The Dutch Collector

I’ve known Ward for a number of years now, we’ve unfortunately never met in person yet, but we have a wonderful connection, we talk regularly and also have an enduring shared love for Saabs. A few months ago, he got in touch and told me about his new purchase, a 2010 Saab 9-5 Aero Exklusiv Turbo4 Hirsch. Needless to say, I think I was as excited as he was about it, and true to form, it turned out to be as beautiful as his other Saabs in the collection. One day I look forward to visiting the Netherlands to see his new addition, but for now, I asked him to share his thoughts on the last generation 9-5 and what he admires about it.

I’ve been admiring the new Saab 9-5 for many, many years. Actually, the wallpaper on my iMac is a picture by you, of the rear of a 9-5 NG when you had one as a courtesy car, with that proud SAAB wordmark standing between the stylish and subtle red lines of the LED-bar. The LED-bar that is another example of Saab always being way ahead, as this now seems to be almost a standard feature on cars of premium brands like Porsche, BMW, Audi and Polestar.

 Every single time I saw one in real life, I felt a lot of very strong emotions. It always excites me, as I think it is a very impressive and gorgeous car that even now still looks absolutely timeless, a feature of Saab design we both appreciate so much. Next to the excitement, I also always felt a little sad, as it shows what could have been. I think Saab really made this new 9-5 very Saab again, that reassuring Saab feeling in a modern way. I’ve grown up in and around Saabs, but my deep love for the brand really took off around the time Spyker (as a small Dutch sports car manufacturer) under the leadership of entrepreneur Victor Muller took over Saab and made it an independent car company.

I further developed that deep connection with Saab around that period not so much because of nationalistic feelings (although of course it’s nice when, being Dutch yourself, a Dutch entrepreneur saves your favourite brand with a great tenacity and a lot of positivity), but because back then I had a course about branding and connection society has with brands. And as part of that course we had to delve into a brand we were fascinated by. I discussed it with my mother (from whom I have the Saab genes), and our clear conclusion was I had to choose Saab. I was already thinking about choosing Saab, but my mother helped me and made it very clear to me that Saab was the obvious choice for me, which immediately felt great. Since then, I got more and more intrigued by Saab and got involved with everything Saab.

I followed all the news about the brand, the exciting new developments coming up, the lovely branding, the always very clear press conferences and press releases, the company blog InsideSaab by Steven Wade, the social media channels of Saab, the international blog SaabsUnited for which I eventually also started writing posts, and of course the beautiful black 9-5 Aero from 2002 owned by my mother. That is the car in which I really learned to drive after getting my driver’s license, and I have driven many enjoyable kilometers in that amazing Saab, and sometimes still do. I’ve called it the idiosyncratic love affair, describing the deep connection between Saab and Saab enthusiasts. And I feel very privileged to be part of this special group of people worldwide, who all appreciate and love Saab so much.

That’s me getting carried away a bit when talking about Saab, but that’s the period the all new Saab 9-5 was launched. Like the advertising states, ‘Anything but ordinary’. And I think that’s very true, as it in my opinion really matches it’s premium counterparts from Germany, the UK and Sweden in being a premium modern large sedan, but then, like Saab does (and one of the reasons we love Saab so much), in a different way. So when seeing a 9-5 NG both happy and at the same time a little sad emotions, but the happy emotions always are far more present and the Saab just gives much more reasons to be positive than anything else. Thankful that more than 11.000 of them are made, giving us the opportunity to truly enjoy them and wave the Saab colors with pride. Every time I saw one I knew I would eventually really love to own one myself. In that case, it would ideally be a black Turbo4 Aero with beige interior, automatic and FWD.

