Free onlineFörfina magazine, from Great Western SAABs, for SAAB owners and enthusiasts around the World • Autumn 2020 Welcome to the Autumn issue of Förfina.

The responses received have resulted in the forthcoming Year Book being even larger than the 220+ pages of the 2019/2020 edition. This can only be achieved with the assistance of SAAB owners around the World and I would like to express my thanks to you all, for your continued support.

So once again: To those who take the time to view Förfina, many thanks. To those who submit an article or photo, my deep gratitude. To those who have yet to do either, I await your input with anticipation.

If you are reading this and have some free time, send in your SAAB story or photos and are willing to share it with fellow enthusiasts. Email [email protected]

Stay safe everyone

David Dallimore Great Western SAABs

The Retro Wagon

Since buying my latest 9-5 Aero back in June, A few teething problems needed sorting in the first few hundred The value for money of such a is truly astounding, what other car miles, the car stuttered under hard acceleration so a new genuine could you buy with this much style, individuality and comfort for this it’s been a whirlwind of activity to build my very SAAB DI pack has now been fitted and the Stage 4 tuning has also sort of money. They really are exceptional that have stood the first SAAB wagon the way I’d always imagined highlighted a need for upgraded brakes at some point soon. test of time. This is a very low 80,000 mileage, but double that and for a SAAB, it’s still low, looked after and cherished they’re built so well they should be. The comfortable tan leather seats have been cleaned and fed, the they’ll reward you for many years to come. carpets and headlining have all been given a freshen up and the plastic, The Hazelnut Metallic gave me the inspiration to create something rubber and glass all cleaned and fed. It has a glass sunroof and that, Soon the Aero go to the body shop to have a few areas of rust cut out a bit different; embracing the beige exterior, the supple sea of tan together with the light interior just gives the whole car a luxurious, cosy and fixed, the genuine rear SAAB roof spoiler fitted and a front shark leather and the rare light walnut dash and enhancing it with 19” JR18 and warm atmosphere, perfect for relaxed road trips and creating a bumper to finish off the build beautifully. alloys from Japan Racing to create a kind of SAAB Café Racer, a retro genuinely impressive arrival at any grand café thought the land. Paul Petherick wagon for today. http://SAABvsscepticism.co.uk

I blame my fatherBy Michiel van Tongeren

I got infected with the SAAB virus by my father. As a boy he introduced me to the . From that moment on I was in love. The mo- ment I was ready to buy my first serious car, of course it had to be a SAAB 99 (1973). After a few experiments with a 9-3, 9-5 and two 900 classics it was time to buy a SAAB 99 again. This time a later model from 1984 in the lovely colour, Azure Blue. Although it doesn’t have air conditioning, turbo, or central locking, the smiles per miles are priceless. This one is a keeper! BARN FIND My SAAB

96 By Rolf Asbjørn Haugmo, Norway. I became interested in SAAB when ravaged the rally tracks - I was 12 years old.

My car is 1976 SAAB 96L V4. I had own this car since 1982. The first owner bought this car in Gjøvik in Norway and after only one year he died and a SAAB enthusiast from Fagernes bought it.

He had three SAAB V4s, so I bought this car from him, for my wife. After many years I built a new engine and some original accessories. The plan is to run Challenge Races and attend car meets with it.

I have two more cars in the collection: a 1973 III 1973 and a 2009 SAAB 9-3 Aero TTiD.

