The risks of buying a Saab without service history are high, buying one which had already been handed over to a breaker's yard are even higher, yet still, this one needed to be saved.

I spoke directly to the breakers, and in their words "It looks way too f**king good to crush it mate" gave me hope, I'd already done a full background check; no accidents, no theft, consistent milage and even the MOT history appeared to be excellent.

When it arrived, I was hugely relieved to see it looked as good as the blurred EBay images had lead me to believe, the forklift had damaged the exhaust system and Aero side skirts, and the footwell was covered in dirt and oil from the breaker's yard.

However, although the engine seemed to run ok, the oil light came on at low idle, we changed the oil pump, dropped and cleaned the sump and replaced all of the fluids, but sadly, after a few hundred miles, it returned but this time, it took out the engine too.

Now this is where the sacrifice comes in, I'd also found a nice Black 9-5 Aero for another project, bodywork tatty, but engine excellent, so I've taken the decision to break that Black one to save this beauty, a few hundred miles under it's belt and finger's crossed, all seems great.

I find the Graphite Green Metallic a real visual treat and so rare in the UK, that together with the fact that the bodywork is really clean, meant that this one would always win to me, the subframe had been changed and fully polybushed, the upgraded intercooler, intake pipes and brakes had all been upgraded, so had the suspension, all in, this is a car we've carefully built ourselves and now know it quite well.

I'm rather sad we've had to sacrifice another Saab Aero, but needs must, what it does leave though, is a number of excellent parts for others to make use of if anyone's interested :

Saab 9-5 Aero manual 5 speed gearbox FM55B05 Petrol £300
Saab ALU56 18" alloys (require refurb but straight and no cracks) £300
Abbott Racing 9-5 saloon rear boot lip (Rare) £150
Full black Aero interior with heated seats £200
Projector headlight units (need refurb) £100
Rear light clusters £100

Feel free to ask about anything else, we're currently stripping it down, so might be able to help, collection will be from Leicester, sorry, but I really can't arrange transportation, but happy if you arrange yourselves.