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Saabs get no respect, even from car shows Posted by MI-Roger [Email] ![]() ![]() |
My local town has an Orphan Car Show each year for older cars of auto brands that are no longer manufactured. Saab qualifies as an orphan brand and I thought my Viggen might be old enough. Historically the show has showcased one brand each year although all orphan brands are eligible to participate. The town's focus on orphan brands is driven by the city being the site of the only Kaiser-Frazer factory, the long term home of Preston Tucker (created the Tucker car), the town hosts the last remaining Hudson Dealership in the country (maybe the world), and the town being the site of the longest producing (and only in later years) Chevy Corvair factory (still standing although now a warehouse).
I found the Orphan Car Show website, checked the show dates for this year, checked for featured brand and saw that this year they are showcasing convertible body styles rather than one brand. Great, my car is a convertible.! Age requirements stipulated that imported or low volume orphan brand cars had to be 15 years old or more. Great, my car is a 2000 making it exactly 15 years old! The next line of the registration instructions said that orphaned brands of the Big 3 Manufacturers, (Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Mercury, and Plymouth were specifically identified in parentheses) had to be pre-1964 models or older. Strange, that is either 51 or 52 years old depending on your math. Maybe my 15 year old calculation of my Viggen's age wouldn't match the show's math?
So I emailed the organizers and asked. Their response was that based on the current rules, since Saab was (at one time) owned by GM, all Saabs are included in the high volume domestic brand category and have to comply with the pre-1964 rule. Say what!?!?
They did state that the current leadership of the sponsoring organization does not agree with the rules created by the show's founder 19 years ago, and that these rules will be re-written for 2016 to be more logical and far less restrictive toward recent orphan brands. They are also planning to approach the original founder of the show to make sure their interpretation of his rule book was valid.
I politely argued the high volume label in my response and asked that they let me know if the decision is changed.
I was hoping to drum up support for this Orphan Car Show among Saab brethren to have a mini show of Saabs within the larger event. Potentially organizing one or two Saab only events (country drives, catered bar-b-cue, race track tours, local car museum tours, descend en masse upon an old local drive-in that still uses car hops, etc.) on the low activity show day and/or evenings.
Looking forward to 2016 now.
->Posting last edited on Fri, 5 Jun 2015 08:44:49.
_______________________________________ Saabs owned: 2008 9-5 Aero Sedan, sold at 227K miles 2006 9-3SC 2.0T - Wife's daily driver 2000 Viggen Convertible - Sold May, 2022 1964 Quantum IV Formula Car - Retirement project 2000 9-5lpt Sedan, sold at 318K miles
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