SAAB 99 Turbo IntSAAB, Linköping & Vadstena in August 2016. I’ve owned my Saab 9-5 for five years and up until last year she was my daily driver when I decided at 120,000 mile I would give her a complete nut and bolt restoration using only genuine Saab parts or OEM parts. During my ownership I have gradually replaced any worn bits of trim like bonnet insulation and locks, drivers seat base cover, kick plates and many other small trim items. That is not to say any of it was tatty by any means, I just wanted a fresh “out the box” look for a car I knew I was going to keep, for many years to come. The next part of the project was to totally refurbish the chassis so started to research all the parts required to take the car to concours condition underneath using only genuine Saab or OEM parts. I decided to start at the rear and accumulated all the parts necessary to complete and obtained a good secondhand rear cross member was sourced from a rust free Italian car this was stripped and repainted in epoxy gloss black and fitted with new bushes. The longitudinal arms were also refurbished from the same car so that major parts could be swapped out minimising ramp time. During the rear end refurbishment, the rear wheel arches were also treated to remove surface rust, treated, primed and sealed using 3M spray seam sealer to impact areas only to replicate an original finish, the rest of the floor pans are as it left the factory having been intensively cleaned. During the rebuild new rear hubs were installed, a full overhaul of the brake system including callipers and hand brake cables, new upper and lower suspension arms and bushes, new fuel tank straps, wheel arch liners were also replaced with new Saab items The front chassis was started six months later, subframe was again an excellent low mileage relatively rust free item that was stripped and powder coated before having new genuine Saab bushes installed. Again everything, nuts, bolts, hubs, wheel bearing and hub carriers are all new. Original equipment shock absorbers and springs fitted throughout the build. The very last part of the project was to have the car fully re painted to remove some minor blemishes. The whole process took six months to complete at an Aston Martin approved body shop to ensure an absolute perfect finish. It has been a massive project and took a lot planning and research to complete and I found it very enjoyable especially Simply the best sourcing the parts as I didn’t want to miss anything out. Five go into its own, it was so positive and tracked travelling to the road the way it had been designed to. At Biaufond, we into Switzerland and there waiting for us was Fred and Dimitri in their Switzerland 9-3 . (with apologies to Enid Blyton) On the Friday, we travelled across to St Way back in 2010, our Gallen to visit Manfred and a tour of the Hirsch development centre. Fjord Blue 9-5 arrived Arriving at the International SAAB meeting from SAAB GB, ready we were met by a few hundred SAABs and to take us to the SAAB a variety of new 9-5s for the purpose of demonstrations and test drives. International in Switzerland. Enid Mary Blyton Our route out of Switzerland also included (1897-1968) was an the Susten Pass with its spectacular views. English children’s I had sat in many new 9-5s, but this was the writer whose books first with the steering wheel on the ‘correct’ Before too long we were in Calais and have been among the side. The gear box was very positive and the heading for the tunnel, our time abroad in the world’s best-sellers since the 1930s, gear changes were very precise. At the Euro new 9-5 was at an end, we were ushered into selling more than 600 Tunnel a number of people admired the new our carriage and speedily taken to the UK. million copies and have been translated SAAB- remember this was 2010. Before we left Yeovil just over a week into 90 languages. We managed to go from Yeovil in the UK to previously I cleared the fuel reading memory the Swiss border (some 650 miles) on one and when I checked it again, we had averaged tank of diesel! 45 mpg and driven just under 2,000 miles. The next morning we were approached by some French locals interested in the strange new car. We did not realise that the new 9-5 would not be launched for another month in France and the people admiring our SAAB were happy to see a real one on the roads. As we headed for the Swiss border, the sat-nav was very accurate the car handled very well indeed. The steering was coming Olsens AerosBy Richard Olsen The 9-3 Aero coupe is a rare treat imported from in August 2020. It is in need of quite a bit of rust repairs and some cosmetic work, but I have no doubt it’s ready to hit the roads in 2020.

The 9-5 Aero was bought in a miserable condition January 2020, through the year it got a new engine, a multitude of parts in both suspension and engine and rust repairs. TheBy Warren Brown, Washington Post 1992. SAAB Griffin

“This was the mother of all SAABs, the CD Turbo Griffin Edition. It was special, surely enough. It was unlike any SAAB I had driven or seen. The interior, for instance. The seats were a combination of taupe leather and suede; the face of the instrument panel was covered with burled walnut, as was the top of the floor-mounted gearshift console. Forget the gimcrackery that makes it “special.” Look at the structure it shares with all other SAAB automobiles. Door beams, floor and roof sills, and “B” pillars (the center pillars) have all been strengthened to protect vehicle occupants in side-impact crashes. Earth’s ozone layer. And you can carry lots of The bumpers, front and rear, are designed luggage in the big, 17.8-cubic-foot trunk. to protect the car’s body from damage in The CD Turbo Griffin looks like something collisions up to speeds of five miles per hour. from the Ross Perot School of Design Driver’s-side air bag and four-wheel-disc, - appealing but understated; seemingly anti-lock brakes are standard equipment in warm, yet somewhat distant and strangely these front-wheel-drive, five-passenger cars forbidding. -- both the upper-crust 9000-series and the more affordable 900-series SAABs. Ride, acceleration and handling: Excellent in all categories. The CD Turbo Griffin is equipped Excellent overall construction and with a 2.3-liter, electronically fuel-injected, vehicle presentation. This is a turbocharged, four-cylinder, double overhead luxury car that comes with cam, 16-valve, 200-horsepower engine.” built-in guilt abatement. It requires infrequent scheduled maintenance,

which means that it This very rare SAAB 9000 Griffin has been contributes less waste returned to show condition by Chris Hamley. oil to the despoiling of the environment Chris had for many years run one of the most than do other highly respected SAAB garages in the UK, SAABs. The air Chris Hamley SAAB. conditioner emits no Chris has now retired, but his enthusiasm chlorofluorocarbons for the marque has not. (CFCs), which are harmful to the SNOW BOUND SAABs in Spain

