Lost Carlsson Dreams & the beauty of Autumn

September 18, 2024 Eleven

It's been a few weeks since my last post, but there's plenty to share, some good, some bad.

Let's get the bad news over with first. My long standing dreams of rescuing the 9000 Carlsson have now been lost. It became obvious that my plans, based around a certain Saab mechanic helping me through the arduous journey, were not going to happen. This ended with me having to urgently get the Carlsson collected. In a happy turn of events, the long time Saab fanatic who collected the car for me, had always wanted to own a Carlsson, so rather than deliver it directly to me, he bought it and will now hopefully be able to work on saving this amazing Saab. I wish him the best of luck and maybe one day, I'll get the opportunity to own another; one that I can actually drive.

Moving on to the reason I had to have the Carlsson collected so urgently; my long term Saab mechanic has hit a few hurdles lately, which have slowly built up and sadly ended in the business no longer being accessible for me. I'm truly hoping he manages to sort the issues out and begin again, as he's a wonderful mechanic and rarely let me down on numerous past Saab rescues.

Now for the good news, for the past 6 months or so, one of the Malcolm Miles team who left the business, has been helping me with various jobs on the 2 current Saab 9-5's. Over the years, we've done a lot of the Saabvs builds together, he's a brilliant mechanic, and what he doesn't know about Saabs, possibly isn't worth knowing. He does however, have another full time job, so access is more limited and rescue projects will have to be on the lighter side from now on. It does mean I can continue finding interesting Saabs and giving them the Saabvs treatment for now though.

Although we have a short list of works for both 9-5's still to tackle, and the Nocturne Blue currently residing elsewhere, it's the Graphite Green Aero I turn to for my regular Saab fix. It's covered a few thousand miles since the final engine rebuild, and besides a few niggles to iron out, it's a Saab that ticks all of the boxes for me, and I find myself getting withdrawal symptoms if I have't driven it for a few days.

We returned home from a few weeks in Italy to some absolutely glorious English weather; 24 degrees, cloudless, deep blue skies and the beginnings of a beautiful Autumn. The Graphite Green Aero with its warm tan leather interior is the perfect Saab for a season of road trips and exploring our changing countryside before Winter sets in.

Saab Life

January 22, 2024 Eleven

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.

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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.

Crème de la Crème

April 22, 2021 Eleven

There are always cars that you look back on with fond memories and kind of wish you hadn't sold, and for me this especially applies to Saab. I did a rather special early 9-3 HOT Aero build with a 9000 engine block, upgraded Turbo and numerous other mods running close to 300hp, it was an absolute joy to drive and I miss that for sure.

Then there's the first 9-5 Aero wagon I did last year, and that was on another level, it was one hell of a big project but when finished, I honestly felt it was the best one I'd rescued. The colour combo on Hazelnut metallic paint, Sand leather and light walnut dash together with the stunning Matt Bronze wheels really stick in my mind, it was an absolute beauty, and I still can't get enough of it and would do the same again in a moment.

Saab Stories

November 14, 2019 Eleven

From Phin, Latvia & UK

In the middle of a snow 'storm' in UK in 2008, we were driving our NG900 to the airport, the serpentine belt shredded leaving us on the side of the M4, we were recovered to our house, where we fired up the 900 Turbo and even though it was 25 years old, it took on the challenge of getting to an airport without missing a beat.

Commuting to work one day back in 2013, the gearbox ring broke and I lost 3rd and 4th on a motorway slipway. I pulled over, then had a brief chat with urSaab and his trolls, made him a pact that I would not get rid of the car (called cheap because it was £250 on Ebay) and fair play that car drove with 1st, 2nd and 5th for 300 miles at motorway speeds without any problem. It is still going.

And so it Begins (Again)

August 30, 2019 Eleven

Some say it's an obsession, others say it's just idiotic, but I love buying Saabs and making them the best they can be, we're not talking garage queens, but practical daily drivers with the odd dent and scratch, unique cars that becomes part of your family.

A few weeks ago, I passed on the field Aero convertible to its new owner, as he continues to tinker with bits still required, I started looking for the next project and it didn't take long to find it.

Another HOT Aero convertible, but I'm glad to say, it isn't Silver for once, and that makes me a very happy man, it's actually Black, oh and automatic too.

Whilst I adore the manuals, there's nothing quite like a perfectly smooth auto convertible, after all it's about taking time to enjoy the world, roof down, warm breezes and sun, and the Saab 9-3 Aeros are possibly one of the most timeless designs ever crafted to enjoy it in.

This one has spent most of it's life in my ancestral homeland of Cornwall, with only a few previous owners it has been cared for but has plenty signs of wear, the paintwork although good, has been through too many car washes, swirls and surface marks aplenty and a few irritating small dents, all easy to repair though. The interior also shows signs of wear and will need a damn good clean and feed to get it feeling like it should again, but on the whole, a nice solid Aero.

New Bilstein B8 shocks and Eibach lowering springs have already arrived, together with a DO88 intercooler, pipes and a new induction kit, a stainless steel exhaust system is on it's way and Karl at Noob Tune will be performing his magic on the ECU, aiming for a simple Stage 2 remap at around 260hp for beautifully smooth and enjoyable power, and of course, the stunning 18" Turbo X alloys will take pride of place on each corner of the Aero.

To be continued (again)...