Summer 2022

Please send in your Saab stories, tech articles, show reports, restorations, projects & barn finds.

Anything you think our members would like to read about.

Please get in touch;

The

Chairman’s letter

2022, what a year it’s been for Saab, 75 years of the brand and marque and we celebrated.

My visits to Trollhättan and Sturgis proved just how strong the loyalty to the brand still is with such enthusiasm by everyone I met.

As we head into difficult times again with fuel of every type for home and travel and the thoughts with the continuing struggle for Ukraine and the next generation, S.E.C have put an idea on the table.

The young Saab owners are taking their cars to a new level and with this in mind we have put a package together. Tell us about your car, tell us what you’re doing or have done to it recently, the modification and the new look it’s been given. Do the article with photos now!

In exchange, if you are between 18-25 years of age we will give one years free membership.

If you are between 26-35 send an article too for half price membership for one year.

We realise next year could still be

difficult for some members to attend an event, but in making an effort, it will bring everyone together and return the community spirit lost in isolation in the last few years.

While visiting the Saab North America Trudi was invited to join the Women of Saab. A sub committee in its infancy to bring the wives and girlfriends together. They support their partners in the obsession but as the club were strongly aware not always so enthusiastic. To encourage more women to feel included, rather than being left at home, the hope is, next time they will attend by taking the opportunity to visit places of local interest together or maybe take advantage of hotel treats.

Something to introduce here maybe?

I hope this coming winter isn’t long, grey and cold and an Indian Summer will stretch into the end of the year allowing more classic motoring.

The Art Editor says Hello!

Having missed the last couple of International Saab meetings due to the pandemic, we were keen to go to this years event in Luxembourg and booked our tickets early.

I had planned to take the pickup, driving on country roads and taking a couple of days to travel there and back, in order not to put too much stress on the car. This plan had worked out perfectly in the past, when we took the pickup to the Germany and Holland shows. However, events conspired against me and although I’d got the car back together, there were just too many things to finish before we needed to set off.

We took our ‘modern’ 2014 Skoda Yeti instead and although I was very grateful for the air con (it was very hot) and wipers that could cope with a monsoon (and very wet), I wish I’d bought or borrowed a Saab to go in - having to hide the Yeti wherever we went, was a bit embarrassing.

The whole event was very well organised, from the tours to the dinners, not always easy having to cater for over 350 hungry Saab enthusiasts! I’d also like to mention how friendly and helpful the volunteers were too.

It was great to catch up with our European friends and the other enthusiasts who had made the journey from the UK. I managed to speak to a few owners about their cars and hopefully we can feature some of them in future editions.

On the way home we stopped in Oudenaarde in Belgium for a couple of nights, which has a great bike museum and the MOU Museum with its large collection of 16th century tapestries. Plus we got to eat a lot of waffles and drink a few strong Belgium beers, can’t wait to go back!

Simon

99 PROBLEMS

This contribution contains repeated themes, perhaps you the reader will notice?

Down to our last Saab, that is austerity! It has been good to use the 99 Turbo more, but trips to DIY stores for sand and cement were not previously contemplated.

We drove to North Norfolk for a summer break, but as we were five minutes’ walk from the beach, we did not use the car very much, instead it gathered admiring looks from those who passed by.

Although being a Historic Vehicle it is now exempt from the annual MOT (and VED) I decided that an impartial but expert inspection might be a good idea, after all, it is now my legal responsibility to ensure that the car is roadworthy, and it is all too easy to let things slip. I took the car to Howe Engineering near Buntingford; it is exactly twenty years since my first visit to have the water pump replaced, and I have been a regular and very satisfied customer ever since. The car passed without any advisories, but on the journey home my smugness was dispelled. You know that sinking feeling? The truth is that I have been meaning to replace the canvass/rubber underseat hammock for some time. I bought a pair of spring mat kits from Saabits back in 2017.

Replacing the hammock with a spring mat is a job that I have described in an illustrated article some time ago, and it is astonishing that the original seat base lasted forty-two years. I decided to make a video of the operation, which you can find on YouTube if you have fourteen minutes to kill: “Saab 99 Seat

Repair”. You are very unlikely to need to do this job as I would not be surprised if my 99 Turbo had the last intact old-style seat base?

