(June 25, 2011) JERSEY CITY, N.J. (PRNewswire) — Saab has announced its participation in Rand McNally/USA Today's "Best of the Road" rally across the U.S.  Five two-person teams are off in a mix of Saab automobiles, spending the next three weeks experiencing the best small towns in the United States as the final phase of Rand McNally/USA Today's attempt to find "Best of the Road" (www.bestoftheroad.com) and the best small towns in the United States.

Driving a unique route from metro New York to Los Angeles in a mix of Saab 9-3s, 9-5s and the new 9-4X crossover, each of the teams will visit some of the towns which were selected online in one of the five "best" categories: most fun, most patriotic, most beautiful, friendliest and best for food.

Along the way from coast to coast, each team will post an online travel journal, combining blogs, Facebook posts, Twitter feeds, texts and videos, with the best journal earning a grand prize of a Saab 9-4X crossover and $10,000.

According to Timothy Colbeck, Saab Cars North America President and Chief Operating Officer, Saabs were perfect for the Best of the Road rally.

"What a natural fit — taking the 'best on the road' – a new Saab — to find the 'best of the road,'" he said from the kickoff program today at Liberty State Park.  "The contestants are going to be pleasantly surprised by both the cars and the great towns they will see as they make their way across the country. They may have heard of the Saab 9-5 or Emporia, Kansas, for example, but once they experience them, they will be amazed."

"The rally contestants are going to spend a lot of time in their Saabs and we are sure they will find safety, comfort, and turbo performance an exciting part of their journey," said Tim Colbeck.

Traveling the ins and outs of a country is familiar territory for Saabs.  For years, Saab was successful in rallies all around the world.  This adventure should involve some more modest speeds (and a lot more comfort) but there's no doubt that competitors in the Best of the Road have the best vehicles for the job.

Towns were nominated at the Best of the Road Web site and a panel of travel experts along with public reviews and comments narrowed the selections down to six in each category, including: Baker City, Ore; Franklin, Tenn.; Walla Walla, Wash.; Rapid City, S.D.; Park City, Utah, and Lafayette, La.

The 10 "rallyists" earned their way into the Saabs by submitting a one-minute video on why they deserved to participate. They will not be competing on a time or distance basis, but on the number of towns visited along their route, the quality and originality of their journal and the quality of their category descriptions, all of which must be completed by July 15, the deadline for arriving in Los Angeles.