Just a cameraphone teaser pic at this stage, but much more on this car still to come.
Category Archives: Saab 9000
That large ‘T’ badge on the Turbo-X
Turbin (written with a capital T) has offered a possible solution for the mystery of the large ‘T’ on the Turbo X badge. With homage officially intended towards the classic 900 and 99 turbos, many were wondering why Saab would go with a large ‘T’ on the Turbo X badge when the 900 had a small ‘T’.
Perhaps, in homage to another of Saab’s previous turbocharged iterations, they felt that a large ‘T’ was an appropriate tribute to the 9000 Aero, even though the press release never mentioned it. Being a fellow 9000 owner (albeit with a small ‘t’ under the hood) I can live with that.
Here’s an example (great car, by the way).
The Saab 9000 Aero was definitely a car worthy of some recognition in this manner. There’s precious few tributes to that monster of a car, so let’s create one.
There’s nothing official from anyone at Saab to indicate that this is the case with the badging of the Turbo X, but I think all 9000 Aero owners (or non-Aero large ‘T’ owners) should permit themselves the luxury of being able to say this is so.
It works for me, but if you’ve got any alternative theories or conflicting opinions then feel free to voice them.
Mod love – my favourite 9000
Hey David, you probably thought I’d forgot.
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Today’s modified Saab is a model that’s pretty close to my heart as it looks very similar to the first Saab I ever drove and it’s still my favourite shape for the Saab 9000.
This 1988 model 9000 belongs to David B in Perth, right here in Australia, and it’s a new acquisition.
One week ago I finally acquired a Saab again after being Saabless for over a year (and what a horrible year it was).
My new baby is an exceptionally fine Saab 9000 Turbo from 1988. It has all the electric options that were available at the time (except power seats maybe?), tinted windows, airflow kit, alloys, ACC, and all with a low 158,000 kms! The engine is the 2.0 Turbo, but I’m not sure if it’s 165 or 175 bhp. Would you have some more information on that perhaps? As far as I know the CC had the 175 bhp Turbo engine…
….I can’t even tell you how great it feels to be back in the Saab community again!!
It really is a nice shape, this one…..
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Turbin: Looking for love in all the wrong places
This story came in from a guy in Melbourne, Australia. His nom-de-blog is ‘Turbin’ and his regular drive is a 2006 9-3 SportCombi. He’s currently chasing after a second car and looking for a Saab 9000 as a reasonably priced hi-po fun machine.
As I’d do, Turbin’s looking for something that’s a little bit different, a little bit rare. He recently thought he’d found just what he was looking for…..
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Author’s Warning: Tears may follow.
I’m in the market for a high-end 9000 as a second-car and after narrowly missing some really good buys, I came across this. A white 1992 9000CS Turbo S with a reported 80,000kms in immaculate condition. The VIN checked out as being genuine and the photos indicated a pretty well maintained car with the original leather in fantastic shape.
As some Aussies might know, this is the model of car that was imported in limited numbers to Australia and came 3rd outright in the 1992 12-hour endurance race at Bathurst after an RX7 and am M5. It was effectively the precursor to the 9000 Aero and came with the 2.3FPT engine as well as deep-dish Carlsson alloys, sunroof, climate control and a beautiful leather interior with suede inserts. At Bathurst it was raced with all fitted options and it is said that one of the drivers was playing with the sunroof down the main straight as well as joking about having leather trim and power windows. This is a story I have been urging Swade to blog (and I’m sure he will after the MY08 hoo-haa settles down). It is said that these cars were faster off the mark than the Aeros to follow due to their gearing. SO here we have a loaded and fast 9000 that still today would be an awesome sleeper even as an auto.
I found one on Saturday night and couldn’t contact the dealer. I even scoured the phonebook for his private number and gave up after some embarrassing calls. After 2 nights of dreaming of myself in this car I was despairing that it was probably sold. I rang up first thing on Monday morning to find that they still had it! I made it clear it was not to be sold to anyone else and got out of work and hightailed it the 25kms or so to the dealer.
First appearances indicated that it was indeed neat and straight. The hood sat high on one side but later proved to just not be closed properly. The awesome alloys were in generally good condition except for some curb scrapes.
Rubber and trim all looked as good as could be expected. Close inspection showed a couple of dints with rust and the one of concern was on the passenger side just under the windscreen, just in line with the tailing edge of the hood. This tell tail suggested a passenger side shunt hard enough to push the hood back into some fairly tough bodywork.
The dealer opened the car up and I jumped in. The interior was in largely excellent condition with only need of a clean up. Sunroof, electric seat and windows worked fine, instruments were complete and the glovebox door just needed a bit of re-alignment. Unfortunately the dash had a small split right in the middle (on a Saab??! I hear you exclaim). The wheel was in good condition and the dealer handed over the keys and we fired it up.
Roaring into life was a less than healthy sounding engine. The tell-tale rattle of timing belt issues and a general roughness. I jumped out and popped the hood. Under the bonnet it was not a totally ugly sight, but not great either. Plently of rust around the exhaust and other places, coolant stains, general grime. More passenger-side rust was evident where the quarter-panel bolts on to the guard. Further inspection showed still a very straight exterior with well aligned rubbers and bumper.