The job went well, except that I find my upper body strength declining, and where previously I managed without extra assistance (or assistants!) this time I had to apply more leverage. One part of the operation did catch me by surprise: having previously repaired seats from ’81 on GL models, the seat in my 1980 Turbo used a fixing for the attachment of the backrest which I had not previously encountered. There were a couple of socket head screws, but not hexagonal or Torx, but a 12-point splined socket, something for which I had no tool. I did manage to find something similar at a local motor factor which did the job; I wonder if I will ever need to use it again? If I do, the chances are that I will not remember where I put it!

Although only the driver’s side had collapsed, I did replace the mat under the passenger seat, as a stitch in time saves nine. I also carried out an “annual” service: changing oil and filter, changing air filter and replacing the spark plugs, nothing too complicated?

Having had spark plug leads disintegrate on previous occasions, I was very careful to hold the boot and not the lead, but would they let go? *?!*. Once again proof that I have lost upper body strength? It never used to be this hard! A quick look on YouTube and, yes, I was not the only one to have struggled to remove plug leads, only I did not happen to have the elaborate pliers that were used to separate

the leads from their plugs. What I did do was to leave them overnight, and try the next morning. Without any extra tools I managed to remove the plugs after a little struggle. The truth is that I probably had not changed the plugs for a while, as the car has enjoyed a very modest annual mileage: in twenty years of ownership the car has covered around forty thousand miles; nicely run-in? I believe that plug lead problems are exacerbated by neglect. By the way, the plugs were fine, and a healthy colour, but I changed them anyway.

Although all the tyres had plenty of tread, I decided to check how old they were, using the four-digit code embossed on the sidewall. Hmmm, the fronts were manufactured in 2013, so nine years old already, and the rears? 2005. That was not good, we know how old rubber is not to be relied upon. And the spare? Well, there were a couple of issues to be addressed: firstly, the tyre size was different as was the wheel size. The car came with an EMS-style alloy wheel for the spare, why? The simple answer is that the Inca wheels and the EMS football wheels used the same type of wheel nut, with the flat flange; these are probably quite scarce now? The EMS rim is only five inches wide compared to the Inca’s five and a half. And the tyre on the spare rim? I had never paid much attention to it, but with a 165 SR 15 there was a glaring problem: an SR rated tyre on a 99 Turbo! As for the date, it predated the four-digit code, possibly from 1980?

I had a spare Inca wheel which I decided

to press into service. This spare was not in bad shape, but I bought a rattle can of wheel silver paint and another of clear coat to smarten it up.

What tyres to fit? The owners’ manual suggests that 175/70 HR 15 were fitted from new, but a quick surf on the internet suggested that this size might be hard/expensive to find, likewise 185/65 HR 15. I decided to stick with 195/60 HR 15, which is now a very common size, and reasonably priced. I remember paying over £50 pounds for a Pirelli P6 tyre back in 1986. I found a tyre specialist nearby who did a good job, taking extra care with my pride and joy. Driving away on my brand-new Pirelli P1s, I was surprised how much sharper the steering felt, or was that auto-suggestion? Once home I decided to check the tyre pressures, as they had not asked me, and I doubted that their guide would include a car from 1980. One of the front tyres was inflated to 38 psi, the others being around 36 psi. They should have asked, but no harm done.

With the pressures adjusted, the steering still felt improved, and I can now drive the car with more peace of mind. If anyone would like an as-new unused EMS rim, please let me know.

AlanI was not able to gather with other enthusiasts at the “Saab Fest” as the dates clashed with our pre-booked holiday, so I eagerly await an opportunity to commune with you in a field somewhere, as Mr. Dallimore used to write: “protect your windscreen, wear a seatbelt!”

3D PRINTER COMES TO THE RESCUE

REPRODUCING WINDSCREEN TRIM

In November 2018 a Middle Blue 2 door Triumph powdered 99L arrived on my driveway with a failed engine. A good friend of mine had bought it unseen, suffered the disappointment of finding the dipstick covered in thick white gunge and had it delivered to me for a serviceable Saab B20 engine to be installed and the car brought back to road worthiness. The shell was very solid, the owner prior to my friend had spent money on new brake parts all round and the mission was accomplished by March 2019 when it was proven reliable and handed back.

The car went off to live its life on the fen roads round Ely in Cambridgeshire but in December 2019 it returned to my driveway when I became the proud owner of an old but usable car that I found to be utterly charming and proud to call my own.

The desire to improve my new project grew the more I used it and once I was able to get it into the dry warm space of

my garage, the obsession spiralled out of control. This is a story many do it yourself enthusiast restorers will be familiar with and there will be sympathetic nods throughout the readership on hearing the car is now nearing completion having had a what is approaching 2 years for a bare metal, nut and bolt restoration ‘tidy up’.

