Visit Trollhättan!

Posted on 10. Oct, 2006 by Ryan in 2000-2009, Events, Trollhättan, Sweden

During the summer of 2005, I departed Washington, D.C. with an 8-hour flight and a 5 minute layover in Copenhagen, finally landing back in Sweden. This was the first time I have been to Sweden, in particular, the West Coast (Göteborg) after having lived on the East coast of Sweden two years ago (Stockholm).

Having nearly a full day to explore the city of Göteborg, I managed to spot a few ethanol based, Saab Biopower 9-5 wagons, which led to my curiosity getting the better of me. In investigating these vehicles out further, I found out that the vehicles were part of a GM / Saab conference at a hotel, right in the heart of the city, where journalists had the opportunity to test-drive the Biopower Saabs.

Later in the afternoon, after visiting the World Culture Museum, Göteborg opera house on the harbor, and taking a dip at the public pool for refreshment after the long flight, I finally hopped my ride to I was extremely thrilled to have finally made the trip I have wanted to make for nearly 10 years now! Trollhättan via the Oslo train.

In finally arriving in Trollhättan and settling in the lodging establishment I pre-arranged, I was suddenly shocked to see the variety of unique Saab automobiles in the parking lot with Saab enthusiasts, which proved to be very welcoming!

On Thursday, I was treated to a very traditional breakfast (frukost in Swedish) of cereal, toast, ham, tomatoes and cucumbers, by the hosts of the hostel I stayed at, and then hopped the intercity bus (blue bus) to the Saab Factory (Fabriken). Arriving at the factory, I was greeted by many others from countries such as the Netherlands, Denmark, Poland, Australia and the U.K. who were equally eager to get started on the factory tour. The nearly 40 visitors squeezed three persons deep in a little train that had our tour guide speaking from the front car about the various areas in the factory from the body shop to final assembly. I was fortunate to have met a nice Swedish family that I shared a car with who helped me translate the few Swedish words I was unfamiliar with from a man in his early twenties in the car ahead of us who recently used to work at the factory. This ex-Saab factory employee began just as soon as the tour began, noting the raw materials, new Saab 9-5 in production, Sportcombi and other aspects of the factory in parallel to the tour guide. I began listening more to this person, as did others as well. This ex-Saab factory employee was much more detailed and interesting than our guide was. I think we started paying less attention to the original tour guide when just minutes into the tour, the guide, whom was facing us, never realized that while the tour mobile moved throughout the factory, he started saying through the PA system “on your left”, he was talking about his left, so we were always looking on the wrong side when he noted various areas of the factory, I am fortunate for the highly articulate tour guide sitting in the car ahead of us!

Following the factory tour, the family that I had shared a car with during the tour started talking (in Swedish) about all sorts of things, and before I knew it, they asked me if I would like to ride with them over to Saab ANA (The main Saab Dealer for the factory).

Saab ANA is the best dealer I have ever seen. It seemed as though they had every accessory available on site, plus a huge showroom with pretty much every new Saab model you could think of, minus the 9-7x and 9-2x of course.

After we left ANA, they asked me if I would like to head over to the new Trollspeed facility, so without hesitation, I agreed and minutes later we arrived! Shortly after our arrival, Per Eklund arrived and enjoyed discussion about his rallying to displaying his new 9-3 Sport Sedan he currently races. After thanking everyone at the Trollspeed facility for the tour of their machine shop and getting to meet Per Eklund, and Staff, I was offered a new Trollspeed t-shirt and DVD! I could not thank them enough!

The final stop of the day with my new friends in their Saab 9-5 Aero Wagon from Katrineholm, Sweden was the Saab Museum and SDCC (Saab Parts Recyclers).

The Museum had just undergone a massive interior redesign, and a clear continuation of Sweden’s minimalist design was very apparent in not only the architecture, but also the strategic location of each Saab in the facility.I was awestruck to finally get the chance to enter the museum after all these years. As I entered the building, I sensed a typical Swedish minimalist interior design with the massive amount of glass, white walls and polished gray floors complete with designer furniture. My first thought about the museum, reminded me of the Swedish Architecture museum in Stockholm, until I encountered the careful placement of pristine Saab automobiles. The overall walk-through experience was very comforting as I reflected on Saab’s history after passing each and every Saab.