 When I saw a blue Aero earlier this year being parked in my hometown Maastricht, with its gorgeous beige Aero interior, I just knew I really wanted one. I started searching more seriously (as I had been looking at the market on and off throughout the years) and then I eventually found this lovely 9-5 which I can now call my own. Something that is, also when admiring this one from up close, sometimes still baffling to imagine. That amazing Saab I’ve been admiring for years is now my own Saab. When I found this one, I was immediately very happy with the specifications. It’s almost exactly how I would have ordered one myself if I had the chance back then. A Jet Black Aero with beige interior, the 2.0T Turbo4 with FWD (as the XWD was not recommended to me by multiple Saab specialists whose advice I value and it’s something which I also don’t need and is an extra (complex) system which needs extra service etc), no DriveSense (another more complex and costly system which I don’t really need) and Hirsch optimised, giving the Saab 260hp which I think really suits the car. It also has the great Head-Up Display, the colorized sat nav screen, the colorized Graphic Info Display which shows the speedometer as an altitude meter inspired by the aviation heritage and the swivelling headlights.

The Saab is originally delivered at the Saab dealership of Boy Heijnen in Roermond, the Province of Limburg where we live as well. After that, it has been maintained for many years by Saab dealer Van Dongen in the province of Brabant (the neighbouring province of Limburg) and after that it returned to Limburg again where it has been maintained in the same area as where it was originally sold. The previous owners must have taken good care of it, as it still is in very good shape. The interior almost feels like new (which I can really appreciate a lot), and also the exterior still is in very good shape.

From the beginning, the Saab already feels very familiar and good. Very Saab. It drives great and in my opinion looks absolutely gorgeous. I might eventually get the lovely 19 inch Turbine wheels back to original silver again, and maybe eventually fit the original boot spoiler to give the overall design that little original extra, but in general, I think it’s just perfect. To top it all off, I recently found out via Henrik Zaar who puts together the production reports of the 9-5 NG and 9-4X, that my 9-5 and I have the same birthday. The 9-5 is built on the 16-17th of July, and my birthday is on the 17th of July. I think that’s really special. I genuinely love this Saab and this certainly is one to keep.

Saabfest 2024 Gallery

This year's Saabfest; held at the wonderful Prescott Hill Climb happened at the end of July, and sadly, it was another event I couldn't make, even though I had a working Saab this time, but some great reports coming in of lovely weather, a bunch of amazing cars and as ever, good company.

Luckily, I've managed to persuade the very talented, Matt Searle, to allow me to share his photos. They're exceptionally close to my own photography style, so feel they beautifully convey the Saabvs aesthetic too, thanks for letting me share them Matt.

Day One

Day Two

Saab BioPower 100

From time to time, I love digging back into the Saabvs archives and finding interesting stories about what Saab might have been in the future. As we all know, Bioethanol hasn't become what Saab might have hoped it would (at least, not in the UK), but I can't help thinking that it still sounds like an attractive proposition for sustainable driving, even today.

Back in 2007, Saab claimed that the new 9-5 BioPower 100 Concept would have been the first production car designed to run on pure E100 bioethanol; a clean and powerful fuel. Most bioethanol cars that were on sale, ran on E85 (a blend of 85 percent bioethanol, 15 percent regular unleaded), but pure E100 had a higher octane rating. The 9-5 concept produced a muscly 300bhp from just 2.0 litres. Torque was equally high at 295lb ft, for a rapid 6.6sec dash to 62mph. Saab said that the main benefit of flex-fuel vehicles is that the CO2 emissions created during driving would be balanced by the crops grown to make bioethanol, making them potentially carbon-neutral; what's not to like?

Not only that, the BioPower Concept car was one of the most aesthetically pleasing versions of this generation 9-5 I'd ever seen. The pure white paintwork, ice block lights and 19" turbine alloys, whilst the interior was upholstered in unique white leather, complemented by black leather dash and doortrims overlaid with a carbon fibre pattern.

The BioPower 100 Concept brought Saab's technology to a new level by showing the true potential of combining turbocharging and sophisticated engine management with pure bioethanol fuel, it might have been one of the best examples that greener motoring could also mean even sportier driving.