Having quickly sped past the point where I just couldn’t cut any corners, I have found myself having to devise ways of improving every single part that came off the car and where that just wasn’t possible with 50 years of wear and tear and replacements couldn’t be purchased; reproducing them.

This article is to explain how I recently found myself using 3D printing as part of the process of reproducing some trim parts on the car. The technology is out there, more accessible than ever and if you have the CAD skills to draw parts; limited mainly by imagination. This article

Original windscreen trim piece

is intended as inspiration rather than instruction and I hope that other classic Saab owners may find the idea of 3D printing useful in some way for their own ‘tidy ups’.

On the Saab 99L windscreen seal there is a silvered locking bead that closes up the seal onto the glass and hold it tightly enough to keep water out. The locking bead width and layout changed a few times over the course of the 99 production run, some turbo cars used black beads and trims, some used the silver version and on mine; the trim pieces were only used on the bottom corners of the screen whereas others also used them on the top corners.

The trims on my 1972 model were silver, they were originally clear anodised aluminium and were in a bad way with white powdery corrosion taking hold to the point where some of the metal had crumbled away and was missing. With so much time invested in the car to this point, something had to be done about these trims.

The part itself was not suitable to be 3D printed as they are only 0.5mm thick and it would have been difficult to create a metallic enough finish to look right. The only way to make them metallic enough was to make them from metal and this was done by printing a two part press tool intending on pressing new parts from polished 0.5mm aluminium.

The trim part was copied and drawn in Solidworks CAD software and once copied, the part was subtracted to leave a part shaped cavity in a simple rectangular block that would become the body of the tool. Once happy with the design of the tool, an. STL file was created as this format which is compatible with most if not all 3D printers.

(PICTURE 5 PRESS TOOL OVERALL SHOT)

My printing friend owns an Elegoo Saturn 2 8K resin printer which creates the design by curing liquid resin rather in a tank than fusing layers of filament strands on a bed. Different ways of achieving the same result but final surface quality subject

2 years for a bare metal, nut and bolt restoration ‘tidy up’ nearing completion

3D printed ‘male’ side of the press tool, printed in 12mm material with 8mm locating pins

Unusable windscreen trim piece

to print resolution which is a discussion big enough to be its own article but its worth mentioning that the 8K resin surface quality is astonishing and good enough to paint and use if you used it to print a part rather than a tool.

I decided that the main body of the press tool should be solid (‘100% fill’ in 3D printing terms) to withstand the pressing forces and opted for each half of the tool being 12mm thick. As I was intending to press soft aluminium parts, it didn’t seem necessary to make the tool any thicker and the 70x80mm pressing surface was chosen to be strong enough but economical enough with resin use. I don’t have the details of exactly which resin was used but it is a mid-range and, in practise there is no noticeable flex at all.

The two halves of the tool are brought together accurately in line courtesy of an 8mm diameter metal guide pin in 2 opposing corners – this was essential as without them there was every chance of damaging the male impression in the tool by colliding it into the flat area surrounding

the female depression.

In use the two halves of the tool press together very easily with 0.5mm aluminium. I used nothing more than a bench vice and didn’t anneal/soften the metal before hand – it just wasn’t necessary. The sheet being so thin might not draw out so well into deeper shapes than the trims but if a design required it – a thicker gauge of sheet would give more scope.

I could only find brushed finished aluminium sheet but polished it to enough of a shine to look as ‘bright’ as the original parts and to finish them; it is my intention to drop them off at a local anodising company to get them clear anodised to maintain their appearance yet offer protection. I have had other parts clear anodised and can report it barely alters the appearance of the polished parts and of course there would be no reason why you couldn’t get them anodised in black if your car had that trim option.

The pressed parts were cut from the sheet using a thin Dremel multi cutting

disc and cleaned up using a fine grade file. I found this was the most time consuming part of the whole process but as it’s an easy material to work with; starting wide and narrowing down bit by bit was order of the day to avoiding taking too much off. Costs were less important to me than the result but it was actually one of the more economical processes especially considering the massive improvement these newly made parts will bring to the overall look of the car.

Sheet material: 500x200mm - sufficient to practise with and then produce 10 pairs was circa £12.

Resin used: £4-5 (plus cost of two packets of biscuits to hire the printer)

Metal guide pins: Nothing as they were in the workshop.

