UKSaabs

there is a new forum site set up intended to establish a local aberdeenshire community of saab owners. the aim of the forum is to establish whether there is sufficient interest locally to set up an aberdeenshire branch of the saab owners club. Please feel free to log on at www.saababerdeen.co.uk if you are interested.

There is indeed a very healthy intrest in Saabs up here. We regularly have "mini" meets and i for one have made a few good long term what i would consider mates through them, Im not sure that I personaly would feel any advantages in being in "The Saab owners club", UKS has been all the club you could want without all the formal membership stuff, I guess if it brings more geeks out of the woodwork then it can only be good, keep an eye on the meetings section for our next curry night which usualy draws a fair crowd of us, and we have less organised meets on a drop in basis every couple of saturdays, Welcome to uksaabs, it will become adictive.

why don,t you just rig up one of them " you,ll now be automatically re directed to web sight XYZ - ok UKS " when you hit www.saababerdeen.co.uk , as Kinker says, this is sight really hits the spot

don't shoot the messenger guys !! I think the uksaabs site is great and look forward to posting on the site. It is great to hear that there are informal meetings being held and it would be great to meet with you. the purpose of the aberdeen / aberdeenshire initiative is purely to gauge interest in setting up a branch of the SOC and its not a problem if you are not interested.

No, dont take it the wrong way. My comments were purely MY feelings on the matter. We all like Saabs and enjoy a bit of banter etc. I do wonder what the advantages/need for another club would be when this one is allready established, by all means feel free to organise your own meetings on here and i am certain we will attend where atall possible. (except that Lovie man who never makes it ) No matter what name the club goes by, i expect it will be the same people attending ?

no problem kinkersaab (i have a thick skin and a fast saab) I felt that the SOC seemed to lack interest and input from this end of the country and that is a bit of a shame as we have as you said many enthusiast for the brand. The driver mag I think would benefit from the odd bit of input from the north. I also understood that there used to be a north east scotland branch which has now disappeared and it would be good to see if there was any point in resurrecting this.

I promise you I'll become an SOC member when you have this up and running!

and, I'm not saying I wont! sell it to me......

good on you melle thanks for your support

unfortunately kinkersaab this sort of thing doesn't sell very well as organizing a branch will involve some time and commitment from the branch members to have any possibility of success. We do however guarentee it will be a good laugh and if it ever takes off I will personally buy the 1st round at the 1st SAOC branch meeting (It may be a while so I will have time to save up)

i understand about the effort required from members, but not what more it will offer, or the difference from what is found on here.

I can understand your reluctance to be involved as the uksaabs site is great but if you are curious you should visit the soc web site to gauge what benefits you get from being a member. With regards the Aberdeenshire branch I believe the true benifits will be the potential for some local venue to host a national saab event. For example the speed events which take place on the short circuit at Alford is a great venue and well attended and would suit many saab owners to take there pride and joy round in under 58sec's (in my dreams) or a parade of classics. We already have 2 members who are involved with the advanced drivers assoc and have experience of marshalling events. In my opinion the only way to be taken seriously in getting the venue to speak to you about a major event would be under the banner of a recognised organisation. I could be way off the mark but as I said originally we are only looking to gauge interest.

Good on you for looking to see if there is enough interest to rekindle a branch in an area where years ago we had a lot of active SOC members. Good luck with drumming up the support.

Just to help out with the "why join when I'm already on UKS question" - I personally think it's quite simple. UKSaabs is a great place to and we all enjoy the forum, but it is not a "club". A club is a different sort of community to a web forum.

As many of you know the SOC produces a bi-monthly magazine with a variety of articles covering all ages and models of Saabs, as well as other motoring and non-motoring articles. We organise many events throughout the UK, some are only for Club members and some are open to the general public. We are also recognised by MSA and therefore provide an entry point into motorsport for those who are interested, as well as offering a small sponsorship scheme for competing members. The Club exists purely to support owners and enthusiasts of Saab cars, through social, technical and in some cases commercial means - we have a number of discount schemes available through the Club that are not open to the general public. But I don't belong because I can save a few quid on insurance, oil etc, I belong because I am proud to be a part of a wider Saab community. In fact, it would never occur to me not to be a member of the Owners Club for a car marque that I am fond of...

fliptop thanks for ALL your support and comments. I think you must have noticed that I have been struggling a bit in this thread. I like your cars list by the way (I also run a 9-3 hirsched V6)

Thought I would say Hi, on this posting. Member of the SOC, and live in Aberdeenshire. Stupid enough to be travelling to Bath for the National at the weekend. Would be interested in some events, but most UK Saab Aberdeen people on here will tell you, I don't turn up to half the events all ready!

If you see me give a wave!

I had been giving consideration as to how membership of a local SOC branch could hold benefits which might not be available through the informal meetings arranged via sites / forums such as UKS.

More clout to gain support for initiatives and events from local business came to mind. This point and others has been more eloquently put in Fliptop's post.

Of course the existance of a local SOC branch would in no way stop more informal get togethers taking place; it could merely provide an avenue for other types of events for which a bit of funding and support might be desirable.

There's no reason why folk couldn't benefit from the best of both worlds.

gordedwards,
It's good of you to drop in on this thread. I hope you enjoy your visit to the National; I'm sure I'll be able to fit one in before too long - just not this time round.

That's one tidy motor you have there; you can be justly proud of it.

Have you had a look at the SAAB Aberdeen site - there's a link earlier in this thread. We'll maybe see you over there too.

Yeah I did have a look at the website. To be fair I think one of the problems with having an SOC branch in Aberdeenshire is the fact there is already an establised "saab community" as such. I know when I lived in Hull and Carlisle this was not really the case, and people would only meet up at "events". (People from Hull now are covered by the EBOR branch, but this was not the case 5-6 years ago.) In Aberdeen some people tend to meet up on a weekly basis so I suppose the demand for a branch is lower. Not that I don't think it is a good idea, and I am all for the SOC.

Being fairly closely linked to UKS I would add that I am a member of the SOC as well. I think a local branch would add to the opportunities to meet other Saabists, and whilst my job keeps me away from some meets I do attend those I can and a few more would be welcome, especially local ones.

I would like to attend a National, but am not prepared to do another 1000+ mile trip for a one day event. Make it a weekend do, and I will be there!

Have joined the Aberdeenshire forum and wish you all the best with the venture, hopefully it will succeed.