[opening theme music playing]
[soft music playing]
Hey, Elvis, come and have a look at this.
I know you like an old car advert,
but you're absolutely gonna love this one. It's from the 1980s.
Er, this is Saab trying to sell their Saab Turbo
by tying it in with their Saab aeroplanes.
[upbeat music playing]
[Elvis] It's very cool, ain't it? Very stylized.
Well, in fact, the guy that directed this,
his name is Tony Scott, Ridley Scott's brother.
This advert directly led to him getting the gig...
...Top Gun.That's it.
-Yeah. -You actually can see a lot of resemblance.
It's a great audition tape.
[upbeat music playing]
[Elvis] What an iconic advert for, I guess, a pretty iconic car.
It's a shame, ain't it, because Saab no longer exist.
No, it's gotta be about ten years or so
-since they stopped making cars, isn't it? -Yeah.
I mean, it's like Pontiac and Jensen,
and with Saab are like the dodos of the car world.
But you know what, those dodos have always been good to us at Wheeler Dealers.
We've always managed to turn a profit.
-Hmm-hmm. -So, I've been looking
out there online, and I found this
that's advertised for sale. It's a Saab 900 Turbo convertible,
16-valve. Looks really decent. It's got a few little issues.
But this car is advertised in the center of London,
belongs to a guy called Alan.
And he's fallen foul of the Ultra Low Emission Zone.
Unfortunately if he wants to pull it out of his driveway,
he has to pay every single day, so he just wants it gone.
That sounds like an opportunity. It looks like a decent car.
But the only way to find out, go and have a look, mate. Get your coat on.
Yeah. Nice one. Thank you.
[Mike] While Saab Automotive went bust a decade ago,
the Saab defense business continues to produce
fighter jets and other military hardware.
And that's what I love most about the 900.
How a company founded on aviation
weaved their aeronautical know-how into four wheels.
Precise, safe and powerful.
Every inch of one felt it had been designed around you as the pilot.
I bet you didn't know, but they were the first
mass production cars to be fitted with a turbocharger.
Given a boost of power at lower revs,
perfect for overtaking
or if you found yourself in a dogfight.
On the inside, the dash was laid out like a fighter jet cockpit,
making you feel like Maverick as you turned and burned down the M1.
Ground-breaking stuff at the time
but today this one is still seven years short
of classic car exemption from the emissions charge.
Bad news for Alan, but good news for me.
With Saab no longer making cars, this could be a bargain
that hopefully only goes up in value as they become rarer.
Well, I'm excited, I'll be honest with you,
because I am a bit of a Saab superfan.
It's gonna be a cracking car to see
because let's face it, where we are today, now,
there's never gonna be any more Saabs.
There's only ever going to be less Saabs.
Now the other thing about this car is it's a convertible,
which means that they're usually
more difficult to sell this time of year.
As you can see outside, the trees, they're naked.
We are in the depths of winter.
Everyone's wrapped up really warm, including me.
I've got me coat on today. And that can play into my hands.
And if I can just sit on the car for maybe a...
A few weeks until the weather turns around
and we start to get some leaves on the tree.
When the sun comes out, the price, it goes up,
and that's what Wheeler Dealering is all about.
[upbeat music playing]
-Hello. -You must be Alan.
[upbeat music playing]
Oh, yes. Look at that.
How long have you had the car?
-I've had it 16 years. 16 years. -Quite a long time.
-Oh, yeah. -Now, because of this new
ULEZ, this Ultra Low Emission Zone
that's come into your area, it means that cars like this
are gonna cost you a fortune to drive.
Absolutely. It means every time I want to take it out in the summer,
if I wanna go out with my wife to buy
an ice cream or something, it's gonna cost me £12.50
-just for that purpose... -Won't be a 99, will it?
It'll be a £13.49?
-Yes, it will. -Yeah, it will be too much money.
I've got to say, that looks very original underneath there
and really in good condition.
Have you done any major work under the bonnet?
Erm, I've changed the radiator cos that had a leak.
It looks amazing, Alan, really does.
-Yeah. -Right, I'm very happy underneath here.
-Let's have a look inside the cockpit, shall we? -Sure thing, yep.
Wow. Alan, I'm going to tell you, inside is lovely.
Does the roof work?
-Yes, it does. -Let's make sure it goes back and forwards.
Part of this car's charm, isn't it? Look at that.
The electric roof, make sure it goes all the way back.
Well, as the engine's running, I wouldn't mind getting out
on some of the open roads around here, if that's okay with you.
Sure, take it. Take it for a spin.
If you don't mind, it's a big cold, so I'm gonna put the roof back on.
-Good idea. -I wanna try the heater out.
-All right. I won't be long. -Okay.
[upbeat music playing]
[Mike] Right. Time to get this Turbo out on some country roads
and really see what it can do.
Now, it's been years since I've been behind the cockpit
of one of these, and they really do feel good inside.
You've got a lovely steering wheel.
Everything's nicely proportioned and well-finished.
But I hope you can see it's shaking,
and that's not the road surface, that's the car.
It seems to be running quite roughly at the moment,
and not as I would expect it to run
because Saabs, especially the ones
with the turbo badge bolted on the side,
always give you a thrill ride.
If you get to about, well, 2,000rpm, put your foot down...
...they're meant to, well, snap you into the back of your seat.
And this one is doing none of that stuff.
I can hear the turbo spooling up
and the turbo gauges indicating on the dashboard
but the car just doesn't feel right.
