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Virginia SAAB Driving Club

45K views 281 replies 33 participants last post by  Silk1 
#1 ·
Is there any interest in the Virginia area, in starting up a SAAB Drive Club and having driving tours and track days with a monthly frequency?

We currently take a couple of our SAABs out to Richmond International Raceway and Virginia International Raceway several times a year. Due to a lack of SAAB events, I have been hanging out with some of the local Porsche and BMW Clubs, they both have 2 - 4 great tours and track day events monthly.

I will be going out to the brand new Dominion Raceway track this weekend for a private tour, lunch and run a few laps on the track, with the local Porsche Club.

It would be great if we could get enough SAAB interest to start holding our own tours and track days.
 
#3 ·
Good Deal DevsPts!! I met you a couple of years ago at Christos' Annual European Car Show. I am actually heading down to his shop this morning for a road tune from MikeD.

I will put something together for RIR and VIR after SAABs@Carlisle. Dominion Raceway is going to be a very nice venue, once it is completed. I will talk with the GM during the tour this weekend, to get something scheduled there as well.

Send me a PM, with your contact information and I'll start putting together some events and dates. Also, if you have any suggestions for possible drive tours let me know ---- I have always wanted to run the "Tail of the Dragon"!!
 
#6 · (Edited)
I had a really fun filled car weekend. MikeD did a road tune for me Friday and the Porsche Club let me cruise with them all day Saturday. I must say, I wish we had a SAAB Club similar to this Porsche Club, here locally. I cannot say enough kind things about this wonderful group.

On Saturday, we met in Hanover, Va early in the morning. We hung out for about 30 minutes talking about cars. Everyone in the Porsche Club was welcoming to me and my SAAB. We then took the long and scenic route up 301 across the Pamunkey River and through Bowling Green, past Fort AP Hill and through historic Guinea Station on the way to the brand new Dominion Raceway for a private tour and lunch.

The grand opening for the track was scheduled for 2:00 PM. However, when we arrived, the road into the track was already completely blocked with race cars, trucks and trailers.

The tour was very good. The track owners gave all of us free VIP Suite tickets for the grand opening and inaugural races that took place Saturday night. While Dominion Raceway is not nearly as nice nor equipped with the same level of amenities as VIR, when it is complete it will be very nice.

The Porsche Club invited me back this Saturday(24th), for another meetup, tour, lunch and trip to a detailing shop. Next Saturday(7th), is another meetup, tour, lunch and workshop.

Where are all of the Virginia SAAB faithful? We can be doing the same thing on weekends. I have the connections to get us in at all of the larger Virginia racetracks and we can be going out on driving tours. I can also get plenty of SAAB Sponsors to help us out with discount vouchers, SAAB merchandise, SAAB swag bags....but we need some interest.
 

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#8 ·
Sounds great SAAB-5. Send me a PM with your contact information. We will be putting together a SAAB Convoy to Carlisle -- starting in Richmond next month, another one to SOC in August and I am hoping to put together our first SAAB tour in June.

I am going out again today with the local Porsche Club for a workshop, lunch and driving tour-- these guys have been absolutely great -- allowing a SAAB to hang out with them.

The thing that I love about this club is: they don't just meet in a parking lot to show off their cars, they actually put together driving tours or track run almost every weekend!!
 

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#11 ·
@Imola Red and SovangW, sounds great!! We are looking to put a track run, drive tour and lunch event together for June 5th. We are looking to meet near Richmond International Raceway(RIR), convoy over to run some laps on the NASCAR 3/4 mile oval track, take some videos and then head out for lunch and a scenic back road drive tour.

Interest is growing from Northern Virginia down through the Tidewater area, so we will try to follow up with a private tour at the brand new and recently opened Dominion Raceway, which is just below Fredericksburg and then get something setup down around Tidewater. We will get a private tour and some track time setup for Virginia International Raceway(VIR) in the fall. We will also get MikeD back down for a tuning session at one of the Independent SAAB Shops in the near future.

Feel free to chime in with suggestions and interest.
 
#12 ·
@Imola Red and SovangW, sounds great!! We are looking to put a track run, drive tour and lunch event together for June 5th. We are looking to meet near Richmond International Raceway(RIR), convoy over to run some laps on the NASCAR 3/4 mile oval track, take some videos and then head out for lunch and a scenic back road drive tour.

Interest is growing from Northern Virginia down through the Tidewater area, so we will try to follow up with a private tour at the brand new and recently opened Dominion Raceway, which is just below Fredericksburg and then get something setup down around Tidewater. We will get a private tour and some track time setup for Virginia International Raceway(VIR) in the fall. We will also get MikeD back down for a tuning session at one of the Independent SAAB Shops in the near future.

Feel free to chime in with suggestions and interest.
Ah, unfortunately I work Sunday's. What are the costs of using these tracks? In about 1k miles I was planning to get a tune from MikeD, would be awesome to attend that one. 1k miles because I need to break in the new clutch and flywheel setup. I take the Saab to the shop for that today.
 
#22 ·
Here are a few pictures from our trip to the eEuroparts Swap Meet and Car Show. The SAABs definitely owned the yard, however, the Bimmers also had some strong numbers.

Overall, it was a great event --- awesome cars, some unicorn parts in the vendor's section, some unicorns in the parking lot(the light blue SAAB 90 was as beautiful, as it was rare) a ton of eEuro; giveaways, prizes and freebies --- plus the weather held off for the most part.
 

