Answer : None

Whilst that's not exactly true, it's a powerful way to show the time, effort and expense that goes in to rescuing these Saabs, needless to say, the new Nocturne Blue Aero has been pulled apart and put back together again, and that's only just the beginning of the project. The shiny new Jetex tailpipe and sparkling headlights give a hint that things are different from before, but they really are the only aesthetic changes so far.

Over the past few weeks, the Master Saab Magician; Jason Miles, has spent endless hours on the hidden mechanics and modifications this beautiful 9-5 deserves. It's an interesting fact that many of the details we've undertaken, usually just don't get done, they get overlooked or ignored because they're either difficult of costly to do, time consuming jobs such as a sump drop and clean, torque rod bush and subframe bushing replacements - they all take numerous hours of dedication to do, but the visible reward is minimal.

What you do notice however, is the drive is lifted, the car begins to feel tighter and more sorted, in effect, it's the hidden jobs that bring these Saabs back to life again, and just can't be overlooked.

Until now, I've never really added up the detailed costs of doing these rescues, it's just been for my personal pleasure and vision. I aim to get them to a condition I want them for myself, they have to look and feel great to drive - reassuringly sorted and far less tired than when I find them. But being a little more fiscally responsible and accountable (to the powers that be), I thought I'd follow this specific rescue in detail, and just see where the time and money goes, this is just the first phase of the project, but as you'll see, the costs are already significant :

Saab 9-5 Aero £2450
Oil trap hose assembly £23
Torque rod bush £40
Jetex stainless exhaust / flex £730
DI Pack Genuine Saab £285
NGK Plugs £48
3" downpipe £300
DO88 Intercooler £400
Gear selecter skirt £35
Castrol Oil / Filter £50
K&N Air Filter £80
Irmscher 18" wheels £300
Subframe bushing £32
Genuine side repeaters £38
Labour to date £1000

Phase 1 total = £5811

As with every rescue, this is just the beginning, the hidden details to get the car back on track, next comes the fun part, the ones that everyone sees, the aesthetic changes that give the car it's purpose and unique touches, in essence this is now moving on to the more pleasurable stage. I truly believe however, those next bits are purely for viewing pleasure and really aren't the things that rescue the car. It's the hidden work that sets the foundation for Saabs that hopefully will go on to give many more years of joy, that's where the real value and difference is.

It’s be a bit of a slog getting the Nocturne Blue Aero back up to scratch, but with the help of a few, very clever Saab friends, the 9-5 passed it’s MOT last weekend and feels like it’s well on the way to a full recovery. When I bought it from Peter Raw, it was purchased as a spares car, great engine, rebuilt Turbo, and fast, bloody fast, but it wasn’t a car I planned to rescue.

We got it up on the ramp, and besides visible neglect for many years, it was a solid car, no gaping holes or disintegrating sub frames, just serviceable parts that hadn’t been serviced; brakes with so much wear they’d stopped stopping, lowering springs that had literally fallen apart, cracked DI pack, incorrect plugs, split gaiters and hoses, and numerous parts that hadn’t seen a spanner or fresh oil for way too long.

We set about working nights and weekends to fix a long list of issues, many that are usually overlooked on regular servicing, but now all done. We’d spent a few weekends on it, when a curveball hit us, it lost 5th gear, again, possibly due to many years of driving at sub optimal conditions, boosting hard in 5th gear, too much torque, and it just disintegrated. Luckily, another absolute Saab genius offered to fix the broken gear and all is well again.

The list is long, and never cheap, but decided the Saab was way too good to use as a donor car:

Neo Front 314mm Big Brake Upgrade kit
Genuine Saab Rear Vented Brake Discs and pads
New Eibach lowering springs
Steering Rack gaiters
Fuel filter
Rear rose bush
Genuine DI pack
Correct Aero spark plugs
Front low and main beam bulb upgrades
Auxiliary belt and idler pulley
Full service, oil, filters, brake fluid

It’s one of these cars that looks great from a distance, but get close and you’ll see it’s had a hard life, the interior has cleaned up amazingly well, but the bodywork isn’t fantastic, some areas of surface corrosion, including a few holes in the usual places, faded panels, and a few dents here and there, but here’s the thing, now it’s mechanically sorted, I kind of love the idea of it not being perfect, it’s a sleeper, an utterly sorted and genuinely exciting Saab to drive around in. With 340+ hp on tap, a manual gearbox and super limited slip diff, it’s an absolute smile inducing machine, and because it’s not perfect, I’m not precious about it, it wants and needs to be driven.