Saab Club of Canada Members,

As most of you are probably already aware, Saab corporate yesterday announced that they have filed for bankruptcy. This is no longer protection from creditors, but rather full on closure.

While there has been no official statements yet from either the dealers in Canada or Saab Cars North America, it is very obvious that there will be an impact to them. Given that I haven't been around to see a car company go under like this before, I have no idea what is going to happen or what sort of issues this is going to cause for us Saab owners.

What I do know is that the Saab Club of Canada has never been more relevant than it is right now. Saab owners across Canada are going to need each other's support and help. I for one have over 215,000 miles on my 2005 9-5 Aero Sport Combi and I plan on driving it for many more years. To do this, I will need to be connected to the Saab community even more than I am right now. I think it is safe to say that most of us are in the same situation.

I encourage you to get the word out there that the Saab Club is not going anywhere and that we collectively, as one of the stronger "fan groups" will do what we can to help others out. Please, if you see someone with a Saab that you don't recognize, let them know about the club, let them know that we have ways to help them take care of their Saabs so they can get many more years of enjoyment from them.

And while I am not going to hold my breath on this, there is a very slim chance that this isn't the last we have heard from Saab.

Thanks,

Scott Hutchings
President, The Saab Club of Canada

Topic: Everything you wanted to know (and much, much more) about mobile phones.

Guest Speaker: Scott Hutchings

Scott is currently working for Giesecke & Devrient, a company that specializes in security, mainly surrounding the processing of payments.
G&D currently prints 1/2 of the bills in Canada and supplies 100% of the paper our currency is printed on.
G&D is also a major manufacturer of credit and debit cards globally and also produces the Ontario Driver's Licence and Ontario Health Cards.
Scott's role with G&D is involved with moving these types of money and identity to the mobile phone.
The presentation will cover facts about mobile that you never even guessed at and how you will soon be able to use your phone to pay for your coffee at Tim's in the morning, your gas on the way to work, and the groceries you need to pick up on the way home.

Location: Katz's Deli on Dufferin St, just south of the 401.

Andrew Kowalczewski will be our guest speaker on the subject of Insurance. He can answer any of your questions on your car or home insurance.

Location is at Katz's Deli from 7:30pm to 10:00pm

Unless you want your ad to appear in just one medium, classified ads submitted to The Saab Club of Canada will appear in the club’s monthly newsletter, the Gryphon, and on the classified page of the club’s website. The requirements for submission of classified ads to both the website and newsletter are the same.

Deadline

The website has no deadline and ads will be posted on it shortly after payment, but the deadline for inclusion in the monthly newsletter is 5:00 p.m. on the second Wednesday of each month. Ads appear for three months; if you no longer need it sooner than that, please let me know.

Composing and Submitting Your Ad

Cost and Payment

Classified ads are free to members. For non-members:

• text only ad-$20.00
• text and image-$30.00

Payment can be made by:

• cheque (e-mail me at Editor [at] SaabClub [dot] ca for the appropriate address);
• copying and pasting the following charge card authorization into a file, printing it out and completing it (if your printing isn’t legible, it may delay processing) and then sending it using one of the methods below.

I authorize The Saab Club of Canada to debit my MasterCard/VISA for $____ for a classified ad.

Cardholder’s Name: _______________________________________

Card Number ________________________ expiry _______

Signature: _________________________Date: __________

Methods of sending the completed authorization:

• email-scan the completed form and transmit it as an attachment (in pdf, tif, jpeg) to Treasurer [at] SaabClub [dot] ca
• fax--fax the completed form to the club's fax 1-866-580-2261
• mail--(e-mail me at Editor [at] SaabClub [dot] ca for the appropriate address)

I've tried to anticipate what information you might need to submit an ad but if I haven't answered your particular question, please feel free to contact me.

Gryphon Editor
Editor [at] SaabClub [dot] ca

The Saab Club of North America will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Longest Day at Nelson Ledges victory by holding its annual Owners’ Convention in Aurora, Ohio from July 22-25th, 2010. The festivities will commence with an optional Track Day at Nelson Ledges Road Course on Thursday, July 22, where attendees will have the opportunity to drive the very course where Saab’s turbocharged 900 showed its stuff to the country.

http://www.saabconvention.com/

The results of the Logo Contest were announced at the Monthly Meeting last Wednesday. Here are the finalists:

First Prize - Dmitry Platonoff - Enhanced Driving School Seat

Second Prize - John Burnet - Two Years Membership SCCI

Third Prize - Steve Fyfe - One Year Membership SCCI

The winning design is now appearing on the front page of the website. Thanks again for everyone who participated.

Due to an insufficient number of entries to the Logo Contest received to date, we are extending the deadline to 11:59 PM Saturday February 28, 2009. The judging will similarly be extended by one month to be announced at the March meeting. There is still time to get going on those designs.

 Rick Clayton, Secretary

The November meeting will be held at Saturn Saab of Pickering, 980 Kingston Road (just east of Whites Road), Pickering. The Parts department will be open late until 8:00pm and there is a very nice discount of 15% on parts. You could telephone ahead and order your part at 905-839-6159. Pickering is one of the oldest Saab dealers in the area having sold the brand for 19 years. A gold level sponsor of the EDS last year, Pickering received a seat at the fall school. Often these are not utilized, but a sales representative from Pickering showed up with a Turbo-X.

The Club has a new name. It is now "Saab Club of Canada". Because of this we need a NEW LOGO. I will be announcing shortly the details of a contest for the best design. There will be a significant prize for the winner. To get your juices going, try out this Logo Quiz at Driving.ca

Rick Clayton, Secretary

This year we are heading back to the Niagara Region for our Fall Colours Tour.

We will be meeting up at a Tim Horton's at 10:00am. It is located right off the QEW in Vineland.

Here is a link to the event thread in our forum with a link to the meeting location.

We look forward to seeing you there.