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Nines 371 – Oct-Dec 2022
Contents
- 2 President’s Letter
- 3 What Price Nostalgia? by Kelly Conaty
- 4 Best in Show Winners
- 5 Concours d’Saab Winners
- 7 Special Awards Winners
- 8 Saabs Online
- 9 Tusen Tack! SOC Volunteers
- 10 9 Questions by Eric Crews & David C. Joyce
- 13 Touring the Black Hills
- 14 SOC 2022 Photos
- 16 People’s Choice Winners
- 20 Endless Mountains by Amy Klene
- 22 Saabs ‘N Food by Amy Klene
- 23 Saab Club Info
- 24 That’s a Wrap! by CarolAnn Arthurs
- 26 Club house by Saab Club of Arizona
- 27 SOC 2022 Group Photo
- 29 Future Events
President’s Letter
by Sanford Bogage
Dear SCNA Members,
I keep thinking of a version of that line from the 1989 movie, Field of Dreams, where the voice whispers: “If you build it, they will come.” In some ways, Tom and Patti Donney were channeling that same spirit when they decided to locate the Saab Heritage Museum in Sturgis, SD. With great driving roads, majestic scenery and a dry climate, Sturgis is an ideal site for the museum, although this remote destination is a fair distance from most major metropolitan areas. The Donneys have spent these past four years hard at work transforming their building into an amazing homage to both the Saab brand and the people who continue to drive and enjoy them. Just as the line predicted in the film, our year of planning for SOC ‘22 in Sturgis resulted in a turnout that exceeded our expectations and demonstrated that people are willing to travel a great distance to see this impressive collection. More importantly, we all yearn to reconnect with the Saab brand and with Saab enthusiasts across the country and around the world.
While most SOCs begin with an optional activity on Thursday, this year I and other board members arrived a full week before the convention in order to try to make sure everything was in order. Since we knew that many people would be arriving early, and because the Black Hills has so many worthwhile sites to visit, we planned two informal excursions before the kickoff dinner Thursday night at the Sturgis Brewing Company. On Wednesday, there was a group of about 20-25 people who drove out to Devil’s Tower via the tiny town of Alladin, Wyoming (population 15) for the day. Then, early on Thursday morning, I led a group of more than 40 cars up to Mt. Rushmore for a photo from the top of their parking deck. In the end, we had so many cars that there was no way to fit them all into the picture, so instead we took a fun shot of all of the people with the monument looking tiny in the background. I should have taken the Thursday turnout as a sign of what we were to expect from SOC.
Throughout the rest of the weekend, we had a steady stream of people arriving at the museum to view the collection as well as to enjoy the variety of cars on the Showfield. I would like to take a moment to thank our Title sponsor, Scanwest Autosport, for their support and for bringing their 1995 900 Turbo SCCA pro-rally car which was restored back to driving condition and donated to the museum.
It is always fun to reconnect with old friends, but my favorite part of SOC is meeting the new attendees, both young and old, who share the passion for the brand but who may not have known about or been able to attend an event in the past. Please enjoy this convention issue of 9s, and we hope to see you out at an event sometime soon.
Sincerely,
Sanford Bogage