Saturday 27th March was the day that saw the first branch excursion
for East Sussex Saab. The day had originally been discussed at the
November meeting and by our December meeting, Mike Hope, branch
chairman took charge of officially organising a day to Abbott's.
He decided to pluck a date out the air. One that would be far enough
into the future to guarantee that we might expect half-decent weather.
The day started off early for most of us and although we were making
our own way to Abbott's, most of us had to make a journey of 120+
miles.
The plan was for members' to meet up in the village of Wix at 10.30am
where Mike would lead the way, as the route was not well signed
and the fact that he had been there before.
Once we believed every one had arrived in the village, Mike led
a convoy of Saabs off toward the infamous residence of Abbott Racing.
When we drove into the entrance of the facility we were conveniently
guided by staff to where we were supposed to park. On arrival it
was quite apparent that the home of Abbott Racing was once (or still
is) a farm.
Once out of our cars we made our way to the main commercial unit
passing a vast array of cars for sale. Inside we were met by Ed
Abbott and his team. We were given time to gather and enjoy a cup
of coffee before Ed gave us an overview of the day followed by a
brief history of Abbott Racing.
Before we set off around the various areas of the facility Ed got
our mouths watering by announcing that bacon rolls would be delivered
shortly for all those that wanted one.
We then dispersed to the different working areas of the Abbott
Racing facility. The many workshop areas include an engine dyno
testing, component fabrication, ECU computer modification upgrades
and general workshop facilities.
It was good to be able to see how an organisation such as Abbott’s
operate and with them now concentrating on sales, there were many
cars to look at that they had for sale.
Apart from just looking at how they work, we also got to experience
how they have practically put their knowledge to good use. There
were two magnificent race prepared Saabs for all to admire plus
passenger rides in a few of their modified road cars.
The day seemed to pass quite quickly and once we had exhausted
Ed and his team, some of us went off to a local pub for lunch.
A big thank you must go to all at Abbott Racing for a fabulous
day out!!
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