Despite trying to persuade myself I’ll leave a car exactly as I buy it, it never seems to happen, once I have it, I begin to imagine my ideal version of it; sometimes subtle, sometimes less so. When I sold the very unsuccessful Volvo V70 R, I still wanted a wagon, a car that was just there all of the time, and it didn’t take me long before I needed to return to a Saab, they feel like home, a safe place I’m happy in, and so the silver 9-5 Aero arrived.

My imagination started to play its game and before long I was on the hunt for parts. I’d remembered a good friend who’d had a very nice Hirsch Performance Sportwagon, he’d bought a Viggen from me a few years ago, when I got in touch, it turned out he’d had to scrap his wagon but had had all of the Hirsch Performance package removed and stored and was willing to sell them as long as I gave him first refusal if I sold what I built, so a deal was done; intercooler, cobra pipe, ecu, full dual exhaust, roof spoiler and rear bumper.

I also put a call out for a set of the classic 18” Hirsch Wheels, and as luck would have it, a great guy in Wales had a set he’d been storing for a while and agreed to part with them, so a road trip was planned and wheels safely collected.

It went straight in to the bodyshop for the rear roof spoiler and bumper to be resprayed and fitted, and the terrible condition bonnet was given a bare metal respray too.Then down to Malcolm Miles Saab to have their usual once over; loose sump screws, leaking water pump, badly repaired hoses and a broken intake pipe all needed immediate attention before the fun part could begin.

All brakes freed up and checked, Abbott Racing lowering springs added, new Goodyear tyres all round, new water pump and a few remedial fixes, then all of the Hirsch parts added, the bumper needs some alignment tweaking and there’s a knock on the front suspension, but it’s all coming together as I’d hoped it would, it begins to create the Sportwagon I wanted it to be. Tunstyle have worked their magic once more and the interior feels complete with a beautiful nappa leather Hirsch steering wheel; the perforations enhance the perforated, vented interior to perfection.

The Hirsch ecu will be replaced with an updated remap from Karl at Noobtune, more tailored to this specific Saab and my search for a full Troll R bodykit will continue, but besides that, this is getting pretty close to my idea of wagon heaven, I can’t really think of anything, older or newer which I’d be more content with, Saabs just continue to make me happy, and this one is most defiantly built not bought.