Saab Jubilee Festival in Trollhättan: Saab Festival with an international flavour "The visitors brought their own entertainment" "What a Saab festival! Thousands of car enthusiasts were drawn to the Saab Car Museum in Trollhättan, and it was they who brought the entertainment with them," says Peter Bäckström, Conservator of the Saab Museum in Trollhättan. The newly refurbished museum was the focus of the Saab Jubilee Festival to which Saab enthusiasts from all over the world converged celebrate Saab´s 50th anniversary as car maker. Per Ekström from Oslo, Norway was the undisputed Man of the Moment. In addition to winning the Custom car class, his Saab creation - which is his own rendition of the Saab 900 was also voted the "People´s Choice" by the 20.000 visitors to the event. The Saab Jubilee Festival turned out to be a resounding demonstration of global enthusiasm for the Swedish car brand. More than 1100 Saab cars from all over the world, with almost 3000 delighted owners and their family members on board, gathered for the two-day event in Trollhättan. The Saab Jubilee Festival offered an unusual opportunity for Saab enthusiasts to meet, talk cars and show their treasures to one another and to a wider public. "We estimate that between 15.000 and 20.000 persons visited the Saab Jubilee Festival, "says Peter Bäckström. "In addition to the 1100 enrolled Saab cars, the event in Trollhättan also attracted a large number of other carefully preserved cars from half a century of Saab production." "On the evening before the main Jubilee day, the Saab enthusiast barbecue alone attracted more than 3000 revellers." Hard task for the jury Saab enthusiasts are more than pleased to show their cars to on another and to the general public. A total of 420 proud owners enrolled their Saab cars for appraisal by an impressive specialist jury headed by Erik Carlsson, the celebrated rally veteran. Choosing the winning Saab car in eleven classes was no easy task for the jury: "In fairness, all of them should have been awarded a prize for the tremendous job they do in keeping their old and new Saab car in such wonderful trim, " says Erik Carlsson. "But unfortunately, that would have been outside our brief." Per Ekström, who hails from Oslo, Norway, was the Saab owner who became the Man of the Moment at the Saab Jubilee Festival. His Saab EX - his own, elegant rendition of a Saab 900 - was declared by the jury to be the best Custom car, and was also voted the "People´s Choice" in a poll of the visitors. This was aimed at finding out what the general public considered to be the top Saab car at the Saab Jubilee Festival. "Per had developed his Saab EX in a way that would have been a tribute even to Saab´s own styling designers," said Björn Envall who was a member of the jury and was formerly in charge of the Styling Design Department at Saab. "I was delighted to see how he linked his new features with the traditional Saab lines." Other winners deserving special mention include the Englishman David Fielden, and also Geoff Ridley from New Zealand. David Fielden´s 1965 Saab 96 Sport was declared by the jury to be the Festival´s foremost two-stroke Saab 96. "It´s a privilege to come to Sweden and be greeted by this wonderful Swedish summer," said David Fielden. "And to have won a first prize in Saab´s own country is incredible. To crown it all, there are so many lovely Saab classics to admire around here!" "Long Distance" prize goes to New Zealand Geoff Ridley was awarded the "Long Distance" prize for the longest journey to the Saab Jubilee Festival. But he was not alone in travelling from the other side of the globe to take his Saab 93 to Trollhättan. Graham Sharp had a long journey too, although Australia, where he has been living for the past ten years, is a little closer to Trollhättan than New Zealand. But Graham´s 1961 Saab 93 was still in its garage back home in Australia. The remaining eight classes were dominated by Swedish Saab owners, although the Saab Jubilee Festival clearly demonstrated that the enjoyment of caring for and preserving Saab cars of all ages - from almost 50 years old to virtually new - is a global hobby that attracts many gifted enthusiasts. Full speed on the Saab test track The ardent Saab enthusiasts began celebrating the Saab Jubilee Festival on a special day on the Saab test track close to the Trollhättan factory, where they were treated to a flypast of aircraft such as the Saab 29 "Flying Barrel" and magnificent "autobatics" by the Saab Performance Team. However, the crowning event for many of the visitors was the opportunity to drive their own cars round the test track was actually built for, but when the turn came for the specially prepared Saab rally and competition cars to show their mettle, the speeds in the curves went up a notch or two. The most devoted Saab enthusiasts were not content with celebrating Saab´s 50th anniversary for only two days. When the Norwegian "Friends of Old Saab" Club announced that they were arranging a trip from Oslo the the North Cape and then down to Trollhättan, no less than 162 cars from various countries were enrolled. Over more than one week, this international Saab caravan wended its way through Norway and Sweden to cross the finishing line in Trollhättan at the same time as the Saab Jubilee Festival was declared open. After this display of Saab enthusiasm, the Saab Jubilee Festival could not be anything other than a resounding success. And that´s what I was too! "It´s wonderful for us who work daily at Saab to see the interest our cars arouse around the world, "said Nils-Gunnar Svensson, on of the many engineers who demonstrated the new Saab 9-5 in conjunction with the Saab Jubilee Festival. "It´s a privilege to meet such Saab owners." The Saab Jubilee Festival was arranged jointly by the Swedish Saab Register, Saab Automobile AB and the Swedish magazines "Bilsport" and Nostalgia", published by Förlags Albinsson & Sjöberg. The Shell oil company contributed to the array of prizes. Results of the Saab Jubilee Festival
Class	Winner	Model
Saab 92	Ferdinand och Göran Gustavsson, Göteborg	1950 Saab 92A
Saab 93	Kjell-Åke Karlsson, Lidköping	1958 Saab 93B
Saab 95	Kjell Andersson, Motala	1960 Saab 95
Saab 96 2-t	David Fielden, York, England	1965 Saab 96 Sport
Saab 96 V4	Göran Karlsson, Karlshamn	1975 Saab 96 1700S
Saab Sonett	Christer Melwinsson, Katrineholm	1967 Saab Sonett II V4
Saab 99	Björn Ronnemo, Bankeryd	1980 Saab 99 Turbo
Saab 900/Cab	Tony Andersson	1981 Saab 900 Turbo
Saab 9000	Magnus Pettersson	1990 Saab 9000 Aero Turbo
Competition Car	Ulf-Sune Sandberg, Sollefteå	1973 Saab 96 V4
Custom	Per Ekström, Oslo, Norge	Saab EX
People´s Choice	Per Ekström, Oslo, Norge	Saab EX
Long Distance	Geoff Ridley, New Zealand	1959 Saab 93B