by Tim Wong

I just drove a rental Mazda 6 during my family trip to California at March break. My business trip last month, I wanted to take out a hybrid car for a week to try.

I know the best known hybrid out there is the Toyota Prius. I still perceive the Toyota Prius is a small car (which I also know, it is actually not). When I rent a car, I normally ask for full size or even bigger. That’s why I chose not to rent a Prius. I got a Nissan Altima for this trip.

The Nissan Altima uses hybrid technology from Toyota (similar to what Toyota puts into the Camry hybrid). Nissan marries the Toyota hybrid drive train to its 2.5 liter gas engine. According to spec, the electric motor is equivalent to 40hp. The 2.5 liter DOHC four-cyclinder engine and the electric motor combined to make 198 bhp.

My rental car came well equipped. It had leather interior. Everything power. It just did not come with the ‘fancy’ computer package that offers sophisticated hybrid system monitoring. What remained was a rather simple text only display integrated into the dash board.

"Where's My Saab?" is back and the January photo has been posted. Can you guess where it was taken? Send your guess to photos [at] saabclub [dot] ca

Click here for more info and the high resolution version.

Topic: review of various Saab videos, the Saab tribute by Top Gear, and the introduction to the latest Gryphon (on-line edition). Like Katz, eZone is a full service restaurant facility. We will have table service available to us. However, given the response to this event, we have resorted back to standard meeting format instead of an evening of fun and games.

Everyone is welcome to attend, but since the games in this facility require pre-booking, we will not be using them.

www.theezone.ca

Date: Wednesday March 21, starting from 6:30pm, meeting to begin at 7:30pm.
Address: 120 North Queen Street, Etobicoke, ON (just up the road from Queensway Saab)

The February "Where's My Saab?" photo has been posted. Can you guess where it was taken? Send your guess to photos [at] saabclub [dot] ca

Click here for more info and the high resolution version.

"Where's My Saab?" is back and the January photo has been posted. Can you guess where it was taken? Send your guess to photos [at] saabclub [dot] ca

Click here for more info and the high resolution version.

Follow on to the "We are many, we are Saab" meeting.
What is the current state of Saab? Is there any news?

What does this all mean for The Saab Club of Canada?

Also, we there will be copies of the January, 2012 edition of the Gryphon available for those on hand. Copies will be mailed out to anyone unable to attend. Included will be the latest version of the club discount list with updated vendors and discounts.

Date and Time: Wednesday January 18th at 7:30pm

Location: Katz's Deli in one of the meeting rooms at the rear. Address is 3300 Dufferin Street, Toronto, ON M6A 2T5 (West side of Dufferin, just South of the 401).

February Meeting Topic:

We are looking for ideas for this and future meetings. Please don't hesitate to contact Scott Hutchings or Fred Hopper if you have any thoughts or contacts who might be interested in speaking at a meeting.

Hello everyone,

As many have heard a few days ago of SAAB's bankruptcy, Aktive Motors would like to invite everyone who loves and believes in this iconic brand to join them in the, "We Are Many, We Are SAAB" worldwide meeting, Saturday, January 14, 2012 at noon. There will be food, drinks, and all things SAAB at this global gathering of SAAB owners and enthusiasts who remain loyal and dedicated regardless of SAAB's uncertain future. Let's show our support once again that we continue to believe and hope that one day the SAAB Phoenix will rise again.......

Please click on the link to the "We Are Many, We Are SAAB" worldwide meeting website:

http://www.saabsunited.com/2011/12/14-15th-of-january.html

http://www.outside-saab.com

Dear Members,

It's been a difficult week for Saab enthusiasts in Canada and around the world. As Scott mentioned earlier this week, the recent events at Saab make the work of our club more relevant than ever.

As 2011 draws to a close we want to invite all members to send in photos and stories of anything related to Saab, for inclusion in our January newsletter. Without a full-time editor we are not able to publish as often as we would like to, but during the holidays we will be preparing a special edition which will celebrate Saab's proud history in Canada and in the lives of our members. We'll also be including an updated Discount List - one of the benefits of paid membership. This issue will be mailed out after our January meeting.

Please send your photos, stories and other contributions to the newsletter to editor [at] saabclub [dot] ca

We also want to wish our members a safe and happy holiday and we look forward to 2012.

Fred Hopper
Vice President, The Saab Club of Canada

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