6000km to Trollhattan
I’m not sure if there any New Zealanders present at the Saab Festival in Trollhattan last year, but if there were, then they’d be the people who travelled farthest to be there. If there weren’t any sheep shaggers there, then it would have been me who travelled furthest, just out-distancing my fellow Saab nuts from Melbourne.
Regardless of how far we had to travel from Australia to be there, I’m still full of admiration for Amer’s recent effort: he drove his Saab 9-3 Aero 6,000km from his home in Saudi Arabia to spend two weeks in Sweden, including four days in Trollhattan, staying at the beautiful Scandic Swania hotel.
Here’s Amer’s car outside the Saab Museum:
Note the plates with the Arabic script. He got a few funny looks driving his Saab with such unfamiliar tags, but had a great time after traversing 1,000km a day for six days to get there.
Unfortunately, Amer went there whilst the Saab Owner’s Convention was on in the US, so he missed a few key people such as Peter Backstrom from the Saab Museum and some of the guys from Trollspeed.
It wasn’t all bad news, though, as Amer got to catch up with Bo Lindstrom from Swede Team Motor and Retrospective Motorsport, recent winners of the Le Mans classic race.
Amer’s hoping to drive to Sweden again next year, with a few friends in tow, to attend the 2009 Saab Festival. I’m not sure if I’ll be there as well, but I’d love to. If you get the chance, you should go too, as it’s a magnificent week.
Last year’s Saab Festival saw the launch of the 2008 Saab 9-3. Who knows what they might debut in Trollhattan next year?
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If you’ve driven your Saab further than Amer’s 6,000+ kilometers to get to Trollhattan, please feel free to let me know. Bring pictures.
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wow, thats some devotion to saab. i like his handles, did you paint them?
Wow. I drove my NG900 from here to California, stopping in Phoenix along the way, and that was about 4450 km one way. Did it in 2 and a half days, too.
In fact I’ve only 1700 Kms, but I do it 7 times with a 20 years old 900 carb.
also at 50th anniversary in 1997 there was New Zealanders with a 1955 yelow 93 !
wow,awesome thats one long ride!:)
Amer hope to see you in Trollhättan next year then
Something i am dreaming of doing is a Saab world tour:)
Is Amer multilingual? I’m wondering what language he spoke when in Sweden: Arabic, English, Swedish?
But wow, that’s impressive. And think of the dividends it will pay in terms of fond memories for years and years to come. Wish I had done more in my lifetime.
Makes my 2400 mile round trip feel like nothing. Well done.
Kudos for Amer, quite dedicated.
Swade, do you happen to know which city Amer comes from Saudi Arabia?
Because where I lived in Saudi Arabia (big city) there was literally ONE black Saab 9-3 Aero that I kept seeing. What are the chances it could be him
And btw, that’s the reason why I bought a Saab. I kept on seeing the same 9-3 in my city and it just looked too damn good - so I bought it