Anodising: Yet to be done but as a guide; my local classic car friendly anodising company re did my silver front grille for £30 - the trims won’t be much at all.

Both sides of the 3D printed pressing tool

The pressed aluminium piece and below, the final trimmed part

This was my application for 3D printing, it worked perfectly and was incredibly satisfying.

There are lots of applications featured in videos online and using plastic press tools on sheet steel seems to be no problem. The ability to press steel parts opens up the possibilities of making your own repair panels for the bodyshell, which luckily I haven’t needed to do and that is something my incredibly patient and understanding wife is grateful for.

Regards,

Steve Briance

To celebrate 75 years of Saab as a car manufacturer there are several events happening. One in Trollhätten, Sweden and another in Sturgis South Dakota.

Having already experienced a trip to Trollhättan Trudi and I decided a trip to Sturgis would be a great holiday. Philip our son hoped to drive to Sweden in his 99 16v, but his plans put on hold with the arrival of his son at the very end of May.

Then there was a phone call from Sandy Bogage, the president of Saab America asking about doing a road trip to the Swedish event and would we travel with him. Trudi looked at hotel options, fully booked. She tried to pull a few favours through Norwegian and Swedish knitting friends. Everything was booked out, one or two places had just one room.

Trudi decided I should go to supervise Sandy, while she stayed home and therefore I found myself being thrown out of the car at 2am to catch the coach to London and travel on the morning Eurostar to Amsterdam. It was agreed to meet under the clock at noon, only it transpired it wasn’t actually a clock, where from Sandy and I went to collect a hire car from the airport.

Sandy wanted to explore as much as possible on his short excursion into

Europe and had already landed running. Therefore to show him as much as possible we headed for the dykes and over the IJsselmeer into the National parks and later north to Denmark.

After a restful night and a morning reminding myself of continental breakfast we set off to Denmark and “Vagns Saab museum” at Nordborg. The collection consists of 2strokes, 92s to longnose and also a Saabo.

Then it went wrong. The next plan was Egeskov castle, but being misdirected to the wrong ferry we cut our losses and headed ever north to Silkenborg to visit the museum containing the “peat bog man”.

Again, it went wrong. Not planning any real fixed time schedule we arrived not booking ahead to find there was no

accommodation whatsoever available.

The server in the bar found her manager, who was eating with friends and next they were searching their phones and found a place slightly out of town, which was very pleasant and an added bonus of a car museum close by with 160 vehicles from 1900-1987.

This place is well worth a visit (www. jyskautomobilmuseum.dk). Returning to our plan to see the “peat bog man”, one of the oldest preserved humans discovered. Setting off again to Aalborg for lunch we were spoilt for choice. An English bar, Irish bar and lots of local cuisine.

The Irish bar it was. Short break we continued to Frederikshavn and the ferry port, but having booked the early morning crossing and yet again accommodation was a problem we ate at a nearby restaurant and caught the night ferry.

Not sure if this was actually a mistake arriving in Gothenburg at midnight. The roadworks made directions a nightmare and the ‘Satnag’ went on verge of mental breakdown and a map was useless. Sandy just aimed to get out of town hoping the Satnag would recover and guide us more cheerfully to Trollhättan. She did. We arrived two hours later, tired and equally exhausted at the hotel.

And we were up with the lark on Friday morning, breakfast and a trip into town. I was able to identify all the various countries the nearby Saabs had also travelled from, pointing out various trim levels because of local tax reasons.

The event was celebrated fully in the town and everyone appeared to be swept along.

Meanwhile Sandy and I socialised with beer and cake. Sandy was very interested in the toppollas , one kind owner gave a indepth description of the virtues of usage. Not sure of why they never made to the States, as they use something similar on

pickup trucks. We followed the 92 parade with the Ursaab (the smell of two stroke fumes filled the square) model leading the way, then we refreshed with beer and cake. We went to see the other Saabs visiting the event, one was very interesting a shortened BMW chassis with a SAAB 99 body shell adorning. We were told by the constructors it had to be registered as a new vehicle. More beer and cake.

Eventually Sandy had to continue with his tour of Europe setting off for Hamburg. Sunday was the best day of the weekend, the Autojumble and racing. Travelling light,

nothing was purchased. The day was cut short by heavy rain.

My plan was to find a train from there back to Amsterdam only to be warned from home train strikes were going to be a major problem to get back on time.

