This has been an odd one for me, and I’m still not sure what the best route is, but what I do know, is that it’s a wonderful car. I’ve spent over £6000 on it so far, and virtually every single issue it had on arrival has now been fixed and it also has a brand new MOT.

The list of parts is almost endless, but a small overview:

DO88 performance intercooler and pipe kit £650
APH sport car 3” downpipe £500
Full stainless Jetex dual performance exhaust £500
Noob Tune stage 3+ remap £200
Bilstein B8 suspension with Eibach lowering springs £670
Fully refurbished 18” Hirsch six spoke alloys £1200
Brand new Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tyres £500
Full 2005 Aero electric heated leather interior £500
New Saab Carbon dashboard £300
New SID and heating unit with no missing pixels £200
Nappa leather sport steering wheel by TunStyle £400
New genuine Saab carpet mats £100

Let’s just add the parts list up, that’s over £5700 not including any labour or mechanics costs, servicing, new filters, sump drop, new fog lights, upgraded later Aero wiper arms, blades etc., one word springs to mind; idiot.

The next step for me would always be the bodywork, but this is where I’m slightly confused, because although it might just be the perfect sleeper, it’s by no means perfect, it has many tiny dents, it’s had an overpainted red door at some point and it just looks a little tatty. After a good inspection, even the usual areas of weakness for rust just aren’t bad at all, it’s utterly solid.

The only other faults left on the entire car are that the interior heater offers ice cold or boiling hot and has to be adjusted by the fan only, works for me but the idea of ripping out pretty much the entire dashboard and engine to fix it offers little excitement and the front interior door handles need replacing as the rubber coating has gone brittle and is falling off.

This is the first Saab I’ve ever been stuck on, my head tells me to do the bodywork, but my heart (and wallet) says leave it alone now, it’s such a great sleeper and cruiser like it is and it’d honestly be a shame to take away from that. So back to the post title ‘spares or repair’ there’s actually only one or two things left to repair, it can be utterly enjoyed and used for years to come exactly as it is, but if someone wanted a ridiculously amazing spares car, or to spend the time of the bodywork, they’d have a pretty rare gen 1 Saab on their hands.

SOLD

Essentials
Saab 95 Aero 280+ Automatic

2000
83,000 Miles

4 previous owners

V5C / Service History / Owners Manual / 2 Keys

SOLD

WORKS LIST

Mechanical
DO88 performance intercooler and pipe kit
APH 3” downpipe
Full stainless Jetex dual performance exhaust
Noob Tune stage 3+ remap
Bilstein B8 suspension
Eibach lowering springs
Sump drop / clean
Oil and filter service
New front wheel bearings
New discs and pads
Aero wiper blades

Cosmetic
Bespoke satin black mesh grille
New fog lights
Fully refurbished 18” Hirsch six spoke alloys
Brand new Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tyres
Full 2005 Aero electric heated leather interior
New Saab Carbon dashboard
New SID and heating unit with no missing pixels
Nappa leather sport steering wheel by TunStyle
New genuine Saab carpet mats