WHAT: SAVE SAAB RALLY AT SF CITY HALL FRIDAY JANUARY 29 at NOON
Embarcadero Automotive is spearheading a SAVE SAAB RALLY AT San Francisco City Hall Friday January 29 NOON.
The rally consists of Saab owners circling City Hall between Noon-1pm displaying their SAVE SAAB SIGNS and honking their SAAB horns to show solidarity with SAAB. We will also have speakers at the East City Hall entrance beginning at 12:30pm. We expect to be colorful and passionate.
Embarcadero Automotive has repaired and sold SAAB automobiles in San Francisco for 30 years; It is located in the SOMA neighborhood at 655 Bryant St, S.F.
As you may know, SAAB was purchased by GM 20 years ago and is in the process of selling it or closing it down.
We, the SAAB owners are very disturbed by the prospect of it closing down and are asking GM to sell it to another company; There are bidders, but GM keeps dragging its feet, stating that the offers are not good enough; They say they are going to shut it down.
Saab owners have rallied world wide to raise awareness and put pressure on GM to do the right thing and sell it to someone else, who could make it a vital business again.
WHEN: Friday January 29 NOON San Francisco City Hall
CONTACT: Bram Goodwin @ 415-505-3686, email bram@embarcaderoauto.com
SAVE SAAB RALLY SIGN: CLICK FOR OFFICIAL SAVE SAAB RALLY SIGN
LINKS WITH RALLY INFORMATION: Embarcadero Automotive Web Site: www.embarcaderoauto.com, Embarcadero Automotive on Twitter: https://twitter.com/savesaab, saabhistory.com, saabsunited.com
PHOTOS AND VIDEO: RALLY INVITE IN SWEDISH , CLICK FOR MORE SAVE SAAB PHOTOS AND VIDEO
BACKGROUND MATERIAL:
Saab owners ask “Why allow a cherished brand such as SAAB perish when there are buyers that want to keep it alive?” Valerie Gomez Walker put it another way today at Embarcadero Automotive Inc in San Francisco “Saab owes it to those of us who have kept their cars running and on the road as long as we have. They should be able to keep their company alive!”
Valerie speaks from experience. This San Franciscan still drives her 1973 9-6 V4 that she bought on July 24, 1973, though she admits her husband Will Walker is more likely to be driving it these days.
Valerie bought this beauty from the VW dealership in Metairie Louisiana in 1973 for $3,422 plus tax. Her monthly payments were $31.50. She keeps the paperwork in the glove box. Valerie knew she was moving to California that summer and needed a car to get her here. She intended to buy a Volkswagen but one look at the spunky, but unusual white Saab and she was sold. Well, there’s more to that story. The practical reasons she picked it out were because it was small but heavy…she didn’t want to be blown around on the highway in a light-weight car. The other side of the story is that “the salesman was very cute” with an unusual sales pitch; “that if this car were stuck in mud in Africa on Safari she could roll it over onto its roof and push it out of the mud like a turtle, right it, and drive away.” She never forgot that story and says that has not happened yet!
Valerie and Will have been taking her car to Embarcadero Automotive in San Francisco since the day they opened in San Francisco November 1979, thirty years! The owners, Peter MacLaird and Michael Land, have been looking after her prized car all this time. She now brings it into the shop once a year for its annual oil change.
While they admit to not driving this 36-year old car as much any more they say they will be participating in whatever demonstrations are planned for San Francisco in the weeks to come. The international grass-roots fan club called “SAVE SAAB” has been promoting actions that have taken place, and continue to take place, all over the world to save the brand; everything from bake sales to full blown demonstrations. And there is move afoot of a horn-tooting drive around City Hall in San Francisco in the week to come. For more information as it develops, visit www.embarcaderoauto.com.
So if there truly are three active offers for this step-child brand of General Motors, why would GM choose to close down the brand rather than allow it to be bought and kept alive? If it is worth nothing to them, then give it away! It means the world to many of us. To follow what’s happening with GM and the sale of Saab, go to the sidebar at www.embarcaderoauto.com or their Twitter account “save saab” for their up-to-date listing of links to articles from around the world.
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Embarcadero Automotive Inc. has been serving Bay Area Saab owners since 1979. Owned and operated by Peter MacLaird and Michael Land, the business is located at 655 Bryant Street , San Francisco , CA 94107 . Phone 415-541-8500.
Everyone at Embarcadero Automotive is hoping the Saab brand will live to please many more generations of Saab owners!