Total BioPower


Saab is already established as the leading player in Europe's emerging market for 'flex-fuel' vehicles able to run on gasoline and/or bioethanol (E85). Its current Saab 9-5 BioPower model is the best-selling flex-fuel car in Europe and Sweden and, at Geneva this year, Saab also announces BioPower's introduction throughout its 9-3 product range.

So far, Saab BioPower development has been focused on using E85 fuel, (85% bioethanol/15% gasoline). Now, with the announcement of the fully functioning BioPower 100 Concept, Saab confirms its leadership position by showing how bioethanol technology could be further extended. In combining pure bioethanol with Saab's expertise in turbocharging, the BioPower 100 Concept offers drivers an exciting win/win proposition: greener motoring with dramatically enhanced power and performance.

Running on E100, the concept car's engine delivers peak power of 300 hp at 5,800 rpm and an exceptionally strong 400 Nm of torque between 3,000 and 5,100 rpm, withalmost 85% available at just 2,000 rpm. This strong and flexible power delivery gives the Saab BioPower 100 Concept car zero to 100 kph acceleration in just 6.6 secs and 80 - 120 kph (fifth gear) in an even more impressive 8.2 secs. The standard 150 hp gasoline engine produces 240 Nm of torque from 1,800-3,500 rpm, giving zero to 100 kph in10.2 secs and 80-120 kph (fifth gear) in 16.3 secs.

The secret behind such enhanced performance is the ability of E100 fuel to resist harmful self-ignition, or 'knocking', as the fuel/air mixture is compressed in the cylinder. This attribute is denoted by E100's high 106 RON octane rating. It permits the use of an engine compression ratio that is higher than normally possible with turbocharging, giving more power and greater combustion efficiency without risk of knocking.

The BioPower 100 Concept's engine operates with a compression ratio of 11.0:1, compared to 8.8:1 for the standard gasoline engine. This has been achieved by modifying the shape of the piston crowns to reduce the volume of the combustion chamber, thereby raising the engine's compression ratio.

New software for Saab's powerful Trionic engine management system, which controls the throttle setting, ignition timing, fuel injection and turbo boost pressure, looks after the different ignition timing and fuel/air mixture requirements of E100 fuel.

More durable valves and valve seats are fitted to the engine, together with bioethanol-compatible materials throughout the fuel system. The only other modification necessary is pre-heating of the fuel. This is required to achieve good cold-starting performance, which is the main reason why bioethanol is currently blended with gasoline and sold as E85 fuel.

In ambient temperatures below 15°C, the chemistry of E100 makes it resistant to vaporization and, as a result, it can be difficult to start the engine. To overcome this issue, the Saab BioPower 100 Concept has an experimental fuel heating system, using small heating elements in the inlet ports downstream of the injectors. When the engine is cold, these elements warm the incoming fuel sufficiently to allow it to vaporize. Shortly after start-up, the function is automatically deactivated.

On The Road


In optimising the potential of bioethanol fuel, the Saab BioPower 100 Concept turbo engine offers improved driveability, as well as greater full power performance. The high compression ratio allows the engine to generate more torque more quickly, particularly from low engine speeds. On the road, the driver of the BioPower 100 Concept will immediately notice a sharper engine response, with a better low speed pick-up before the turbo is engaged.

On full throttle openings, the turbocharger packs up to 1.2 bar boost, without risk of 'knocking' from the high octane fuel. It gives the BioPower 100 Concept driver access to the sort of in-gear performance typical of a modern, naturally-aspirated engine of four liters or more. The smooth power delivery - without fossil fuel emissions - takes Saab's traditional 'less is more' turbo philosophy to a new level.

That impressive 150 hp/liter specific power output also indicates considerable future potential for engine 'rightsizing', giving the driver the performance characteristics of a 'large' engine without incurring its additional weight, greater complexity or higher fuel consumption. In this way, E100 offers significant potential to reduce the displacement of an engine - thereby reducing fuel consumption - while still achieving a desired power level.

