A chance meeting led to three people discovering they all had the same type of rare car.
Vincent O’Brien 81, Charles Richards 75, and Jane Hughes, 69 live within half a mile of each other in Formby. While Charles and Jane had known each other for a while, a chance meeting between Charles and Vincent in Formby village led to them discovering they shared a love for the now-discontinued convertible red Saab.
All three Saabs are bright red and even though production of the car stopped over a decade ago they have all poured their time and hard-earned money into making sure the cars look as if they just rolled off the showroom floor.
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Vincent told the ECHO: “I was in the village about a year ago and a guy came up to me while I was sitting outside having a coffee and asked if that was my red Saab parked over the road. He then told me he had the exact make in the same colour.
“We got chatting and found out we live pretty close to each other then he started telling me that there is only one Saab like ours in the whole of Canada but he knew of another lady who had one in Formby, she lived nearby and it was the same colour.”
Vincent like Charles is a supporter of Liverpool Football Club both chose the colour red to honour their beloved team. While Vincent has had his Saab for a decade, Charles purchased his around five years ago to fulfil a lifelong ambition.
Charles said: “I had a little red sports car when I was in my twenties but got rid of it and I think I sold it too early. When I got the Saab a few years back it fulfilled me and I felt like I got that old car back.
“I remember when Jane’s husband first bought her car back in 2010 and we would stop to have a chat. Her husband sadly died but she never wanted to get rid of it even though many people have asked to buy it from her.
“I know Vincent takes great pride in parking up his car in the village and sitting there having a coffee. We all just love the cars they are a future classic in our opinion.”
Saab was a car manufacturer founded in Sweden in 1945. In 1989 American car giant General Motors took a 50% share of the new Saab Automobile business, making the company a wholly-owned subsidiary in 2000, before going bust in 2011.
Charles said: “They are both very nice people but we would have never met unless we had the car and it is the cars that brought us together. You know I did not want to be the old guy driving a sports car for me it is all about the way it drives.
“Vincent has now set up a Formby red Saab convertible club just for us to be WhatsApp friends.”
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