The last event of the day, was the exploration next-door to the museum at the SDCC, Saab Parts Recyclers. The massive collection of brand new parts that ranged from brand new Saab 99 rear quarter panels for $30 USD, and new classic 900 Transmissions at $350 in change to 9000 Air Flow kits for $300, it was immediately apparent that the organizers of the festival were not joking when they said “prices you will ever again see this low”. And if you were missing that “Mr. Saab” book of Erik “On the Roof” Carlsson, well there must have been at least 5,000 of those on hand for $7.00 each.This was quite a day and after walking down all of the aisles in the parts warehouse, I felt like I do after a full Sunday afternoon at an IKEA, just overwhelmed, tired and eager to get home to take a nap! After leaving the SDCC facility, I thanked my new Swedish friends for everything since having met them at the Saab Factory, and then headed downtown to get some dinner and call it a day.

The following day, I was met with rain in the forecast, so I threw on my raincoat after breakfast and headed to the outskirts of town to explore the sights that I wouldn’t normally have seen such as the canal and the locks. After my exploration, I returned back to town to pick up food for the remainder of the week at the local grocery store. While I was in the grocery store, I spotted someone wearing a Saabnet t-shirt, so I approached them and began talking to them in Swedish, and got a surprising response of “Please speak in English”. The individual that I had just introduced myself to was from Iceland, so of course we continued speaking in English. As we started talking, I found that this Saab enthusiast was camping down the street with all sorts of other Saab enthusiasts, as the interest and curiosity ensued about getting a chance to see Saab enthusiasts camping, I asked if I could join him to visit the campground to see the sights, and he responded by telling me how he was happy to show me around! There were quite a few Saabs to my surprise at the campground, including your Toppola and Saabo of course! Everyone I saw at the campground looked to be having a good time, with burgers on the grill along with Karlsburgs and Tuborgs in hand!

Next time I get over to Sweden for a Saab Festival, I think that camping is the way to go because it seems more relaxed and the environment seems to easily lend itself to meeting others opposed to traditional lodging.

After thanking my new friend from Iceland for showing me around, I decided to head back to into town and prepare dinner and get an early head start on the next day.

Saturday was here, and what a beautiful and sunny day it was! I was also excited because it was race day up at Kinnekule (Shinny-Coola) raceway in a town called Lidköping, about 45 minutes North of Trollhätten. Following breakfast, I hitched a ride with a few folks trailering a model Saab 96 outfitted and previously used in Swedish Rallycrosses.

As we arrived, I thanked them for the ride and immediately began looking for the best locations to do some digital videos as well as stills. I believe after scooping out the track, I found some of the best locations.

There were numerous classes of races that began from the strokers to the V4s, to the classic 900s, 9000s and finally the special performance groups of 9-3 Viggens, SPGs, etc. I was particularly impressed by the performance and well-kept vintage racecars that filled the track that day. I think that there was something that interested everyone that day due to the wide variety of Saabs being represented.

The turnout at Kinnekule was absolutely spectacular, it seemed like everyone was there and having a terrific time! Peter Backström, curator of the Saab Museum, brought up many special Saabs such as the Sonett I as well as a Saab Formula Junior. I was also very happy to see Erik Carlsson as well as Per Eklund make an appearance on the track!
One of my favorite parts of the trip to Kinnekule was the exhibition of complex driving maneuvers by the “Saab Performance Team”. The Saab Performance Team was outfitted with four 9-3 Aero Sport Sedans in Red.

The stunts successfully pulled off with this team, one trick after another left the audience surprised, worried, and excited all at the same time. I feel that there were some stunts a bit too close for comfort, but again the Saab Performance team pulled them off and made quite a spectacular event interesting to the audience.

I hope I don’t have to wait another two years to see them again. If you are interested in obtaining professional video footage, the company filming this event much like many of Saab’s previous films, is Cameo Productions out of Sweden.

