Saab 9000 in the limelight

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Monte Carlo Yellow SAAB 9000 Aero MY 1994
Monte Carlo Yellow SAAB 9000 Aero MY 1994

I had an interesting conversation with a fellow Saab enthusiast earlier today. And we discussed Saab 9000 and how this vehicle is now a nearly extinct unicorn these days. In addition, we both quickly agreed that Saab 9000 is one of Saab’s models that have been brought behind the spotlight and is somewhat a bit of a forgotten classic icon. My friend possesses not only a whole lot of knowledge about Saab, but he is also one of the few people I know with his Saab spirit still intact, his passion will always be there no matter what. He is also an extremely passionate 9000 owner, and one of the cars he owns is truly interesting on many levels. So let me introduce you to Johan Lööf’s MCY Saab 9000 Aero ‘ 94 and his story of how he found his dream car.

20150621_214249
Johan’s first meeting with his dream car, the MCY Saab 9000 Aero featured in the swedish car magazine ‘Bilsport’.
To take you to the beginning of this story, we have to rewind the time back to the year 2000, when I was 14 years old and the interest for cars started to increase rapidly. I bought myself my very first motor sports magazine fore a school trip, a swedish car magazine called “Bilsport”, more particularly Bilsport No.5. Saab was also highly interesting at that time (thanks to my brother). So I closely examined and eyed down all Saabs that were featured in the magazine, and the Saab that stood out the most was a small article with 2 small pictures of a Saab 9000 Aero in the color YELLOW!

 

Bilsport magazine article – “UNIQUE. Most people who sees Benny‘s yellow Saab 9000 Aero will react. “What the heck, a yellow Aero. It must’ve been repainted!? “ And sure enough, in fact, there wasn’t any produced yellow 9000 Aero’s – besides this one! Benny‘s copy is the only one in the whole world who was originally painted in the Monte carlo yellow color”

 

As a 14 year old boy my instant thought was “One day I’ll own a car like that”. But then again, we all have to admit that we’ve all had our own crazy teenage dreams. Time passed and I soon forgot all about the car in the magazine. Until one day in April 2006, when a friend of mine showed me a car that his brother was going to pick up. And his brother had already asked me if I was interested in buying a 9000 Aero since I was in the need of a car at that moment. When I got to see the sales ad for the car that he mentioned I flew off the chair. It was a MCY 9000 Aero! And I instantly recognized the license plate number. As soon as I got back home I searched through my old Bilsport car magazines and found the article I was looking for, I compared them, and sure enough, it was my teenage dream car that was up for sale! So there wasn’t any doubt about it, I was more than interested in buying my dream car. The day after this I took the car for a test drive, and it didn’t take long before I was the new owner for it. 

 

“Yes, I’m the owner of a Saab 9000 Aero – and it’s Monte Carlo Yellow! – Johan Lööf”

 

The Aero Johan owns is a 9000 Aero MY1994, And it was first purchased by a woman from Luxembourg, and according to Saab automobile, this woman was working for the European Parliament. This car was sold as an IDS (International and Diplomat Sales) car, and we all know that this was something very exclusive. And the car was most likely repainted by a dealer before it was handed out to the customer. Though there’s no received confirmation on that issue yet. The car was later imported and registrered in Sweden 1998.
These are the following specifications for the car when it was commissioned:

 

    • 20150621_213927
      Delivery identification certificate (birth certificate)

      Model year: 1994

    • Sweden/SE specified car (that is, not a Europe/EU specified car).
    • Saab 9000 Aero
    • CS 5 door body, no sunroof
    • Left Hand Drive (LHD)
    • Engine: 2.3 Turbo (200 hp/294 Nm) with engine number B234L6A00R127081
    • Automatic transmission with transmission code FA43201198136
    • Exterior color: Cirrus White (color code 153)
    • Interior: Rocky Black Sports Interior
    • 16 “Super Aero rim (3–spoke) with 205/55 Z–16“ tires (probably Michelin MXM)
    • Double electric front seats with memory on the driver’s side
    • Double Airbags

 

During the years Johan has owned the car he has upgraded with installation of JT 3t” exhaust system with sport catalyst. Mounted H&R 40mm lowering kit and Bilstein Sport shocks. He also converted to manual transmission with Quife diff. He is currently in the process of fixing rust on wheel arches and trunk, and he has recently fixed the rust damage to the windsheild frame because it was in a very bad condition. He is committed to restoring the car to it’s former glory, including engine overhaul is in his future plans, and he has absolutely no plans or wishes to change the body colour. This car is in safe hands with it’s owner who is willing to do anything to save his extraordinary gem. We at saabsunited would like to thank Johan for sharing his story of his dream car, and we hope that he will be able to enjoy his very own unicorn for many years to come.

