The Turbo Godfather

I felt that this Saab really deserved an entire post of its own, after all it can easily be described as the undisputed Godfather of Turbos. Launched in the hedonistic 70’s, the 99 Turbo was literally one of the first cars to combine safety and exhilarating turbo performance, it singlehandedly put Saab on a legendary pedestal, which still holds strong today.

This one, in the only acceptable Turbo colour – black, was quite rightly getting a lot of attention at SaabFestUK, a perfect example, unmolested and seemingly unchanged since the day it drove out of the Saab showroom, paintwork immaculate, all accessories intact including some super cool Bosch spotlights and an interior that screamed ‘jump in and drive me’.

I felt myself gravitating to this car over and over again, it’s owner should be hugely proud and also feel just a little bit privileged to be the guardian of such a legendary car.

Things take time

It’s been a while since my last post, sadly, motivation has seemed to be rather low, but in the meantime, the 900 has been well and truly put through it’s paces. We’ve done almost 3,000 miles in it since it’s recovery, everything from driving lessons to road trips to Wales, it’s sat in heavy traffic, darted along winding country roads and cruised happily along motorways.

For the life of me I can’t understand why more people don’t embrace older cars as daily drivers, the 900 is ridiculously comfortable, it has electric windows and a quiet sunroof, it’s well mannered around town and has a gorgeously distinct burble when you put your foot down, it also commands quite a bit of attention. Young and old just can’t help giving it the thumbs up, from a bunch of hipster skateboarders to a very smart gentleman who couldn’t resist telling me how much he loved Saabs – he’d owned a few in the past and longed to own another.

The work continues though, the sunroof leaks when it rains heavily, the windscreen washer pipes have become brittle and keep falling off, and the new Turbo cluster still isn’t quite right, what I mean by that, is that smoke starts pouring out if I turn off the lights, and there’s no illumination at night.

We’ve also discovered the passenger side arch still has some rust that needs sorting, but lets face it, it doesn’t stop you driving and things just take time.

I’ve managed to source a set of roof bar towers and will be attempting to find some nice spotlights to keep the ‘Swedish Wilderness’ look on track.

The search also continues for something aptly unique to replace the 9-3 Aero convertible, although I’ve been wishing I hadn’t sold the 9-5 Hirsch, that was pretty rare.

Boost Matters in Alaska. Outlaw style does too.

Flicking through Instagram looking for cool Saabs as you do, I came across an image that really made me stop and stare, a classic 900 Aero Turbo, in red with a black tailgate, super nice swooped up exhaust, louvers, roof rack and a seriously tight stance.

Owned by a family man in Alaska, it appears he’s a bit of a Saab fan, and by no means his first Saab project.  This has to be one of the nicest outlaw Saabs I’ve seen, it’s got some real unique detailing which won’t be liked by everyone, but I love.

I don’t know the entire spec, only what I can see and read, but one of the headlights has been replaced with a small LED light leaving more space for the intercooler pipe, an oval has been nicely cut from the hood for a new exhaust, and a huge intercooler sits proudly under the bumper. The standard grille has had the centres removed with a floating Turbo badge revealing 2 Hella horns mounted inside, the springs have been cut to give it the perfect ride height, spacers push out the white Aero wheels and chunky Winter tyres finish it all off nicely.

Power wise, it looks like it produces a very healthy 250hp, and in the owners words, this is what’s been done : “2.1l head / intake manifold, ’85 exhaust cam, 3.0 bar FPR, distributor mod, jak stoll ecu, T5 injectors, 3″ exhaust, wastegate helper spring, Swedish dynamics APC”

Love it when Saabs are given a new lease of life, one thing’s for sure, it looks like it’s been perfectly crafted for the Alaskan landscape.

This is Boost Matters Instagram, well worth a follow

Saab vs. Saab

For those of you that follow the blog, you’ll know how much time, effort and money has gone in to my 9-3 HOT Aero convertible, but the time has come to pass it on to another Saab guardian and move on to another Saab project.

I’m still not entirely sure I’m being logical about this, but it feels right and there’s little more I can do on this one. It’s super fast and yet understated, it’s comfortable, reliable and puts a huge grin on my face every time I drive it, especially with the roof down, any season.

I’ve set an extremely sensible reserve sub £5k in the hope that another enthusiast will grab it and enjoy it as much as I have done, but without breaking the bank. I still ask myself, what other car could provide this much individuality for that price?