Joe to the rescue! Offering my services as a co- driver we drove his 96 home from the event via Venlo on the German Dutch

border and onwards to the tunnel home. Joe kindly dropped me at the train so I could still make use of my coach ticket home from Victoria station arriving in Bournemouth only two hours later than planned.

ps: Thanks to Joe Pugh for all the great photos!

LOCKDOWN LUNACY

THE NEXT INSTALLMENT

The piece of luck I needed arrived in the shape of a donor repair section I bought from another enthusiast. It comprised a cross member/front panel and some floor under the battery tray.

The front cross member and panel was one of two badly rusted areas.

I was concerned that there might be some movement when I removed the corroded area so the axle stands were as solid as I could get them and the brace was fitted between the bumper mounts. One of these had been removed from my donor panel and then fitted which was another time consuming job.

I think this is probably my scariest moment so far. When I realised how much I had actually removed that needed replacing I wondered if I had bitten off more than I could chew. It took hours with a spot weld drill to get the old cross member out cleanly. The angle grinder was much quicker when I dared use it.

The new front panel looks much better.

The driver’s side chassis member had rusted at the end. And old oak table leg provided a good former.

The new cross member tacked into place. The spot welds matched up and all the measurements I took before dismantling remained the same much to my relief. I welded the cross member until I was happy it was solid as I wanted to remove the engine now I was confident in the structural integrity of the front of the car.

Dave Herret

The car was bought from Dick Sedgwick, the owner of Turners Hill SAAB,shortly before he sadly passed away(great man). According to him, it was the first new car he sold, and when the owner traded it in years later Dick kept the car and it had work done on it over the years. It sat on my drive for 2-3 years before I decided to restore it.

Initially I thought it would be a recommissioning, but after a while we decided on a more thorough resto. The car was completely stripped. Phil the Martian carried out the welding repairs needed, the panels (wings, doors, front panel, boot and ears) were shot blasted and the rolling shell went to Leatherhead Coachworks who bare metaled, prepped and painted it, keeping it ‘hearing aid’ beige.

The gearbox was stripped and fitted with Sonnet final drive.

The engine was a bit more complex, 1700 crank, oversized pinto pistons, decked to block and skirts taken down, metal timing gears, reprofiled cam by piper 7:2, 2.8 valves, heads and inlet manifold ported, 38:38 degas carb, 123 Bluetooth distributer, lightened flywheel and diaphragm clutch, Radiator re-cored.

On the rolling road the old girl pulled 100lbft of torque and 100bhp, Initially I was a little disappointed, but after the Sweden trip, she pulls like a train and

keeps up with all traffic inc. motorway. Suspension, rally springs and Bilsteins, interior retrim inc. headlining, wheels banded/widened by an inch and a half.

I’d like to thank Leatherhead coachworks The Martian OAP racing (OZ for sorting the porting, the machining and the comp ratios and everything technical) John Green (enough said) Mark (very sleepy) Hodges and my team at Joe’s Repair Shop in Epsom (you are the best).

Joe

Saab Owners Convention

July 21 – 24, 2022 Sturgis, South Dakota, USA

Anyone who has asked ‘where did you disappear to for the last fortnight?’, either looked like they wished they hadn’t, or replied ‘where’s that?’

I was really excited about getting out to the States again, although one or two doubts niggled about my trip to the convention for Saab Club America. Mark had already done the trip when the Sturgis car museum was still preparing for its public opening.

We flew into Denver, my choice, my mistake. The altitude, I had been warned may give me a few problems, but we had to get to our destination somehow. On a blistering hot afternoon we eventually got out of immigration to arrive at our hire car company. They no longer had the car we opted for on booking and wanting to please, they upgraded us. Then they discovered they had to up grade us further, if we wanted, because that car wasn’t available either. So we went from a basic Mazda to a Dodge Challenger, in black.

We sent off north to the Colorado and Wyoming border town of Cheyenne

for our first night, a few hours drive and fairly straight forward. The scenery was impressive, the mountain range of the Rockies to the left and the most horrendous thunderstorm cracking lightening to the ground on the right! Eventually we had to go under it and whether the weather. Apparently Colorado is famous for its incredible lightening storms.

Wyoming greeted us with dry clear skies and a mixture of open space and distance rock formations. Cheyenne, Mark claimed was a boring little town last time

he sailed through with the Colorado Saab members.

