Emerald Isle Aero

March 25, 2025 Eleven

Despite having kept this beautiful Aeroriginal rescue sale on the quiet, it has found a new guardian in the most fitting place I could have wished for. It’ll be leaving me to continue its journey over on the Emerald Isle with another Saab devotee.

It’s a hard one to let go of, in part because it’s one of my favourite colour combinations; Green over tan, but also because it’s been a real challenge to get this one to where it is now. Found at a breakers with damage to the front bumper and both side skirts, but lots of signs of being remarkably well cared for in the past.

It was also suffering from a constant oil light at low rpm, and ruined 2 engines in the diagnosis process. We finally replaced pretty much the entire system and has now covered 4000 miles since the rebuild and been absolutely flawless in its performance.

It’s had numerous upgrades along the way, we took another donor car which provided polybushed subframe, Bilstien B12, upgraded brakes, intercooler and a number of other performance mods, we then added a new JT 3” stainless exhaust, Noob Stage 3 map, new alternator, water pump, aux belt, DI pack, plugs, filters and then the wonderful refurbished ALU56 18” alloys finished in satin Anthracite and wrapped with Michelin PS4’s.

The bodywork had the rear dog legs cut out, leaded correctly and repainted, together with new side skirts, the front bumper fixed, front wing and rear spoiler all repainted too. It’s got age related marks and a few small dents, but is remarkably original, so these just add to its story, which I love to retain as much as possible.

The Sand leather interior has been given a detail with Gliptone leather clean and feed, a new walnut dash fitted to replace a slightly cracked one, together with a Hirsch leather steering wheel, a new SID and a BlueSaab Bluetooth module which is an absolute game changer, especially if you want to keep the magical console configuration looking factory spec.

I can’t deny, I’ll be hugely sad to see this one leave tomorrow, I’ve become rather attached to it, I’ve said before, but this generation Aero just feels like home to me, I love the way it feels and drives, I love the reassurance it gives, the individuality and elegance, it’s as at home arriving at a 5 star hotel as it is a local chip shop, it’ll transport you in sublime comfort and safety, and hopefully, it’ll now have the chance to keep going for many more years.

Whilst it’s hard to let it go, it gives me the opportunity to find more Saabs to rescue and enjoy, to create new variations on my ideal Saabs, and to keep more of these amazing cars on the roads for us all to enjoy.

A Different Kind of Luxury

May 30, 2024 Eleven

The Graphite Green Aero has been somewhat of a nemesis over the past year for me, all originating from an oil light that kept haunting me on tickover; two bottom end engine changes, and finger’s crossed, I think we might have finally sorted it.

Malcolm Miles, have somehow kept their cool, sourced another Aero block and brought it all together again, there are a few small snagging issues to sort; a whinny belt and a slight hesitation on full acceleration, but it’s back to being as nice to drive as I remember.

Having just had surgery, I have to suffer two whole weeks without driving, but today, I felt well enough to do some much needed work on the interior, lots of dirt and a general build up of grime left it feeling a little sorry for itself, sticky console buttons, film over all of the windows, disintegrating mats and the odd missing fitting here and there. Taking my time, I cleaned the dashboard, seats and door cards with soapy water to get the worst off, then moved on to Autoglym interior foam and a brush to give them all a thorough clean.

It’s not perfect, but after putting in a high quality set of new carpet mats and a final hoover, it’s starting to look how it deserves to look. Not to everyone’s taste, but the cream leather, carpet and headlining give the interior a beautifully calming and airy feel, whilst the dark wood dashboard and extended wood gear knob just add to the overall sense of luxury. The clear orange and green lights are a welcome relief from the harsh, bright instrumentation of many newer cars and overall, the Saab offers a rare, relaxed space in which to enjoy endless journeys; the Graphite Green Aero is finally coming together.

Privileged

November 2, 2023 Eleven

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Every once in a while, I take a moment to try and remember the Saabs I’ve owned, some thirty five plus from memory. I didn’t always take photos of them, so sadly, a few older ones aren’t featured in the gallery above; a 900 T16S Coupe, 900 Turbo convertible, a few 9-3 HOT Aeros, an exceptional 9-5 2.3T and a 9000 S. My fascination started in the early 90’s, and hasn’t diminished over the years, in fact, you could say it’s grown deeper.

As they’ve become rarer, I’ve gone from owning to rescuing them too, some are light renovations, others more dramatic (stupid if i’m honest). I feel privileged to not only have had the pleasure of saving so many, but of also being able to share what i’ve done with like-minded Saab folk globally, it really is a blessing and I’ve met so many amazing people, some, I now call great friends.