SAAB Regional Club in Andalusia I had the good fortune on my birthday, to receive a visit from SAAB friends*. We had a family meal and I was presented with a number of valuable SAAB gifts, which are being fully enjoyed in my SAABs. Marco Fernandez, SACA Webmaster https://saabautomovilclubandalucia.wordpress.com/

* Thanks to Christophe, Filip, José Maria and their families for the unforgettable day. GoingBy Jos Schuurman-Schuiling for a spin

SAABBy David Williams beside the seaside

The weather did get better.

The SAAB 99T had a very good hose-down and was returned to the garage with the dehumidifier running.

Not 100% sure it was all necessary - I have driven through a lot of rain in the days since the beach but folks were worried after seeing this photo, so why not.

The cavities and exposed areas were treated a few years ago and the car spends the winter in a cool humidity controlled environment.

It has done about 10K miles since its last full re-spray. SAAB promotional image from the 1960’s. Photo by Erik Liljeroth, Nordic Museum. At the races Kinnekulle Race Circuit, Sweden in 2007. Lurking in the undergrowth This SAAB 9-5 Aero “Dame Edna*” came with 260 hp and 350 Nm torque as standard, but it didn’t remain that way.

The car was sold in 2006, as a 2007 model and bought by an engineer. It was fully specified with all options except a sunroof. Electric and ventilated memory seats, auto- The Gould dimming, folding mirrors, satnav, xenon head lamps, removable tow bar and heated rear seats The original owner traded the car about six months after it was bought and I purchased it By Simon Gould Hirsch in early October 2007 at 10 months old with 10,000 miles on the clock.

A picture from the original sale advert which shows the Wanting a little more power, in 2008, the car before the Hirsch upgrades, 9-5 was given the full Hirsch upgrade. That meant 300hp and 400Nm torque, achieved by fitting a bigger air box and intercooler, 3 inch exhaust down pipe, sport catalytic convertor, and a full 3 inch stainless steel exhaust with twin outlet, along with a remapped engine control unit. In addition the car was fitted with the Hirsch uprated suspension, bigger 345mm diameter front brakes and Hirsch 18 inch wheels and tyres. The car was used daily until the end of 2010, by that time it had done 77,000 miles. In the subsequent 10 years it has done less than 10,000 miles a year, mostly achieved by two continental holidays each year. It has been as * Dame Edna, refers to far north as , as far east as Berlin the glasses worn by Aus- and Budapest and south to the Mediterranean, tralian comedian, Barry reaching Gibraltar on one occasion. Humphries, aka Dame Edna Everidge. The car was given this The only major repair needed has been name by Jeremy Clarkson, a replacement for a turbo which blew when comparing head lamp surrounds whilst up on the German autobahn at 165,000 reviewing it, on a Top miles. Apart from that all repairs have been Gear TV programme. 2013 SAAB International. In Will’s own words “The car is the shiniest it ever was!” relatively minor and normally carried out by me, or during a regular service.

Stig at the wheel behind the wheel of his SAAB 99 Turbo, at the SAAB 60th Festival in 2007. Stig Blomqvist is a Swedish rally driver, winning the World Rally Championship drivers’ title in 1984 and finished runner-up in 1985. Outside the WRC, he won the British Rally Championship in 1983 and the Swedish Rally Championship several times. At the Race of Champions, Blomqvist took the title “Champion of Champions” in 1989 and 1990.

SAAB heaven

”The is more than nostalgia. It is design history, and it is cultural and industrial history, and an illustrious racing history. It is engineeringship and back to front ideas. SAAB Museum, ♥It is the story of Sweden and of SAAB.” Claes Johansson, Klassiker magazine. Trollhattan, Sweden.

