Dear Diary,
We toured the Saab Museum in Trollhättan, a city once home to the company's headquarters and main manufacturing plant.
Saab is a Swedish brand, manufacturing both airplanes and automobiles. And the museum itself appears to be its old manufacturing plant, as the overhead cranes remain installed in the ceiling.
To study the history of Saab is to dive into a chapter of Sweden's history.
In 1945, Saab decided to venture beyond aeronautical engineering and manufacture cars.
Pictured above is the prototype, in its original condition and it has never been restored.
It's displayed separately and prominently from the other exhibits, obviously due to its importance.
(Thank goodness the placards were also in English - we learned a lot. Sweden is one of the easiest countries for the English-speaking to travel to!)
The first airline my husband was hired to fly for had a fleet of Saab turbine-engine aircraft to connect travelers to the smaller airports in the region.
In fact, we took home a patch of that particular aircraft, where it will remain in its packaging as a keepsake now that the fleet has been retired.
It was a really cool connection to make!
The museum exhibits cars from the 1940s up to the latest models, plus concept cars and its rally history. Of the 120 cars in the collection, only 70 are currently shown. They all represent a milestone of the over 4.4 millions cars produced since its inception.
I was drawn to the curves of the older models.
The museum opened in 1975 (it's initial location was the cellar), and while I have little interest in automobiles, I found our visit to be very worthwhile given my husband's ties and its importance to Sweden.
If you go:
Åkerssjövägen 18
SE-461 53 TrollhättanSweden
Web site (in English)
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