Every year, the biggest group of Saab people in the Western Hemisphere get together and have themselves a party.  The group is called the Saab Club of North America, and the party is someone candidly named the Saab Owners Convention.  At the SOC, there’s something for everyone, which means you get an excellent mix of things to do no matter what reason you fell in love with your Saab.  Ever year has a theme, and the Maryland Edition in 2018 was a celebration of XWD.

XWD as many of the people reading this article already know, is Saabs pinacle all-wheel drive system developed by Haldex in Sweden.  XWD allowed Saab to do something they’ve never officially done before (I’m ignoring the 9-2x and the 9-7x), and that is apply power to the rear wheels.  XWD opened the door to a whole new level of performance.

Of course, because of this, Saab unveiled the new system on the fastest production Saab that would ever be built, the one-year-only Turbo X.  The Turbo X was powerful, it was classy, it had funky three spoke wheels, and of course they were fast.  In a nod to all of these gleaming facets of the Turbo X and following top trim XWD models, the Saab Owners Convention 2018 would take to the track.

For most Saab owners, they don’t get out to a tarmac road course much, but the owner of Dominion Raceway was a closet Saab geek (admitting to owning more than a handful of Saabs), and was excited to invite participants from the SOC to get on course and do some hot laps.

The best part about a rag tag Saab group is that there’s always someone that shows up with something that probably shouldn’t be doing what you’re asking of it.  Honestly, that’s the best in my opinion.  Getting outside the comfort zone and having a good time is really a great analogy for life.  For many, Saab is life.

For a select few, you might have a Sonett II that you’re driving onto a green flag track with 155 width tires.  Awesome.  Also featured at the track day was a few vintage Saab powered formula cars, and the Talladega NG900.

When the checkered flag fell, the show was officially started!  Returning back to the actual convention center, the Saab’s filled the parking lot.  Solomons, Maryland was the host to the Saab Owners Convention 2018, and as the saying goes Maryland is for Cr….Saabs. Right.  I’ve been to a few of these shows now and to me it felt like this year was especially successful.

Chalk it up to the eastern seaboard always supplying a healthy dose of Trollhattan’s finest to the highways and backroads.  The best part is always watching people in the hotel walk around like, what’s with all these Saab people?  Easily the best part was the Turbo X parked right in the hotel lobby, nice touch SCNA.

Another nice touch was the ample availability of things to do.  You could catch a seminar, grab some food, hit the pool, grab a couple people and go for a tour, dip your toes into the water at the end of the pier, get a ride along in a 2-stroke, and generally gather around a car with a group of people and talk about everything from spark plugs to that European road trip you did in 1992.

Nobody is shy at the Saab Owners Convention, and you will find that a good portion of people come by themselves to be part of the community.  From the ‘Remember when’ Saab guys to the ‘All the POWAR’ Saab guys and everyone in between, there’s always a few groups to call friends.

The SOC always culminates into a massive group photo on Saturday afternoon, and this time it was held off site in a large field overlooking the Thomas Johnson bridge (which is actually quite scary to go over, towering 140ft above the Patuxent River).

Save for a short fire scare related to some battery wiring going up in smoke, the photo shoot was orderly and I can’t wait to see the photo they took.  I think I heard somewhere around 168 cars attended the shoot, correct me if I’m wrong, but in reality for such a rare brand in 2018…that’s epic.

Saturday is the the big finale to the show, which features a judged car show and an awards banquet.  With a variety of speakers from all over the world to talk about everything Saab, it’s really a nice place to sit and have dinner.  Congrats to all the show winners, put your prize on the wall and be proud!

Next year’s show is going to take place somewhere in Colorado, and we can’t wait for the prospect of a brisk Rocky Mountain cruise.  Colorado is home to a fair bit of Saab enthusiasts so hopefully instead of a disgusting rental, we can find someone to lend us a Swedish chariot in 2019.  Let me know and hope to see you there!