1988 Saab 900 Aero Manual: Saaab Stories
For some reason, I can’t stop thinking about this mint 1988 Saab 900 Aero Manual (900 Turbo SPG in North America) . Infact, I keep seeing neat Saabs everywhere- taunting me- so I had to post it.
I always thought Saabs would remain somewhat affordable, but prices really are creeping up. And when you see an example such as this, its easy to understand why. However, this particular example is the revered Aero – the high performance Turbo model that is fast becoming a highly collectable. When compared to other, arguably more exotic late 80’s performance cars, it could still be considered a bargain.
To many, Saabs are kind of an obscure car known for being driven by the king of nothing, Jerry Seinfeld. I myself used to think the same. Just a weird car, with no clutch (well, only some of them) and often driven by Uni students.
However, I really fell in love with Saabs after watching the movie “Paid in Full”. If you’ve never seen the movie, it follows a group of drug dealers in Harlem during the late 1980’s. Whilst the movie is great, the real stars are the cars flaunted throughout. There are a number of cool BMW’s (including an E30 widebody 325i), a Mercedes W126 Coupe, a slick Porsche 944 Turbo and probably the biggest star, a black Saab 900 convertible on “them Gold BBS’s”. Prior to this I had never considered a Saab to really be a cool car- but the movie shone a new light on the Swedish obscurity. Back in the day, this car was the shit. A strange euro coupe with a turbo, bulletproof build quality, cool styling and a brand history in Aviation and Rally – what more could you want?
And you can’t get much better than this example. Black over Tan interior, manual, low kilometres and with a host of period modifications (including those perfect Carlsson 16″ tri spokes) , it would have to be one of the best spec’d Saab 900 Aeros to come up for sale in recent times. Throw in the fact that it also has a 50hp power increase (thanks to a Swedish Dynamics Computer and injector upgrade), and the little Saab is starting to become very appealing on both a coolness and drive-ability level.
If you crave some late 80’s drug dealer chic in your life, you can find it for sale on Carsales here for $34,990
1988 Saab 900 Aero Manual: In the owners own words
The Original SAAB 900 Aero…
Australian Delivered, Matching Numbers, Service Books and History, only 190,000 Kms documented. Best colour combination Black over Tan interior.
No ordinary Aero…. PLUS 50 HP Swedish Dynamics Computer Upgrade with injector upgrade (includes original computer) Huge improvement in Performance.
Carlsson 16″ Refurbished wheels (polished lip) (original 15″ wheels and tyres included) with brand new tyres, wheels and tyres cost over $3k alone.
Quaife LSD.
Rare Deco panel to rear.
Over $20K in documented receipts
Interior is in excellent condition with no cracks to the dash as it was garaged by the previous owner, an interior designer who owned the car for over 10 years prior to my purchase.
It took me 3 years to find this one, most I looked at were trashed or owned by impoverished university students (no offence).
Over engineered and with German build like quality with their values are on the rise in Northern Europe, these quirky cars will prove to be a solid investment in the coming years.
Currently not registered and in storage.
RWC supplied for Victorian buyer, eligible for Historic Plates
You will struggle to find an Aero like this superb example.