Although I’ve listed everything on eBay, here are the highlights :

Bilstein B8 shocks
MapTun springs
Bridgestone Potenza Adrenalin tyres
9000 Aero 2.3 B234 bottom end
New Turbo
New clutch
New gaskets
Water pump
Chain set
Jetex stainless Steel exhaust
APH ‘Albert’ Performance stainless steel downpipe
DO88 intercooler / MapTun hoses
BSR Induction kit
Upgraded fuel pump
Bespoke Noob Tune 300hp (Stage 4+)
9-5 Aero 308mm upgraded discs and callipers
Steering rack clamp
Bulkhead brace
Saab Wind Deflector
Upper mesh grille
Upgraded headlight bulbs

Without putting it in for a Dyno test, the 300hp, Stage 4 is a conservative estimate by the lovely folks at Malcolm Miles who’ve worked on this since I bought it back in 2014.

You’ll find loads of posts on it’s progression within these pages, and I’ve very possibly missed out half the things I’ve done to it over the years. Feel free to ask questions. Please god let it go to someone who loves Saabs and will appreciate it.

Here’s the eBay listing

New York Classic 900 Aero

It’s been a while since my last post, and a lot has changed. The 9-5 Aero Hirsch got sold and collected to a great couple who were just beginning their Saab journey and I’ve embarked on my next Saab saving project – a 900S 16v LPT 3 door coupe, which I’ll scribble a LOT more about very soon.

In the meantime, I couldn’t resist sharing this New York based 900 Aero with a few mods, like it or not, it’s had plenty of attention lavished on it.

Full story here

And another Classic 900 Turbo

I know I’ve only just featured another gorgeous classic 900 Turbo from Taiwan recently, but after stumbling across this build, I couldn’t resist and had to share it. This one’s from the Netherlands, by a tuning house called KC Performance.

It’s the colour combo that got me – deep, rich carbon grey exterior with a completely bespoke, caramel brown, perforated leather interior, and it sure looks stunning. To me this is pretty much a perfect 900 Turbo, subtle styling details such as the lowered stance, white indicators and carbon touches, together with two tone Aero wheels give it an utterly timeless beauty.

Although the Saab has covered some 290,000 kilometres, the B202 engine has been subject to a complete rebuild and with the help of KC Performance mapping is now running a Stage 3 at around 240hp, a complete Simmons twin exhaust finishes things off nicely.

Full spec and refurb details here

 

Saab Classic 900 Turbo from Taiwan

A real nice film short of a Saab 900 Turbo restoration from Taiwan, if fact, it has to be one of the smartest, shiniest 900 Turbo’s I’ve seen for a while. The stance is just right, it’s got by far the best Aero alloys and even the retro louvered rear window cover looks perfect on the car. Beautiful work.

Wunderschöner Saab 900 Turbo

Always interested in searching out the cheapest and most expensive Saabs for sale and this is a really fantastic example from Germany.

Simply described as ‘wonderful Saab 900 Turbo in Amaranth Red metallic clearcoat with Bokhara red velor deluxe carré interior . The vehicle has been extensively renovated’ from the pictures, i’d tend to agree.

With just 117,000 miles on the clock, manual gearbox, super cosy interior and a sunroof, this once really would be a keeper, even at the asking price of €15,800.

For sale here.

An Acquired Taste

Let’s face it, we all know Saabs are an acquired taste, you either love them, live with their shortcomings and spend entire days refining them, or you just don’t. To me I quite like that there are no half measures, no middle ground. Ok, so people don’t get why we love them so much, but hey, that’s life.

I recently found this episode of TUNED featuring the seriously cool Matt Farah, I love this film, not least because it features 2 of my favourite Saabs – a classic 900 SPG and a 9-3 Viggen, but because it shows the ‘either you get it or you don’t’ Saab thing. The owner, a real Saabist, loves them, so much so he’s taken the SPG to a different level of sorted, and when he was faced with having to accommodate a family, he plumped for one of the ultimate 4 door Saabs, a 9-3 Viggen. On the other hand, although Matt Farah has some great things to say about Saabs, they just don’t float his boat.

A great film just for the sound of the 900’s turbo alone.

The Turbo Innovators

Saab have become renowned for their innovations, innumerable contributions to the automotive world that can be found in almost any marque. Arguably their greatest innovation has been the inspirational use of the Turbo. I’ve just read a recent article over on Automotive News entitled ‘Why Turbocharger fans owe Saab a thank you’.

Saab’s contribution to automotive history is the hottest component today: the turbocharger. To give you a good idea of just how important the turbocharger has become: Two weeks ago Jaguar Land Rover opened a plant in England that will build approximately 500,000 petrol and diesel engines per year. Every single one of those engines will have at least one turbocharger bolted to it.

Steve Rossi; Saab’s PR director from the 80s, added “Saab will be recognised as an innovator and turbocharging will be a part of that. I see turbocharging as one example of Saab’s forward thinking”.

I wholeheartedly agree. Read the article.