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#23 ·
We will be getting together on June 5, 2016 at Richmond International Raceway to run laps on the NASCAR Oval. $20 will get you 5 laps and we will be there as long as people want to run laps. We will start lining up on the back side of the track at 11:30 AM. The tunnel to enter the track will open at 12 noon.

On June 11th the 1st annual Vintage SAAB Show and Swap Meet will be taking place in PA. We will be putting together another Convoy to this event. Plenty of Vintage SAABs on display, a food truck, parts vendors and overnight camping.
 
#24 ·
Recent Weekend Events

We have been having a great time getting together on the weekends. Here are some pictures from; Richmond International Raceway, The Vintage Car Show and Swap Meet(this show was awesome and some of our Convoy participants won some very BIG trophies) and Swedish Car Days. I'll add a link later, with better and more pictures.

We are preparing to hit the road again this Friday(07/15) to attend a private tour/viewing of one of the most admired, recognizable and unbelievable collection of Vintage SAABs and SAAB paraphernalia in the States. We are so excited, we are literally counting the days!!!
 

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#25 ·
New York Driving Tour

We had a small SAAB Convoy of 3 SPGs, yet we had an awesome driving tour to New York, this past weekend. Our first stop was at the Turk household for a private tour of their vintage SAAB Collection and memorabilia, a BBQ, rides in their #61 rally car and the highlight of the entire weekend -- each of us got a chance to select a car from their collection to drive in a Vintage SAAB Convoy through the beautiful NY countryside, during a driving tour!!! As a parting gift, we were each presented with a SAAB Swag Bag that included SAAB; literature, posters and collectibles. I cannot say enough nice things about Mr. And Mrs. Turk, they are the most giving and sharing people I have ever met. We had a once in a lifetime experience, that I will treasure for the rest of my life!!

We then drove through the beautiful Catskill Mountains, had dinner at a local pub and spent the night in a quaint little roadside inn.

The next morning we took the scenic route to the Johansen residence to pick up some SAAB parts we purchased from their son. When we were invited into the house, we were absolutely shocked, to see the famous SAAB 96 Marcus Dairy, fully electric #45 rally car! We were treated to a walk through of the conversion to electric and Mr. Johansen shared pictures, news articles and stories with us.

The 3 hour road tour to Syracuse, felt more like 30 minutes -- the scenery was magnificent. We met up with Mr. Weller, the past owner of one of the 1st SAAB Dealerships in the states. He opened up his basement man cave to us, to take a private tour. There we were treated to many of the rare SAAB Dealer items and gifts he had acquired over many decades. Once the tour was over, Mr. Weller and Mr. Dack took us over to their warehouse. We spent the next several hours looking through their inventory of SAAB parts. Needless to say, we left with all of our cars and the trailer, packed to capacity!!!

What an outstanding weekend, only made possible by several SAAB enthusiasts -- who opened up their hearts and their homes to us! A video and picture gallery is being put together from this road tour.

Our next driving event is scheduled for Monday, July 25th from 7:00 - 10:00 PM. We have been invited to the private Michelin GT Pre-Race Challenge Party, hosted by Virginia International Raceway and Maserati of Richmond. We will met at RIR and convoy over to the event. Contact us if you want to be a part of this event.

August 3, 2016, we will convoy down to SOC '16 in ATL, drive on the famous Talladega Speedway and tour the International Motorsports Hall of Fame.
 

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#28 ·
Done!! I can't wait to see that beast on the road again. I will never forget the day we were on the way to Carlisle and you and BH went from 60 to 90 in about 2 blinks!!!

If we can get up enough interest we may convoy up to SCD 17, at the end of this month.

We are putting together another private tour next month, to see another very impressive SAAB Collection. I know this is the largest collection of SAABs in VA and the owners won a lot of hardware at this past weekend's SOC!!!

We will be back on the track on October 16th at 12 noon at Richmond International Raceway. The perfect spot to run the Silver Pig!!

BTW, thanks for letting MikeD come down for that last tuning session. Maybe we can get him back this Fall.
 

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#32 ·
Okay, I will start contacting people now. Someone has contacted me already about coming, so we definitely have two people to add to the list -- he has a silver Viggen for a stage 1 and I need to get another car T5'd.

Based on the guys I regularly see and talk to, I think we can easily get at least 5 cars there this time. Your location is perfect. It has been difficult, in the past, to get everyone interested to drive up to Harvey's.

Also we are getting some interest in putting together a SAAB Convoy up to SCD. Swade, from Inside SAAB fame and currently with Koenigsegg, is traveling over to the States for this event and he is bringing some goodies from Koenigsegg -- for those interested in purchasing some Ghost memorabilia.
 
#35 ·
@messiguy01 and @frankem3, we have added you guys to the list. We have 6 cars signed up so far and a few more waiting to see the confirmed date, prior to signing up.

If anyone else is interested in joining us for a Tuning Session with MikeD at European Cars of Williamsburg, chime in and also let us know what car you are interested in having tuned.

We also want to thank messiguy01 for making contact with Matt P. @ Krona Performance, who manufacturers complete exhaust systems and accessories for SAABs. His products sell at Brew City Boost and they seem to be very nice. Amazingly, the shop is right here in Virginia!!

Messiguy has also made us aware of Vagwerks Performance and Coating, they do; fabrication, wheel refinishing, performance, powder/ceramic coating and run a dyno.

We are working on setting up a tour at Krona Performance and Vagwerks Performance, possibly with a dyno day. These two shops are only 24 miles apart, so we will try to make a day out of it.
 
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