Guardians

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Every time I watch another Aeroriginal Saab drive away with its new owners, I can't help but think that we're only ever guardians, tasked with not only enjoying these Saabs, but also maintaining them for the future too. There appear to be so many that are constantly being scrapped, even when they might have a chance of being saved.

This weekend, a lovely family arrived to collect the 9000 Aero, the children with huge smiles on their faces, happily jumped into the cosseting Recaro back seats and pulled their seatbelts around them, whilst their father dreamt of future family road trips and cross European travels. It was my reward, all that I really need to see at the end of a rescue.

A little over a year ago, the 9000 had been looking exceptionally sorry for itself, panels needed changing, covered in moss and dirt and running poorly, the exhaust was falling off, it had oil leaks, a broken heater matrix, the windscreen was falling out and the wheels and tyres had seen better days. With time and effort, the folks at Malcolm Miles worked through my list of niggles and we fixed each and every one of them. The 9000 was transformed back in to a car to be proud of.

As with each Saab, it had it's own stories, a journey through the years that leads it to where it is today, this one happened to have a very clear and simple story, and even came with a bit of Saab history I haven't seen before, the original factory keys and identity fob - 9000, Location 2, Parked by 36, Stock ID 430279

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Patience

Way back in the early 90’s I bought my very first Saab, an early, non turbo 2.0 9000 and to say I was disappointed is an understatement, although it was a lovely car it was slow, lacking any interior refinement and just wasn’t how I’d wanted Saabs to be, what I eventually came to realise is that my dream Saab was a 9000 Aero.

Some 25+ years on, and although I’ve owned over 30 Saabs, I’ve never owned another 9000, until midnight last night that is, when a rather lovely Scarab Green Aero arrived all the way from Scotland. I’d recently put the feelers out for a nice, manual Aero, preferably with little rust and a sunroof and a great guy answered and said he might just have the Aero I’d been searching for.

Registered in 1996, it’s had 6 previous owners and covered some 210,000 miles, has been cared for and lavished with love throughout the years, it needs some tic now, but popping it up on the ramps this morning reveals a very solid chassis and plenty of updates during it’s life. It comes with a full set of Koni’s and Eibach springs, a JT downpipe and full stainless 3” exhaust together with a hybrid Turbo Technics turbo, a decent Red ECU remap, MapTun value and a few other nice performance enhancements.

The interior isn’t perfect and I’ll be replacing numerous parts as and when I find them, but the Aero seats by Recaro have already lived up to my high expectations, not only are they absolutely beautiful in form, but they just wrap around you like incredibly well designed pieces of Scandinavian furniture; truly exceptional.

The work has already started with solving a horrible stutter on acceleration together with fresh oil and filter to begin with, missing interior bulbs located and replaced to bring it all back to life again and my recent cup holder and coin draw installed.

They say patience is a virtue, and in this case, I have to wholeheartedly agree.

New Generation Saabists

I've promised myself a little more time dedicated to maintaining the High Mile Club this year, so with renewed energy I've been gathering a few new recruits. As our Saabs get older, the original criteria of 100,000 miles became achievable by pretty much every owner, continually proving just how beautifully crafted these cars are. Some barely show signs of wear at that milage, so the game has been raised slightly to 125,000 Miles / 200,000 Km.

One new entry was this fantastic 900i 16v from Finland, its owner, Saku has grown up around Saabs and although only 18 years old has already owned 8 Saabs and 1 Volvo, he says "There’s just that something about Saab. My family has had a lot of them, even my grandfather had a Saab 900".

It’s always fantastic to see new generations with the same passion for Saab as we have, also great to see what and how they give their Saabs a bit of individuality, after all, it's another Saab kept on the road.

A Saab Life

If there’s one single thing I love about Saabs above all else, it’s how they bring people together, locally, nationally and globally, people are interested in talking about them, asking questions and sharing Saab stories. Whether you drive a modern 9-3 or a rare Sonett, a quirky 95 V4 or an iconic 900, they seem to inspire friendliness and conversation - a shared love.

Many marques have a similar following, but what separates Saab is the inclusivity and affordability to be a part of a lifestyle, young and old, families and teenagers are all able to share the Saab vibe. What usually starts as a connection to Saab through generations, becomes a life long affinity that’s sometimes hard to explain or reason with.

I recently happened across an Instagramer who clearly shares this feeling, she not only drives an exceptionally beautiful Ambassador Blue 900 classic, but also explorers every corner of Europe in it. She’s taken road trips to Sweden, Italy and Austria and in her words “My little Saab really made me connect with so many new people”. Having covered hundreds of miles, she returns safely to her home in the German Alps.

She also loves nature photography and videography and her page is a beautifully curated collection of everything that encapsulates her life passions, and her trusty classic Saab is very much centre stage "The best decision ever I made on my own against every other opinion was to buy this car".

As our Saabs get older and rarer, it's exceptionally heartwarming to see people like Janina not only take care of them for the future, but enjoy every moment and every journey, just as Saab imagined.

Janina Elisa | Instagram