It’s not the first time we’ve seen these vehicles, but I thought these new shots were worth a look given they’re so nice and clear.

They were sent in by John C, who spotted the Mavic Saabs recently at the Tour de Georgia in the United States. These cars are cerntainly eye catching and the SportCombi profile combned with the 2008 front end make for a very noticeable vehicle.

As I understand it, these vehicles aren’t ties to a particular racing team. The Mavic vehicles are support vehicles for all teams, providing technical assistance as required. Mavic have been doing this in various places around the world since the early 1970′s, though the company dates back to the late 1800′s.

The technicians in the yellow cars are there to aid all the competitors in a road race, regardless of bicycle brand being used, their nationality or position in the race. They intervene directly and quickly with the champions in the event of a flat or mechanical problem in order to get them back in the race again as rapidly as possible.

You might be wondering where the Saab connection comes in. Are we looking at these vehicles purely because the Saabs were the cheapest ones for them to lease? Well, not quite.

Mavic are based in France and today the company is owned by Salomon, with whom Saab has a long-standing relationship. There’s a range of Saab Salomon stuff, as well as a Saab-Salomon adventure race team, ski sposorshops and all sorts of stuff.

Now you can add the Mavic support vehicles to that list!

Click here to visit the Saab Salomon website. It’s worth it just for the start video!

I wouldn’t mind getting a little Saab support, especially if it looked like this!

I wrote last year about a cycling team sponsorship opportunity that’s coming up at the end of this year. Now we get a chance at seeing how awesome the support vehicles would look if they actually took the plunge.

This is the Team Mavic support vehicle. The team’s currently riding the Tour of California, which Brian L tells me is one of the biggest tours outside of Europe.

I don’t know how well they’re going, but at least they look good!

I’ve never tried this but I’ve gotta say, after watching this I’m feeling kinda peckish inspired.

What we’ve got here is Autoblog demonstrating the age old art of using one’s engine to cook food. And the vehicle they’re turning into a Weber-n-wheels?

A 2008 Saab 9-3 2.0T. I assume this is a tester they’ve commandeered from SaabUSA, so if they get it back smelling like ham ‘n pineapple, they’ll know why.

It’s a little long, but it’s got me feeling experimental. I know the Saab Ice Experience people like to cook tinned sausages during the event. Anyone else ever tried this?

Joe M has sent through a few pics of his 2007 Saab 9-5 with the thought of a series in mind. I don’t know if it’ll take off, but thought I’d run it up the flagpole and see if anyone salutes.

Saab are partnered with Salomon and over the years they’ve been associated with action sports of various kinds. Salomon provide the skiing connection, of course, and at the launch of the Aero-X they even had special skydiving suits sitting in the back of the car.

So, if you’re a bit of an action-oriented person, maybe you’d like to pack your car full of gear and show off a little, along with your car, of course.

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I thought you’d like these from my recent kayaking excursion in North Carolina with my trusty ’07 9-5 Aero SportCombi. The water and air temperatures were frigid but we made it down the river without hypothermia

I’ve always loved the thoughtful rack systems and integrated mounting points that Saab produces for all of its cars as I’m an avid whitewater kayaker and mountain biker.

I’ve driven VWs and Audis that have the kind of racks that simply sit on top and clamp onto your roof (bad for paint and can’t carry as much weight). Saabs’ rack systems never touch your paint and look pretty clean, smart, and aerodynamic. My 9-3 and 9-5 can handle 3 whitewater kayaks and do 100 MPH all day with them on, no problem!