The fully electric SAAB

This remote controlled Saab has three This remote controlled adjustable frequency’s settings enabling you (RC) Saab 9-3 Aero 2.8T V6 to run three models at the same time. Inside the box you will find the remote controller SportCombi is a 1:20 scale and an extendable metal antenna that screws model in Fusion Blue metallic, into the top of the remote controller and an instruction manual. the Saab 9-3 launch colour. This model was not only fast, it was powerful enough to climb over the edge of a thick-pile rug from the wooden floor and continue its progress across the carpet. Info from: www.saabplanet.com Before After When a BMW just doesn’t cut In 2014 I sold my Bmw E28. it By Bent J. RøsteIt has been my project car for fifteen years. I wanted to get a car with turbo since I’ve never had one before. So I bought a 2000 SAAB 9-5 with the plan that I was just going to maintain the car. But I got some ideas on how to make the car more presentable. So for the last six years has I been working on the car spending around 1000 hours just in planning, since I just have this as an hobby. I then spent another 1000 hours or more, to do the work. As I have done all the work by myself, there has been some challenges. But now the car is 100% as I want it. If you like to see all the work done look at this link: http://forum.saabturboclub.com/showthread. php/135518-Min-Norske-9-5-Estate-Prosjekt The full automatic, and had every option on the 9-3 One other claim to fame for this car is that it list as standard, apart from the sunroof. was included in the convoy of cars leaving the A SAAB model It comes with electric memory seats, church in Eaton Bray, after Erik Carlsson’s description premium leather upholstery, satnav, memorial service. directional , and 19 inch wheels The Carlsson is shown at RAF Museum at by any and tyres, among others. My car is listed as is “SAAB Weeze Airport, Germany, in the former “No. 5 of 44 in Jet Black and No. 17 in all”. 9-3 Aero cinema of the RAF Laarbruch air base. It lies other It is my daily driver, having been bought in early on the Dutch border and has items from all Carlsson”. 2014, as a three year old car with 36,000 miles the post-war RAF sites in Germany. on the clock. It was first registered in 2011 and I It has the 280hp On a personal note, my father was the am the second owner. name V6 engine and is first station Chaplain at Laarbruch when By Christine Bennett. all-wheel-drive. The Carlsson has done a further 40,000 the station opened in the 1950’s . I went to It’s a UK only miles since, including one overseas trip, to primary school there. model and was built as a limited edition of the SAAB Museum Festival in June 2019 96 only available in Arctic White, Carbon where it gained a lot of attention - the local Grey or Jet Black. It was only available as an SAAB owners had heard of, but never seen. Created with purpose By Joost Korbeld MeanBy Samu Chiiffi Molander Streets The Scandinavian design approach

It could be the climate. Or the light. Whatever the reason, we do things a little differently in Scandinavia. It shows in our design language. It’s uncomplicated, consistent and every element is there for a reason. Form follows function, giving you inspiring design with a purpose. Juts get behind the wheel of a SAAB and discover how it’s designed to perform.

Taken from ‘SAAB brand & range’ sales brochure 2010

The image of the wooden shingles was from a windmill in Västergötland, Sweden. Road Rally The Great The theme of the& stand for that year was celebrating SAABs rally history, through Western road cars. SAABs The SAAB featured included: stand at A SAAB 99 two door turbo. the Bristol A totally original with only 17,000 miles from new.

Show, a few A SAAB 2 stroke sports, fitted and prepared years back. for racing. Captured in time Hirsch display, photographed at UrSAAB ANA Trollhättan, in 2009. bonnet badge. ThatBy Geoff Roach SAAB dream came true I have a 2006 SAAB 9-3 convertible. I had wanted a SAAB since primary school I bought the car in late 2014 and have used it only lightly (3,000 miles per annum) yet continuously since throught the cooler weather - no winter lay-ups. and was delighted to make that dream come true. The photos were taken on the SW300 – a tour of Devon in England and another around Brecon in Wales, back in September. The sun shone and the roof was down.

If you go down to the woods today... Száraz-Szabó Marika Night By Robert Cirstea Moves Having purchased the car which had been carefully stored for My 1987 ten years, I have set about restoring it for day to day use. The engine was removed, timing chain replaced, head off , valves refurbished, turbo repaired, brakes callipers, discs and SAAB pads renewed. Air conditioning brought back to working order, all this was done at my local SAAB specialist. 9000SE The wheels were re-polished and shod with new Michelins. Shortly after this was completed, we joined others at INTSAAB 2019 in Holland and of course, the trip would not have been 2.0 Turbo complete without a blast on the Autobahn in Germany. Tony Welch The bodywork was welded & repainted where necessary This 1987, flat front, and the windscreen replaced. The suspension springs, shock absorbers and bushes have been renewed and fitted along with pre DI/APC system SAAB has other repairs. covered over 177,000 miles. The car is used for carrying patients with life threatening conditions to and from hospitals in the Manchester area for From what I can find out, after a local charity ‘Being There’, where its rear space is ideal for carrying wheelchairs and walking frames. some internet checking, it is The patients love the comfort of the SAAB heated leather the only one left in the UK. seats and are often loathe to leave them, when they arrive home after treatment! Before work commenced. My SAAB Creation By Caroline Steinick

A new eraTony Mandorff ?

GoingEdward Lorenz green