Last week a commemorative 50th Anniversary ceremony was held in the Finnish city of Uusikuaupunki. The first Saab car to come off the production lane in Finland was the Saab 96, with an EKA-96 license plate, and this car was delivered to then Finnish president Mr. Urho Kekkonen, in November 1969.
This is Cool footage of the first Saab 96 rolling of the production line on Uusikaupunki factory 50 years ago:
Saab is an important part of Valmet Automotiveheritage, so it was sad to see this – the last Saab delivered by Valmet Automotive on April 24, 2003. Yet, they are proud of their decade-long cooperation with the company that was an automotive trendsetter. The news story described that the passenger car completed at the Saab-Valmet factory in Uusikaupunki was the beginning of a new era, as Finnish industry also joined the international present day.
The wreathed Saab was viewed by a group of invited guests and, of course, Olmet J. Mattila, CEO of Valmet Oy, was also admiring the new car. In 1969, the Uusikaupunki car factory was to produce 300 Saab 96 passenger cars, but the following year the production was expected to reach 15,000.