I remain constantly in awe at how my efforts inspire others to enjoy Saabs too, recently, I received this wonderful email and felt I needed to share it:

Hello, I’ve been enjoying Saab vs. Scepticism for about a year now. You are living my dream. I love Saabs deeply. Many people do not understand, but with your beautiful photographs and thoughtful text you really capture what is special about Saab and why these cars and the company matter. I really appreciate your efforts. Thank you for providing such a beautiful tribute to Saab and with your restoration efforts keeping these interesting cars on the road.

I bought my first Saab with my lawn mowing money when I was 14 (1987 900 turbo convertible M/T with 260k miles) I’ve owned a 92 9000 turbo, 96 9000 CSE, and NG900 convertible turbo, a few 99’ 9-3s (my favourite!) an 01 9-5 Arc and many other Saabs; classic 900s and beyond. I actually paid some of my college tuition but parting out rear ended Saabs from auction and selling the parts on eBay about 10 years ago. But I’ve always wanted to just spend time (and money!) fixing the remaining Saabs and just sending them back out there to share with others.

Thank you again for your efforts and sharing them with the community. I think that your efforts have a huge impact in-terms of how much they are enjoyed and appreciated.

I always love to hear other Saab stories, some I share, some I add together with a High Mile Club Saab, but always enjoy hearing how Saabs are part of your lives too, don’t stop.

Revival

October 18, 2023 Eleven

For as long as I can remember, I've loved the aesthetic stage of my Saab builds, not only the modifications made, but also reviving the exterior and interior. I'm no professional detailer, but like the process of detailing itself; returning things to as close to factory as I can manage. Time takes its toll on materials, and often, things can never be 'as new', but if that's what you aim for, it'll end up better than it was.

The plastic headlights always degrade and become cloudy, yellow and visually unappealing, it'd be easy to just replace them, but again, the revival process is very rewarding. Using a headlight restorer and a few hours, leaves you with lights that look better and also far more effective.

As they're not the upgraded Bi Xenon units, I'll replace the bulbs with brighter ones, but overall, really pleased with how these turned out again, and another step to this Saab looking great again.

Fading Dreams

May 23, 2023 Eleven

As I scour through the ever dwindling list of Saabs for sale, I can’t help but notice a few that might have fallen further than others, the one’s that have been left to fade; go-faster stripes and incorrect badging, chrome embellishments and bonnet scoops, mismatching panels and even one’s that are closer to returning to nature than they are to the road.

Yet these Saabs are still the ones that came out of the factory and fulfilled dreams, Saabs that have given many years of enjoyment and pride. With love, they could be given a new lease of life, saved for the future, to live on and become modern classics even. Sadly, some will have gone past their sell by date with engine failures, corrosion and numerous other financially unviable ailments, but many won’t have.

I’m often intrigued to know these Saab stories; how have they ended up like this? Who’s owned them? When and where? Over the years I’ve learnt to look past their obvious issues and try and work out if they can be returned to their former glory, one’s with a solid base and something to offer still, to me, it’s often a case of why waste them, if they’re not saved and given a bit of care, we’ll lose them and that would be devastating.

One to rescue Saab 93 HOT Aero 2 door coupe

Dad Racer

July 15, 2020 Eleven

Whilst the Viggen goes off for more bodywork, the attention has turned to the 9-5 Aero, the folks at Malcolm Miles have been fastidiously replacing warn parts and perished hoses, performing a full sump drop, clean, oil change and replacing a few pipes to the gearbox which had been leaking oil.

The DO88 Intercooler and pipe kit has gone on, a new fuel pump, new induction kit and a Stage 3+ remap from Karl at Noob Tune, the ever gorgeous handmade downpipe from APH Performance has been put on together with a full stainless steel Jetex exhaust with dual pipes giving the wagon an understated but purposeful look, whilst new discs and pads, a Bilstein B12 Pro Sport suspension setup and a serious MapTun strut brace have really sorted out the Aero’s handling.

Sleepless nights and many Photoshop mock ups finally made me choose what I consider to be the perfect alloys for this Saab; Japan Racing JR18 in a Matt Bronze to really enhance the Hazelnut Metallic, 19x8.5 with an ET35 offset and Pirelli P Zero 235/35/19 rubber.

The underneath was looking a little flakey, so has been given a good wire brushing and treated to some Waxoil whilst a few areas will need a small amount of welding to secure them for the future. Once the mechanics have been done, it’ll need to go to the bodyshop and have the rear lower arches cut out and fixed, the bumpers removed and repainted and a new bespoke satin black mesh grille fitted.

This is the first Aero wagon build I’ve done and I absolutely love it, the style is just so timeless, an old Saab ad campaign claimed it was a Dad Racer and I tend to agree, but with these modifications, it also becomes one the ultimate sleepers, and the colour…

…Love it. Thank you Saab.