No it wasn’t, but then I had my heart set on visiting the town. The centre for Rodeo, Frontier Days, which was about to happen the following week. The town, although spent a lot of its history being burnt down had so much to see, quirky buildings, railroad memorabilia, gunslinger events and one or two historically famous ‘Tupperware ladies’ thrown in (as the trolly bus guide tactfully referred to the brothel houses) we stayed over an extra day…..also because I had altitude sickness, identified by a local policeman who recommended a place for breakfast.

Ever on we drove the very long straight road to Lusk for lunch and into South Dakota for another break in Hot Springs. I don’t know where the spring was, but it was definitely hot.

We took time to take in the Jewel and Wind caves. We love caves, and they are cooler than outside. Wind cave is a sacred Native American site, the story of how they and the bison/buffalo originated from this cave, the beginning of life.

We passed the monument for Crazy Horse, not to be complete in our life time.

We toured Custer Park, saw the huge herds of bison, ‘Don’t pet the Fluffy Cows’.

I was so scared of Mark losing the lowered skirt of this damn Dodge driving the narrow lanes of the Needle Highway. Then through the tiny tunnels, under and over the pigtail bridges of Iron Mountain Road which deliberately opened up views of Mount Rushmore, the graffiti of presidents.

We arrived early in Sturgis taking the opportunity to check into the Saab museum and get our bearings in town, the home of one of the biggest motorbike annual meetings, due a few weeks away. I did a bit of motorbike clothes shopping- it had to be

done.

We went into Deadwood (Marks singing not to be endured) to visit the Adams House and Mount Moriah cemetery, the resting place of those well know Wild West characters Wild Bill, Calamity Jane etc. I found the area dedicated to all the children lost in the smallpox, diphtheria and measles epidemic at the turn of the 1900s most moving.

The first convention event was the drive to Devils mountain, the first American national park and famous for that science fiction film, Close Encounters…..Amazing!

The next day was the equally long trip (they consisted of a nearly two hundred miles) to Mount Rushmore but we’d done that one, so into the cool of the museum.

This is where I was handed a lovely red tee-shirt with ‘Volunteer’ across the chest. So we did, and it was fun on the entrance to meet so many other Saab owners and welcome them to the event.

One slightly bemused arrival asked if we were Canadian. Another asked how long had we lived in the States, since last Tuesday.

Mark caught up with old friends went to the auctions and helped out generally in the museum. I caught up with Jody, I met on my last trip to Maryland and found her daughter is studying at our university in Bournemouth - so close to home. We took a car out for a test drive with an idea of Jody

bidding on it at the Sunday auction.

Saturday night a gala dinner was held in Deadwood so we all drove through the impressive gorge, avoiding all the mountain goats. As we arrived Mark announced we were low on fuel and after asking around the nearest station was back in Sturgis - oops. Leaving the event was down hill and back through that gorge, where the local police set up a breathalyser cordon, pulling in some of the Saabs. Obviously their weekend activities, the Corvettes were there the weekend before. We passed by in our inconspicuous car and slid into the first gas station, filling up took for ever….$80, at $4.65 a gallon, leaded petrol too. A far cry from the £1.99 a litre we left at home.

Sunday the auction over, Jody didn’t win her car, we set off for the 300 miles to Denver, stopping at Lusk again for lunch along with about twenty bikers heading to Sturgis. We convoyed most of the way with the club members from Colorado, leaving them on the outskirts of the city limits and airport to settle into our last hotel, and try and pack the suitcases accordingly to weight and gaze at the last view of the sun setting over the Rockies.

MINI BRIAN, BANGERS & CASH

Brian is a 1961 Austin Seven Mini that I owned for 25 years. It took part in SEC events in a North Yorkshire coal yard in the early 2000s when Members tried their hands at driving it in and out of sheds, drives and other spaces on a sunny summer afternoon. It was bought as a renovation project intended to be completed by the time my youngest daughter was ready to learn to drive. Alas, or perhaps fortunately, other cars appeared and got priority treatment. So it has taken all that time to complete the work. You can see the picture of it in its worst condition and another as it was when ready for sale.

I have been a fan of Bangers and Cash and when the time came to sell Brian I approached Mathewsons, who are the force behind Bangers and Cash. I sent them Brian’s history and a set of photographs. They said they would be happy to sell the “Delightful” little car and so I set about getting Brian to Thornton Le dale in North Yorkshire.