During my visit to Kinnekule, I was excited to find myself running into the first Americans during the festival, >Chuck and Linda Andrews of Princeton, Minnesota. Having had some time to meet with them and talk, I realized that they have been doing these types of events for much longer than I, so it was interesting to get to know what their thoughts were on this Saab Festival. I remember from our dialogue that this year was one of the most well organized Saab Festivals in a long time, if not ever.

The three of us got into talking and I found out that that they would be driving back, so I asked if they would not mind in getting me back to Trollhätten. I thanked them and in departing, they mentioned that they were even planning on leaving a bit before the event was over so that they could do some sightseeing before coming back to Trollhätten. The sightseeing we did together, was at a small town called Läcke, where we visited Läcke Slott (Läcke Castle). At the castle, we got to see a real Swedish wedding reception, again the weather was perfect and so were the photographs we managed to take.

Returning to Trollhätten with Chuck and Linda, I thanked them for the ride and the extraordinary sight-seeing activities at the Castle, before heading to my lodging to prepare for the evening Barbeque at Folkets Park next to the camping area, within walking distance.

The events of the day, sure got many people thinking about food, and at the Barbeque, the food was incredible. In sitting down to eat, minutes later a presumably Swedish couple that looked older than I, came up to me and asked if they could share the table with me, and I said, sure, please sit down! In conversing with them a little in Swedish, then running empty on vocabulary from not using it regularly stateside, I resorted to English, which is where the bulk of the conversation began to take place. Between the three of us, we had a good conversation about the Saab Festival in addition to an in-depth discussion about Saab’s future, specifically trying to get clarification on all of the rumors I had been hearing about, such as the Saab factory closing by 2010, etc. and to all of them, this individual told me that they were all incorrect. I asked the individual, how he knew these rumors were incorrect including the rumor about the factory closing, and his response was that he worked for Saab, and then continued by modestly introducing himself as Jan-Åke Jonsson, the new President of Saab Automobile, Sweden, then I responded by introducing myself.

Moments later, Jan-Åke Jonsson, along with his wife asked me if I would like to move to another table, so I got up and sat down at a table where I was then introduced to Jay Spenchian, the new President of Saab Cars, USA, by Mr. Jonsson. I was very excited, but I kept it together and enjoyed a collaborative discussion continuing our discussion about Saab’s future and their marketing and advertising efforts in the United States. As we all enjoyed the discussion from Erik Carlsson, Per Eklund and Timo Makinen on the stage as well as the live entertainment, our dinner came to an end, and I thanked Jan-Åke Jonsson, his wife as well as Jay Spencian for their time.

I would have never have expected to have concluded the Saab Festival, having met the President of Saab Sweden as well as Saab Cars, USA, and I am very thankful for the opportunity I had to meet them at the festival.

Finally, Sunday had approached, and on the last day of the Festival, I had the pleasure once again to hang out with Chuck and Linda Andrews throughout the day by taking in the live entertainment, and taking a look at the Saabs on display at the concourse which were situated throughout the Museum grounds. In addition, I had a chance to meet Swedish rally legend, Erik Carlsson while obtaining some autographs and a photo taken moments after enjoying his favorite meal, 2 Hot Dogs with Potato Salad.

As the awards ceremony came around, it signified the end of the 2005 Saab Festival. In retrospect, I did not expect to see all of the Saabs I did, nor did I ever believe to have had the experiences I had throughout the Festival. All in all, the festival was well organized, and thoroughly thought through to the smallest detail. I think we were all pleased that the weather was quite good, as was the food, but the atmosphere and people I had the opportunity to interact with, topped it all!

In preparing to leave Trollhätten to catch my evening train to Linköping, for my scheduled tour on Monday, of the Saab Gripen fighter jet factory and Swedish Military Aircraft museum, I said my goodbyes to my new Saab friends from Poland at my lodging establishment and managed to get a nice photo of all of us, so we could remember the great time we had at the 2005 Saab Festival.

I look forward to the Saab Festival in 2007, the 60th Anniversary of Saab!

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