The overall fuel consumption of the current Saab 9-5 BioPower engine using E85 is about 30% higher than on gasoline and the optimized BioPower 100 engine is expected to yield a near 10% gain against this. Bioethanol burns at a lower temperature than gasoline, which reduces thermal stresses on the engine and benefits fuel consumption at higher cruising speeds. With the future addition of direct injection and lean-burn technology, E100 fuel consumption can move even closer to gasoline levels.

For optimum energy saving, future E100 applications could also be combined with electric hybrid technology, reducing fuel consumption and CO2 emissions still further. This development has already been previewed in the Saab BioPower Hybrid Concept, the world's first such vehicle to use pure bioethanol.

Whilst the BioPower 100 Concept is focused on performance, it still retains a 'flex-fuel' capability and the engine will also run on gasoline, or E85, although power levels are not so high. Trionic monitors fuel quality after every visit to the filling station and automatically makes any adjustments necessary for running on E100/E85 and/or gasoline in any combination.

To handle the increased performance, the BioPower 100 show car is fitted with a limited-slip differential and larger front brake discs (345 mm) and calipers, while using the sports chassis settings of Saab 9-5 Aero SportCombi. It also has a dual pipe rear exhaust system, with tailpipes similar to those of the Aero X Concept.



9000 Carlsson

From the moment you sit inside the Saab 9000 Carlsson
with its unique upholstery of suede and leather,
it is immediately apparent that this Saab is truly something special.


Excerpt from the 1991 Carlsson range brochure.

A Saab acquaintance urgently needed another car, and ideally he wanted a Saab 9000, so the decision was made to let my Aero go, as part of the exchange, I've now become the custodian of a non-running 9000 Carlsson.

Whereas the Aero needed a minor amount of work, I have a feeling this needs more major work; it has corrosion that needs urgently addressing, the ABS system has failed and is currently un-drivable and there's no key, so the lock mechanism needs changing before I can even move it. My immediate thought was to break it for parts, but my ardent nature has got the better of me, and wants to attempt to save it.

Let's see where this one guides us...

Saab Life

It’s been a busy few weeks as far as Saabs are concerned, coming and goings, parts arriving and respected folks finally met.

As anyone having kept up with my various Saabs will now, I have a gorgeous, Graphite Green 9-5 Aero rescued from the breakers about a year ago, It needed a lot of work to get it back on track, which we did, but then the replacement engine let me down. Last week, I was offered a hugely interesting donor Saab with a highly modified engine and gearbox; maybe the perfect answer to get the Graphite Green Aero finally running. I made a deal to px a lovely, low milage Vector 2.3t for it and also had the pleasure of meeting Peter Raw, who’d offered me the car and kindly drove it down for me.

Although not running great yet, the engine is indeed a bit special; running around 350hp and with a superb, lsd, manual gearbox, the car also comes with huge MapTun brakes, Bilstien suspension and a hoist of other goodies I can rescue. It would mean converting an Auto to a Manual though, and we’re just weighing up the costs of doing such a conversion. It would, however, give me, my perfect Saab 9-5 Aero.

I’ve also bought a few old Audio units from Peter, old school, high end audio for a Saab 9000, we’re not entirely sure what each one does, but I’ll have a lot of pleasure working with you guys them all out and hopefully, fitting them to the 9000 Aero. I’ve also managed to get hold of a great condition high level brake light and rear light bar for the 9000 too, all details to help give a bit of life to the black Aero.

Lastly, the beautiful Saab 9-5 Hirsch Sportwagon was collected on Sunday, designed for its new home in Ireland. It’s one of my nicest cars to date, and hopefully, will be enjoyed for many more years now. I have to admit, I was a little sad at letting it go, the rare Hirsch Performance package, classic wheels, heated and vented interior and HK audio upgrade made it a very special Saab, they’re getting difficult to find in normal specification now, let alone a Hirsch wagon.

I’m sure there’s more to share, but felt I needed to scribble down a few whilst I remembered, finger’s crossed for the Graphite Green resurrection, I can’t let it go just yet.