CarolAnn’s legacy includes the state of Delaware’s first-ever Saab dealership, which was founded more than 50 years ago by her father, John Jacobson. Sports Car Service, as this Wilmington-based business is called, has remained in the family through a second generation, being run by her brother, Bill Jacobson, since 1984. “When my father was not fixing Saabs, he was racing them, so I grew up surrounded by Saabs,” she recalls.

CarolAnn earned a degree in Civil Engineering, but grew tired of the frequent layoffs she experienced working in that field, so in 1992, she took the opportunity to join Sports Car Service. “35 years later, and I’m still there,” she says with a smile. “The people I’ve met through being in a Saab business and in the Saab community are from all over –so many different lifestyles, so many different backgrounds– but we all share a passion for the same brand... Saab.”

Regular customers and visitors alike have long recognized that the Jacobson family collection of historic Saab automobiles was one of America’s finest, and it was Bill who’d joined forces with Tom in 2012 to purchase the 10 vehicles that comprised the Saab Cars North America Heritage Collection. Those vehicles are all now part of the incredible assembly that is housed in Sturgis. “Tom and Patti have achieved something that my brother Bill always wanted to do, but just didn’t have the means or the time to,” CarolAnn explains. “Our showroom has always been a Saab museum, so to speak, but on a much smaller scale.”

Pondering the Saab Heritage Car Museum USA, she speaks from the heart; “My immediate hope for the museum is that the Donneys can get it to a place where they can finally enjoy what they have set out to do. The work that they are putting into getting the building ready, moving cars, and organizing a lifetime of Saab hoarding, seems to never end.

“I was honored when they asked me to be on the board, and I will continue to support them from Delaware, with any record-keeping I can do via computer. I would love to spend time there to organize the donations of items they have received, and to help set up the Saab literature so it can be a good resource,” Carol Ann says enthusiastically.

“Tom and Patti have definitely taken their love of Saab to the next level by creating a place to keep the Saab passion alive, not only for themselves, but for us- the die-hard Saab fanatics.”