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 car 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 cars 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 SAAB 99. 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, power steering 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 Erik Carlsson 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 SAAB Sonett 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 Convertible. (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 Sweden 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.