The 9000, a Saab story by Aaron Gilbert.

Posted on 20. Feb, 2007 by Ryan in 1980-1989, 1990-1999, 2000-2009, 9000, Enthusiasts, Saab Stories

Photo Credit: Aaron C. Gilbert

Aaron Gilbert of the Pacific North West corner of the United States recently provided me a writeup of how he found his way into the Saab brand. His writeup describes how the classic 9000 model (1985-1992), has and will always be in his opinion, the best model for all of his his needs. In addition to his writeup below, he has also contributed to the next video project, a film that covers the introduction of the Saab 9000, that with some more donations, will be ready to send out to be converted to digital format.

Thank you Aaron for your writeup, donation and enthusiasm for the brand!

Here is Aaron Gilbert’s story in his own words.

I’ve always liked Saabs ever since I saw their magazine ads in the early 80′s, though I could not tell you exactly why I liked them. However, nobody in my family ever had one, even up to today. In the mid ’90′s, my first car was on it’s last legs, and I wanted to upgrade. I wanted something with four doors and a hatchback (or wagon), that could get out of it’s own way. So naturally, Saab came to mind, but I had no idea if I could afford one. As it turned out, I could afford a used one, and so went shopping. When I first sat in a 9000, before I even turned the key, I was hooked. It was a ’88 9000 turbo, red with black interior. The interior seemed huge compared to what I had known before, and the dashboard was perfect and cockpit like, a plus for me since I have always been an airplane enthusiast. Even without driving it, I knew it was the car I wanted. I didn’t end up buying that car, as it was after all the first I’d looked at, and probably because I just wasn’t ready for a red sports car yet. The dealer called me back a couple weeks later and said they had just got in a trade that was in immaculate condition. It was a white/black ’87 9000 turbo without a scratch on it inside or out, despite the 151k miles. It was automatic, which I was unsure about, but it was such a beautiful car that I could not pass it up.

I later named her Elke, and she was with me for 10 wonderful years. In that time, she had just about every mechanical part on her replaced, except the turbocharger! That was still original at 330k miles, amazing. I loved the perfect combination of ride and handling. And I say combination, rather than compromise, because it was by far the best riding AND best handling car I’d ever been in, much less owned. It would be some time before I would explore her limits, but eventually, I upgraded her to nearly 9000 Aero power, improved the suspension and brakes, and added various minor cosmetic upgrades. And she always had a quality stereo – but nothing too over the top. I loved the ease of replacing the stereo head unit and both the front and rear speakers. I really loved the fact that when you took something apart on the car, be it a door panel, interior trim, top of the dash, or any other piece, it always went back together just as securely as before. This was a totally new car experience for me. I loved that she could get 30 MPG on a long road trip, after I had her converted to manual transmission. Of course, I loved that you could carry all kinds of odd shaped things that have no right going in a car – a full sized door, 10′ long lumber, lazy-boy recliners standing upright, and of course my custom 65″ tall home theater speakers. I always felt safe in her, no matter what speed we were traveling.

Alas, I had the shop remove her air conditioning, because it needed a complete overhaul, and would have cost a fortune to repair. I thought, I barely use it and so it’s just extra weight. How was I to know that I would meet the girl of my dreams in Utah and that I’d drive down to spend time with her in July? Elke took the trip in stride with well over 300k miles on her odometer, but I knew I needed a vehicle with air conditioning. And though Elke had almost everything repaired that ever goes bad on a 9000, in the back of my head, I thought I might want something more reliable that would never strand me and my girl. I imagined that buying another 9000 would simply be buying the devil I don’t know vs. the one I do, and might still be prone to breaking down (this is now 2005) and expensive repairs. So, I took the plunge and bought a brand new Suzuki Aerio SX. In form and function, it was the closest thing to my old 9000 I could find brand new, in my price range. It had auto climate control, 155 HP, tons of cargo space, roomy rear seat, even a timing chain and heated mirrors. I sold Elke a few months later for a ridiculously low sum but fortunately she went to a Saab loving home, and is still doing great today! I would not realize the depth of my mistake until I took the Suzuki on it’s first major road trip, to Yellowstone National Park in 2006, a year later. While the Suzuki makes the perfect commuting and around town car, the personality is completely opposite when asked to carry two people and a trunk full of camping gear on an extended interstate road trip. To be fair, it does get better fuel economy and seems highly reliable, but unfortunately, those are about the only advantages it has over the 9000, on the open road. So, after that 2100 mile trip, I began my search for a new Saab, either a 9-3 five door, 9-5 wagon, or 9000.

Despite really loving the drive and quality of the 9-3 and 9-5, I could not bring myself to consider them my final vehicle, for several reasons. I could not live with the insane folding rear seat design in the 9^3 hatchback, which I felt was a huge step backwards from any previous model Saab. Also, I felt that the interior storage space in both the 9-3 and 9-5 were quite poor compared to the 9000, and neither had as much rear seat legroom as the 9000, or for that matter, my compact Suzuki. To top it off, a good one in the model years recommended by my shop, were quite a bit more money than I wanted to spend, and even so, still came with no warranty. A 9000, being older, could be had for much less money, saving a bunch for future repairs and maintenance. Initially, I was thinking 9000 Aero. However, they are not only hard to come by, but the owners really seem to demand a significant premium for good ones. Also, the loss of the glove box in all but the ’93 model was a big turn off for me, while the ’93 model had TCS, well known for extensive and expensive repairs. The Aero seats, while extremely attractive, did not seem significantly more comfortable to me, and certainly less useful in the rear. Also, while I find the newer body style 9000 attractive, I still thought the original style to be somehow much more stylish and unique. So, my search continued for about four months. I even flew down to Phoenix, AZ, to look at a ’94 Aero, which I didn’t get, for several of the reasons noted above.

I eventually came across a 1991 9000 Turbo in Spokane, WA (about 290 miles from my house). It looked to have been well loved and taken care of, and the owner was a true Saab person, having both a 9000 Aero and 9-5 wagon. I contacted him almost immediately, only to learn that there were two potential buyers already. I asked him to let me know if they did not want the car, but fully expecting that it might be sold. As it turned out, they were teenagers just looking to get a very fast and cheap car which they could modify to be even faster. He did not want to sell to them, and emailed me to let me know. We exchanged many emails and phone conversations that week, which only solidified his position that he would rather sell to me, and my position that this was my next car! Despite one of the coldest weekends in history, my fiance’ and I drove the 290 miles, leaving our house at 5 AM to arrive in Spokane. It was a balmy 4 degrees outside. The car looked to be in great shape, though had some minor issues of which I wasn’t aware. Still, the owner had most of the repair bills, and some of them were quite major, including a complete transmission and clutch replacement just 15k miles prior, and a complete A/C system overhaul and retrofit just a couple years before that. I bought the car and enjoyed every minute of the 290 mile drive home! It’s been about a month now, and I have already replaced and/or fixed many of the issues that it had. eBay makes a great place for used Saab parts! I had her fully detailed. The paint shined up very well after years of oxidation, and steam cleaning made the engine compartment look new. I have big plans for her ahead, but nothing over the top. She’s already quite a big improvement over my old Elke in many ways, and yet, so much the same. I’m looking forward to many happy years!

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