Saab Fan Blog Inspires Official Award

Anybody who made it through the last 12 months or so with their passion for the Saab brand intact deserves some kind of free psychological screening and endangered species protection award. Hell, anyone who made it through the last 20 years… you know what, this isn’t the moment for cynicism. Through the wrenching chaos of GM’s often-abortive attempts to sell Saab, the website SaabsUnited has stood by its brand, aggregating the most complete Saab sale coverage on the web, and generally consoling the faithful. Oh yes, and suffering through a relentless stream of cynicism from yours truly (sorry guys, it’s all we know). Anyway, for being the keepers of hope when all hope seemed lost, Saab has named and annual award after SaabsUnited which

will be made annually as the company’s way of expressing its gratitude to people like [SU founder Steven Wade] and others who continue to show us such great support.

This might seem like so much PR fluff, but having read SU daily during the height of the Saab sale drama, I’m forced to say that SaabsUnited is a testament to the new power of the internet. Never in the history of the autoblogosphere has a blogger ever become so close to the center of a story on the strength of sheer passion alone. Even when it seemed like Spyker and GM were ready to call the brand quits, SU was there, agitating and organizing. At a time when automotive passion seems to be at something of a low tide, SaabsUnited showed that brand loyalty verging on the unreasonably fanatical is still alive. For that, they deserve a moment of recognition… even if some of us still think Saab’s still deep in the doodoo.