Initially Mathewsons offered to get their contractors to pick Brian up as a back load but that was not, in the event, possible and I sought other means of transporting Brian. It proved to be impossible to get anyone to give me a specific date and time at which they could pick Brian up before the deadline at the end of March. I considered getting a trailer and taking Brian up to Yorkshire myself. However, it was a round trip of 500 miles and beyond my driving capacity. Fortunately I have very good neighbour and in the end we shared the driving.

Once the car was in their hands, Mathewsons shot a video of Brian and put it on their auction site. I was less than happy

about the video because it concentrated on the faults in the car and said very little about the good bits. They agreed to re-shoot it and the result showed more of the positive features of the car. At the same time they agree a reserve of £7,500 would be applied to the car.

Watching the website over a few days I saw that people were making bids in advance of the auction but a week before the date the information about bids disappeared.

Mathewsons’ auctions were online only at that time because of the covid restrictions. I tuned in on the day and watched the bidding. The car was sold for the reserve price.

The personnel at Mathewsons were friendly and polite and considerate in handling my requests. It was an experience I did not think I would have, so it has gone down as a completed item on my bucket list.

HASELBURY MILL, 29-31 JULY

Saabfest 2022, turned out to be one of the best nationals to date. A very relaxed Saabfest with a great atmosphere, which is exactly why we choose to host the event at ‘the Mill’ The venue was fantastic, great food and drink over the three days, first class hospitality. South West Saab, the local SOC group, absolutely smashed it all weekend. Too many volunteers to list everyone but Alex Rankin and Isabel Rankin deserve a special mention for all of the work they did leading up to the show and then making sure everything ran like clockwork with the team over the weekend. Tommy Butler and Kayleigh Ann Butler of TR Auto’s, the show sponsor also deserve a special thank you for their hard work.

Tommy and Bob created fantastic bespoke trophies for the best car competition. Kayleigh did a amazing job organising the Saturday evening meal and seating plan, no small task for 120 people with so many different choices.

Both evenings entertainment went down very well, thank you to Robin M Saab for organising this, Brilliant!

Well done to all the winners of the Sunday best car competition, they are as follows:

Sonett - Rich Carpenter

Two Stroke Jon Bentley

V4 95/96 Iain Graham 90/99 Arthur Civil

99 Turbo Martin Bennett Classic

900 Keith Squire

9000 Tony Welch

NG 900 Sian Lamb

0G 9-3 Terry Powell

9-3 SS Olly Cox

OG 9-5 Tony Dawson

NG 9-5 Stephen Barr

Best in Show Tony Grestock, 1951 92A

Best in Show (Runner up) Geoff Kershaw - 99T Prototype

Thank you to all of you that attended the Saab Owners Club National weekend at Haselbury Mill, it wouldn’t be a success without you! A total of over 220 different Saabs over the weekend.

Saabfest will be back in 2024, a date to be announced closer to the time, but fear not, next year the Saab Owners Club, Saab Enthusiast Club and UK Saabs Forum will be hosting INTSAAB2023, the International Saab meeting at Gaydon, the British Motor Museum 4-6th August. This is a show that’s not to be missed!

Forthcoming Events

If you know of activities which you think may be of interest to fellow Saab Enthusiasts please drop us a line/e-mail/ phone (contact details are as given on the committee pages) and we will include them in the magazine and on our website.

Dates for your diaries

Club Events 2022

Saab Rally and Spares Day

Sunday 18th September

North East Land, Sea and Air Museum, Sunderland

Other Events 2022

Swedish Takeover

Saturday 24th September Beaulieu, Hampshire www.beaulieu.co.uk/day-events/swedishtakeover/

International Events 2023

IntSaab 2023

4th – 6th August 2023

The British Motor Museum, Gaydon. See details on previous page. www.intsaab2023.com

Peter Lockley - the owner of Higher Oak Garage, a dedicated SEC supporter, has sadly died. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends. Although the business will continue, his personal cars are now being sold.

900s 16v LPT convertible. 1992 Red special number plate G811 JET mileage 152,770. £8,950

Trade Directory

This special feature is intended as a service to both members and to the motor trade, providing contact information and publicity for specialist garage services and spares. Entries are accepted without endorsement at the discretion of the Editor and may be withdrawn without notice.