15 thoughts on “Saab 9000 in the limelight”

  1. Wonderful!
    The 9000 2.3T is a wonderful car to drive. Mine is Black! 🙂
    And it has the best seats I have ever been in.

    • It’s about time that someone mention the 9000, I couldn’t agree with you more. In my opinion the 9000 is one of Saab’s best models made that has been brought behind the spotlight for quite some time now. Thereof my post to bring it back into the limelight.
      Cheers!

      • I had a couple. One was a very powerful (can you say “torque-steer”) version that is one of my favorite SAABs. The low pressure turbo model I owned later was nowhere near the fun. Regardless, the 9000 has so many good design features that the strange ignition key location is quickly forgotten. Thanks for the post.

  5. In Sweden (SAAB Turbo club )some people are searching for good 9000 cars now and i have also i nice 9000 from 1998 with the 225 HP AERO engine. It has 98 000 km driven in summer only. Tuned by Nordic to 275 HP and it runs at 0,75 L/ 10 km. No rust and midnight blue metallic. I happens to still drive on the Michelin MXM tyres that was delivered on the car, (the second set). The 9000 AERO was in my opinion the best car ever made until the NG 9-5 came in 2010. I have a 2011 9-5 AERO Turbo6 XWD as well and the only thing i am not sure of is how much extra power the engine can deliver without breaking apart. The N-G 9-5 is a super car that show what SAAB could have been today if Victor was not killed by SWEGOV.

    I am sure there is a few very nice 9000 out there that needs to be remembered.
    Should it be possible to start a SAAB 9000 face-book group to gather all remaining cars on the planet earth. If so,i will join.

  6. Great article! The 9000 was the first Saab I ever sat in and the reason I fell in love with all the quirks. Great to see one so well taken care of and upgraded. Love the color!

  7. I always had a weakness for this magnificent color. I wish the owner well, and many miles of prideful ownership.

  8. It’s not unique!! There was another Monte Carlo Yellow 9000. It was RHD drive UK model produced by Saab for the Aberdeen Saab dealer Adrian Smith. It was displayed on the quay during the 1997 Cutty Sark Tall Ships race when it visited Aberdeen. The Cutty Sark whisky label is yellow hence the tie-in. See below for an image.

    .https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4MK50CvpgKSSWt2TEp2cTRyQ2s/view?usp=sharing

    I saw the car about 7 years later in Oban on the west coast of Scotland.

    • It’s actually great news that another one exists. I might have to look this up more closely.. Do you have any more information about it and it’s owner perhaps?

      • I think it is the one that came to a car show in Stroud, Gloucestershire several years ago. Car was originally black but Saab GB then had it painted in Montecarlo yellow. The engine bay remained black aswell as all the body covered in trim! The owner , if I remember well, mentioned that a total of 3 9000 including his were repainted for the event described. Nice car though!

  9. I’ve had a couple of 9000s (a 91 CD and a 93 CSE) and I liked both of them, but they’ve not been my favorite Saabs.

    For all their good points, the whole line just always seemed compromised to me. So many little things about these cars highlight the dire financial straights Saab were in when it was being designed. Clever engineering solutions let down by insufficient testing and compromises based on using a platform shared with Fiat (compromises that would rear their heads again in later shared platforms from GM).

    I recall one exchange I had about my fragile automatic transmission in my CD with the late Bob Sinclair. His comment “That transmission is undersized and horrible. My wife wanted a CD, so I had one made with a manual because that thing was so bad.” (The CD was only available with the automatic in North America.)

  10. Had a naturally aspirated 9000cse which was way too low on power which was a shame, a turbo diesel would have been nice but before the days of diesels in Saabs. 9000 was a big sturdy car but I had to firm up the chassis / suspension a bit as found it too floppy, a Abbott racing cross strut under the bonnet and sports springs did wonders to handling! I think sometimes Saab could have worked harder in firmer suspensions which were only to be found in their performance models. Is it only me or was the steering wheel positioned too low, touching your knees? much better position in later 9-5, 9-3

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