Saabclub Belgium Brings Dozens of Saabs to Bosland for a 120-Kilometer Lommel Tour

On Saturday, May 16, Saabclub Belgium brought another

, a roughly 120-kilometer drive through Bosland and the Belgian-Dutch border region. The event was organized by Vera Verbist and Eric Van den Eynde, with the start and finish at the German Military Cemetery in Lommel, where dozens of Saab owners gathered for a full day of driving, local history and club atmosphere.

This was not a static parking-lot meeting built around polished paint and folding chairs. The Boslandtour was designed as a proper regional road run, using Saab cars the way their owners still like to use them: over quiet roads, through villages, past historic sites, and across a landscape where every stop added context to the day.

Coffee, Limburg pie and a roadbook before the first kilometer

Before the cars left Lommel, participants were welcomed with coffee and Limburgse vlaai, the kind of regional detail that turns a club drive into something more specific than a generic Sunday tour. Each crew received a package with the roadbook, practical information and an overview of the points of interest along the route.

The organizers also offered a GPX option, but the classic “bolleke-pijl” roadbook remained part of the experience. That matters in a Saab setting. Many owners still enjoy a form of driving where the passenger reads instructions, the driver follows rhythm and road shape, and the car becomes part of the landscape rather than a device following a blue line on a screen.

For a club that welcomes every Saab model, from the earliest two-stroke cars to later 9-3 and 9-5 models, this format works particularly well. It does not reduce the event to concours condition or model hierarchy. It puts the cars in motion, and that is where Saab’s design logic is easiest to understand.

A route built around nature, war history and borderland roads

From Lommel, the convoy passed the partly restored Mariapark in Lommel-Werkplaatsen, then crossed the Bocholt-Herentals canal via the double Bailey bridge toward Postel. The route allowed participants to stop at Postel Abbey, before continuing through Borkel and Schaft toward the Achelse Kluis.

The drive also passed the reconstructed Dodendraad in Achel, a reminder of the electric border barrier used during the First World War. Other points along the route included Hamont, Kleine-Brogel Air Base, the F-104 Starfighter roundabout, the military surroundings of Leopoldsburg, Liberation Garden and Keiheuvel.

That combination gave the Boslandtour its character. This was not simply a scenic drive through forest roads. It moved through a border region where military history, local identity and quiet infrastructure sit close together. For Saab owners, that kind of route feels appropriate: aircraft references, military surroundings, practical engineering, modest villages and long-lived machines using public roads without spectacle.

Saabclub Belgium’s strongest point: every Saab has a place

One of the important details in the local report is that Saabclub Belgium welcomes all Saab models, regardless of age. That makes a difference. Some clubs can become overly narrow, especially when a marque has been out of series production for years. Saabclub Belgium appears to take the healthier route: a classic Saab 96 can share the day with convertibles, 900s, 9-3s, 9-5s and later cars without the event becoming divided into “real” and “less real” Saabs.

The line quoted by one participant – “Every Saab will become an oldtimer one day” – is simple, but accurate. A 2008 9-3 Convertible is not a pre-1970 rally car, but in twenty years it will be judged very differently. The same applies to well-kept 9-5 estates, late Aero models and cars still doing everyday work. Saab history is not preserved only by museum pieces. It also survives through cars that are still maintained, repaired, improved and driven.

The club’s treasurer, Marc Witters, also underlined that members are encouraged to organize tours in their own region, allowing other Saab owners to discover new areas through local knowledge rather than generic tourist routes.

A family Saab 96 that carried more than mileage

Among the cars present, one Saab drew particular attention: a beautifully maintained Saab 96 owned by Heleen Vermeylen from Turnhout. According to the local report, the car was once the first car of her parents and has remained in the same family throughout its life. As a child, she was driven to school in it; today, the same Saab still appears at oldtimer events.

That is the kind of story that Saab people understand immediately. The value of such a car is not defined only by paint depth, engine numbers or market price. It comes from continuity. A family car that remains in use across generations carries a kind of documentation no auction catalog can reproduce.

The Saab 96 itself sits at the core of the brand’s postwar identity. Saab presented its first car, the Saab 92, in 1947, series production began in Trollhättan in 1949, and the 96 arrived as part of the early model evolution that helped establish Saab outside Sweden.

A 1969 Saab Sonett V4 added the rare-sports-car detail

The Boslandtour also included a blue 1969 Saab Sonett V4, a rare two-seat sports car and one of the models that still surprises people outside the Saab community. The Sonett V4 is compact, low, fiberglass-bodied and very different from the practical sedans and estates most people associate with Saab.

For Saab enthusiasts, the Sonett’s presence changes the visual tone of any meeting. It reminds people that Saab’s engineering culture was not limited to safety, turbocharging and winter-road competence. The company also experimented with lightweight construction, aerodynamic thinking and small-series sports-car packaging. The Sonett never became a mass-market halo car, but that is precisely why seeing one on a Belgian club drive still matters.

Convertible weather gave the event the right finish

The spring weather helped the atmosphere. According to the report, many Saab convertibles immediately went roof-down during the drive, adding a visible sense of movement and openness to the tour.

For Saabclub Belgium, that detail also reinforces the inclusive nature of the event. A Saab 900 Convertible, a 9-3 Convertible and an older 96 do not tell the same engineering story, but they share the same club space when the route is well planned. The cars become different chapters of the same marque rather than isolated collector objects.

After a full day on the road, the group returned to Lommel, where many participants continued the event with a shared evening meal. That final part is often what keeps marque clubs healthy: the cars provide the reason to gather, but the club survives because people want to meet again.

A small regional tour with the right Saab ingredients

The Boslandtour @ Lommel worked because it used the right ingredients in the right proportions: a real route, local knowledge, meaningful stops, simple hospitality, cars of different generations and enough history to make the drive feel rooted in place.

Saab as a carmaker no longer builds automobiles. The official Saab company today focuses on defense, aerospace and security solutions, while Saab Automobile’s production history is preserved most visibly through institutions such as the Saab Car Museum in Trollhättan.

But events like this show why the automotive side of the name remains active in everyday life. Not because of slogans, but because owners continue to organize, maintain, drive and share these cars across Europe.

In Lommel, that meant a roadbook, a convoy of Swedish cars, a family-owned Saab 96, a rare Sonett V4, open-roof convertibles and 120 kilometers through Bosland. For Saabclub Belgium, it was another strong reminder that the best Saab events do not need excess. They need a good route, people who care, and cars that still belong on the road.