Key: Service provided: A. Sales, B. Parts, C. Servicing, D. Repairs, E. MOT's, F. Restorations, G. Books/Manuals/Memorabilia SAAB Models: 1. 2- stroke (*inc Sonett),2. V4 (*inc Sonett), 3. 90 and 99, 4. 900 classic 5. 900 from 1990, 6. 9000, 7. 9-3 and 9-5

ENGLAND

Bristol Jamsaab

01179 869997

A B C 2* 3 4

D E F 5 6 7 Keynsham BS31 2AJ

Unit 22, Durley Lane jamsaabkeynsham @gmail.com

Devon SAABits 01392 581185

B 1* 2* 3 3 Huxnor Road 4 5 6 7 Kingkerswell billj@saabits.com

Devon TQ12 5DX www.SAABits.com

10% discount online code ENTHUSIAST or mention SEC when calling

Essex Euro Saab Parts Direct 01371 874107

A B C 2* 3 4

Unit 13, Zone D Fax 01371 879139 D F 5 6 7 Chelmsford Rd Ind Est sales@euro-saab-partsdirect.com www.euro-saab-parts-direct.com

Great Dunmow Essex CM6 1XG

County Address Tel / Email

Hertfordshire Neo Brothers 01992 719280

Service Models

A B C 3 4 5

D F 6 7Monro Ind Est www.neobrothers.co.ukStation Approach Waltham Cross Herts EN8 7lX

Unit 23 Fax 01992 760471

Two Stroke to Turbo 01763 246699

A B C 2 3 4

Unit C 01763 250516 Fax D F 5 6 7 Brook Orchard www.twostroketurbo parts.co.ukBrook Road info@twostroke.co.uk Bassingbourn SG8 5NS

Huddersfield Malbrad

7 Colne Road Huddersfield HD1 3ER 01484 544556 www.malbrad.co.uk steve@malbrad.co.uk

A B C 1 2 3 4 5 6 7D E F

Kent

Leicestershire

B&D Specialist Cars 01303 264700

A B C 3 4 5 Range Rd Ind Est shane@

D E

Hythe CT21 6HG banddspecialistcars.co.uk

Motorvation

01892 825208

B C D 3 4 5

Capel Garage chris@motorvation.co.uk E 6 7

Halfmoon Lane Tudeley TN11 0PT

Carnetix Ltd 01664 562592

B C D 1* 2* 3

Unit 2E www.cartnetix.co.uk 4 5 6

Saxby Rd Ind Est 7 Melton Mowbray LE13 1BS

Malcolm Miles 01162 839044

A B C 1* 2* 3

Motor Engineers D 4 5 6 15 Erith Road 7 Leicester, LE2 7QA

The Committee continued

Committee Post Name Contact Address

Liaison

Iain Hodcroft 330 Manchester Road, Tyldesley Manchester M29 8NN 01942 878738 (Fax/Answerphone) 07976 314012

2-stroke Peter Briggs see Editor above

V4

99/90

Post 99 models

Mark Dodsworth

The Olde Cottage, Gronwen, Morda, Nr Oswestry, Salop SY10 9AR 01691 658398

Alan Courtenay 6 Wadley Road, Leytonstone, London E11 1JF 020 8556 6922

Glen Ellis 2 Nicker Hill, Keyworth, Notts NG12 5PD 0115 937 4665

The Saab Enthusiasts Club

Policy Statement

T he Sa ab Enthusiasts Club exists for all who a re i nterested i n SA A B ca rs, especially i n the older models. Ow nersh ip of a SA A B is not a prerequisite of membersh ip but a deg ree of enthusiasm for the ma rque would be expected. a qua r terly maga zi ne wh ich encou rages cont r ibut ions f rom all members i n the for m of a r t icles or photog raphs wh ich may then be published on th is website Both the maga zi ne and website ca r r y not ices of Sa ab related goods for sale or wanted

T he Club also organ ises gather i ngs where members either camp or at tend as d ay visitors and aut u m n hotel weekends. It also of fers tech n ical advice on older models and promotes events by li ke m i nded organ isat ions.

Disclaimer

The views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the Saab Enthusiasts Club or its committee members. The Saab Enthusiasts Club accepts no responsibility for any advice published in the magazine and advice or services provided or obtained from persons or businesses advertising in this magazine.

The club is now in the process of building up its new range of stock items. Shirts and fleeces are available in four sizes; small, medium, large and extra-large.

Though quantities of each are limited, all are available for immediate despatch but, once out of stock, items will continue to be available to order. Enquiries and orders may be posted online to sales@saabenthusiasts.co.uk

Prices quoted are exclusive of p&p. The club has no facility for electronic money transfer, therefore payment to be made by personal cheque made payable to ‘Saab Enthusiasts Club’