So now the moment of truth, I eased it into Drive. Good so far, no shudder or unwanted sound effects. As soon as I put some power down and started to turn out of the car-park, the wheels fell off my dream. The steering was pig-heavy and it had less grunt than my old non-turbo 2.3. I pulled out onto the main road and put my foot down, glacial is the best way to put it. I ran up the road for about 200m and prepared for a U-turn. Prepared is right because I had to wait minutes for a gap big enough to risk pulling out. I crawled up the road, U-turned again and took it back. The salesman was waiting for me as I parked. I handed the keys over and said “pass”
“Don’t you like it?”
“Nope.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Timing chain and no boost, to start with.”
“You seem to know your Saabs.”
I said thanks and goodbye and jumped back into the Sportcombi to get back to work and spent the drive back erasing the dream that I had built up around this legendary but fallen piece of machinery.
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Epilogue
This car is likely still available even though he had another three enquiries that morning. The car was a private import around 2001 from Hong Kong (?) and I didn’t even bother to check the books (if they exist). It is tempting to think that it has been around the clock but the general good interior condition suggest 80,000 genuinely hard kms. It might be worthwhile as a project for somebody who really knows what they’re doing and can benefit from their own labour. Beware that is has the troublesome early TCS. Conversely it might be worthwhile making an offer and breaking the car up, selling the seats, wheels etc. For me it is not something I can even entertain the thought of, as I don’t have the cash laying around. Whatever happens to this car I would love to know the outcome.
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The ad for the car is here. They’re asking just under $7K for it, but with the issues it’s facing I’d suggest a substantially lower cash offer might clinch the deal for a keen self-repairer.
I’m probably going to be checking out a 9000 Aero here in Tassie for Turbin in the near future.
9000 Aero lovin – revisited
It’s May here in Australia, but there’s still a few hours of April left in the US as I’m writing this.
This link was left by Alan in comments. Apparently it was left earlier in the month but I missed it, which is a big shame as it’s a great reference for all you 9000 Aero enthusiasts out there.
Robert Alimi put together a 9000 Aero information page back in the late 1990s and whilst it hasn’t been updated in some time, it provides a great snapshot of the 9000 Aero. There’s some fantastic information there, including Specs, Awards, US sales data, you name it and you’re likely to find it.
There’s also a number of snippets from reviews of the 9000 Aero:
“Overall, I was in love …once again the sensation of a luxurious car left me fulfilled and in awe. In fact, everyone that drove and rode in the Saab was amazed and breathless. The special parts of the Saab were it’s incredible interior comfort and excellent handling on the road.”
“It’s wonderful to look at, heavenly to drive, and a dream to ride in. The Saab 9000 Aero is a perfect family luxury sports car.”
All you 9000 Aero enthusiasts might be wise to check it out and perhaps print out some of the statistical and specifications data. This site hasn’t been updated since 2002 and who knows when it might just slip off the tubes altogether.
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Thanks Alan!!
9000 Aero lovin – Part 3
The final 9000 entry is with us, and it’s PG’s 9000 Aero, shot in the open country around Bozeman, Montana.
This car also featured as a SOTW calendar model last year.
Thanks for the pics, PG, and thanks to everyone who participated in the month of 9000 lovin. It’s been a hoot.
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9000 Aero lovin 2
The month of 9000 love is rapidly coming to an end (6 hours to go here in Oz) but I’ve received a few late entries.
I wrote yesterday about Nevitz trading his 9-2x in and getting a 9-3 SportCombi, something he’d been thinking of for a while and was quite excited about. Well, this is another recent purchase story. Seems like everyone’s upgrading their Saabs!!
Frequent visitors to this site would have seen Saaboy in comments. He’s a young bloke from San Diego and he’s recently added this 9000 Aero to the family home.
It wasn’t a simple acquisition either. I had to travel to pick up my Viggen, a journey that even involved an overnight ferry. Despite this is was only about 600km as the crow flies. Saaboy had to travel to Chicago to have a look at this one as there were few 9000 Aeros in Cali, or nearby, and none with a manual gearbox.
The car’s got 86,000 miles on it and needs a little work and TLC, but I’m sure Saaboy’s going to have it smelling like roses in no time. And yeah, he LOVES those seats.
Check out the front plate. Imagine that one in your rear-view!
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9000 Aero love
It’s always good to see someone get a car they’ve dreamed of getting. It’s a great feeling. I managed to do it myself around 18 months ago and HAL_9000 managed to go one better just recently.
As a young fella, Hal_9000 dreamed of getting a 9000CS and it took him 15 years to do so. It only took another 12 months or so for that dream to be ruined by a light truck that crashed into it and wrote it off.
A replacement arrived just a few weeks ago:
It is a stock UK spec (albeit with US indicators) 1996 model Saab 9000 CS Aero which I have owned for a few weeks now. The ability to complete overtaking manoeuvres is devastating and the Aero seats are a revelation!
A very nice replacement indeed!
Congratulations on the replacement, just stay away from those trucks, OK?
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