests, especially the owners of the oldest SAAB models, fully enjoyed taking photos at such noticeable places as Āraiši Lake Castle or Turaida Castle Mound. The guided tour round the town Cēsis also was the most attended by our guests.

In the afternoon, we joined one more town festival – this time in Cēsis. There was a whole street allocated only for SAABs that made the greatest, most splendid SAAB exhibition in the Eastern Europe. Surely again, everyone was most delighted by classical two-stroke engine models 92, 93, models radiating the history of rally - 96 and Sonett, original 95, the old 900 - rebuilt for travelling, and finally, exhibited by the official SAAB dealer  - the youngest 9-3 all-wheel-drive models.

After the exhibition, there was the regularity stage rally. The task was to achieve the distance according to the legend with notices of distance, direction and average speed.  During the race drivers were “caught in the act” by “speed radar” which displayed not the real speed, but “fake” speed up to 900 km/h, so this was a kind of fun.

The children also had their fun at the site. They could spend their time on the inflatable attraction, and when everyone was tired from jumping around the Mexico and cactuses, they were invited to the art workshop – painting the real SAAB! The gray SAAB 9000 quickly lost its officially registered color – even the kind owner of the car could not believe his eyes!

On the Saturday night, the winners of the both SAAB rally rides and the winners of the SAAB Beauty contest were greeted and prized. Everyone was thanked for coming and participating, because we, as organizers, believe that 50% of the positive outcome of this meeting depends on participants themselves. It is impossible to explain the pleasant atmosphere created by all these joyful and well-minded people, you should experience it sometimes yourself. Special thanks to our guests for the sincere presents they gave to our SAAB club!

Then it was a long dance night accompanied by Jane’s Unit Band. In the morning, there was a nice closing in the relaxing sauna again with hot discussions about the best sightseeing places in Latvia, the right way to accomplish rally tasks, as well as on restoration of SAAB and promises from our guests to return in the next years to Latvia, which, no doubt, is a “Nice Place”.

On Sunday after the late breakfast, there was the traditional SAAB market. For those who took part in the International SAAB meeting for the first time it could be a real amazement what kind of things people sell on this market – starting with rear, old and new spare parts, collection models, and ending with t-shirts, pendants, stickers, SAAB pillows and even books.

On the closure, it was pleasure to get appreciation and recommendations for the next years from our guests. Listening to all these approving sentences, we got the confidence that this meeting has been fantastic! Moreover, all this despite the small number of the active club members of our SAAB club (on contrary, in Scandinavian countries SAAB clubs have thousands of members while Latvia has only about 30!) and inexperience in organizing events of such measure.

Thanks to everyone who helped us before and during the meeting! At the end we were exhausted but happy, happy in spite of all those sleepless nights, family holidays without us, happy for our willpower, that we have managed all that what we will remember for a long time. We are happy that our guests would like to return here once more, we are happy that the SAAB Club of Latvia was able to reveal the hospitable nature of this country and prove that the true SAAB spirit is alive here! 

FYI: For more than 26 years, SAAB fans from all over the world gather in annual SAAB meetings. The purpose of these meetings is exchange of experience, travelling, getting new ideas in car restoration and simply having good time with the people who share the same views. The host country of the International SAAB Club meeting usually is chosen long before the meeting, during the discussion between representatives of all SAAB clubs. Last year the International meeting took place in the homeland of SAAB, Sweden, on the 60th birthday of SAAB, but the next meeting on 2009 is going to be organized by SAAB fans of the Netherlands!