A few months ago, I rescued an original set of Clarion radio and CD units for the 9000 Aero T18, the idea was to have them fully restored, but after a professional diagnosis, they had multiple issues amounting to £1200 - financially unfeasible in other words.

Wanting to still keep the OE aesthetic, and having had a number of Blaupunkt Bremen SQR 46 units in the past, I decided to try the recently released, mighty Pioneer SXT-C10PS instead.

It has been designed specifically for older cars and interiors, no gloss casing, no gimmicky flashing displays, just everything you need, and nothing you don’t. It has multiple connectivity options, together with a simple hands free mic for the phone. From early experience, the Pioneer seems to surpass the Blaupunkt unit in both build quality and sound, but a few more road trips will be required to fully appreciate its USP’s

Apart from the fact that I love my Saab interiors to feel very much OE, I absolutely adore the aesthetics of the original audio. The illumination seamlessly matches, there's no bright, distracting screens, and absolutely no scrolling text, it just does what it's supposed to; play music, entertainment and news

But then, of course, there's another level of old school audio beauty, Saab, as with a number of other prestigious marques, offered a range of high end audio options in their cars, in this case, for the 900 and 9000, this equipment has always appealed to me. Of course, it's totally out of date with no connectivity, and yet it still demands my fondness.

I've had a number of original Saab units over the years, but recently, I found these high end, Clarion made for Saab ones, and I love them. From research, they're units from the mid to late 1980's, I have the radio and tape, equaliser and amplifier units, which, if all goes to plan, will be able to be fitted in to a future 900 or 9000. I'm also hoping I'll be able to maybe find a way to integrate either an Aux or Bluetooth facility for discreet, modern connection.

I also discovered yet another gem of a Saab site, this one is by Henrik Glad, a fellow Saab fan in Sweden and also creator of the renowned eSID, he has a shared love of these amazing Clarion made for Saab audio units. Alongside endless valuable information, user manuals, service and installation guides, the site features numerous OE optional equipment brochures, an absolute treat for us Saab folk who love to loose a few hours flicking through literature.