Also I've noticed something else. Every time I put my foot down...
...there's a noise when I put my foot deep into the clutch,
and that means that the clutch release bearing
or thrust race bearing, whatever you call it, it's gone.
So, that will also have to be addressed.
On the outside the paint work is lovely,
the inside the leather is nice, the carpet is good.
Headline is good, everything is working,
t's just the way the car feels
well, it's kind of un-Saab like.
And remember, this car it's a dodo, isn't it?
It's the dodo of the car world.
There will never be as many Saabs on the road
as there is today, right now.
There's only ever gonna be less Saab's
from this moment on because they simply don't exist anymore.
And that's what making me think this car
has a future with us.
So, it all comes down to, well, price, really.
Alan is asking £7,500 for the car.
I think, on a summer's day, this car polished up
and driving nice, he might get it.
But he's not gonna get it from me.
I personally think it's worth around six grand.
If I have to give a bit more, I would do for it,
but six grand will be the target price.
Well, let's go back, have a chat with him
and see if I can put a deal together.
How could I not buy a car like this?
A Saab 900 Turbo convertible
that's got an extra button on the dashboard. No, I mean it.
It's got a button that just says "Extra' on the dashboard.
I don't know what it does, but it's an extra.
[upbeat music playing]
-So, how was it? -Er, well, it was, er...
It was like a little step back in time.
It's a little bit tired, this car. There's something wrong
with the engine in terms of power.
-Hmm-hmm. -The turbo boost is coming in really late.
You must have felt this as well.
When you put your foot on the clutch, it's noisy,
so it's like the clutch release bearing needs doing.
Don't get me wrong, I do like the car. [chuckles]
But I think where I need to be is like, £6,000 for it.
-Er, a little low. I'd take seven. -£7,000?
Yes, please.
[sighs] I think the problem you've got, Alan,
is every time you drive it off your driveway,
if I wait long enough it's gonna cost you £12.50.
-So, it will get cheaper, this car. Erm... -Yeah, true.
I'll do a deal, but the most I'd give for it is £6,500.
-What 'cha say? -Okay.
All right, your hand, top man. Nice one.
I just gone and bought myself a Saab 900 Turbo convertible.
[upbeat music playing]
There you have it. Got a car for £6,500.
Don't get me wrong, I'm delighted with the price,
but there are a few humps in the road ahead.
One, the way the car drives, secondly, the way the car performs.
We need to give this last hooray
that Saab's ever gonna have respect, and we need to do it right.
But I'm convinced if Elvis can do the jobs correctly,
we can sell this car and make a profit.
[honks]
[laughs] That looks amazing.
Hey, that is, like, immaculate.
It's fantastic, isn't it? Wait till you see the inside.
Look at the seats and the dashboard.
-Wow. I mean, it's like, showroom condition. -It is.
From behind that steering wheel, it's a great experience, isn't it?
It used to be. They give you a thrilling experience,
but they did back in 1989, when this one was made.
-But now? -But now it's not so good.
I remember the first time I got into one of these cars,
-being a turbo, you got that fizz, the bit down below. -Yeah.
Well, I tried that with this. Put my foot down,
the turbo does spool up, eventually,
and then when it gets there, the fizz is missing.
And you're sure it's not just sort of 1980s turbo lag?
I just think it's really, really tired.
Also, the steering is a little bit,
you know, well, I would say woolly.
I'll tell you what it is, it's a great-looking car,
but it's just a bit knackered.
-Bit like me. -[laughs]
Beautiful-looking, but, actually, I'm a bit tired.
Plus the fact I do remember back in the day,
this had the option, I do believe, in a free spoke alloy wheel?
It did. The Turbo did. So, they didn't go for that.
No. So, maybe I'll look into that, and if it was an option
and it's correct for this car, I'll add them to the shopping list.
What we need to do is to get this car back to the way it was back in the day.
And we need to celebrate the Saabness of it
and the quirks that come with a Saab.
-So, what did we pay for it? -You're going to like this bit.
-Six and-a-half grand. -Wow, in this condition?
In this condition. Yes. Well, put it this way.
There's never gonna be any more Saabs, is there?
So, we need to make sure we keep this Saab on the road.
Look, I'm gonna enjoy this, mate. That's a good one.
-Right. You crack on. -Nice one.
[upbeat music playing]
I love nothing more than when great engineering meets great design,
and that is exactly what Saab are all about.
I mean, this car has no flimsy bits of plastic bolted all over it.
Everything is here for a reason and has been well-thought-through.
Take this great engine, for example.
16-valve turbo charged
but packaged in a unique way, cocked over on an angle
to enable them to fit in double wishbone suspension
so the car handles better. Love it.
However, as Mike said, a few of those bits
of well-thought-out engineering at the moment
are not quite working as they should.
But that's where I come in.
[upbeat music playing]
I'm gonna start by seeing if I can solve
the rough engine running that Mike noticed.
But this car's from an era of floppy discs and mullets,
so it doesn't have an on-board computer
that I can pull diagnostic codes from.
Sorting the problem is gonna come down
to old-fashioned detective work. First suspect, the ignition circuit.
It actually looks okay.
I'm gonna start by changing the distributor cap,
the leads and the new set of plugs.
Because this whole lot costs just £30.
For that sort of money, it seems like it's worth doing.
Keep our fingers crossed that it fixes the problem.
The ignition circuit on an older car like this
is a lot simpler and more mechanical than modern ones.
So, if something isn't sending current or sparking how it should,
that might be the cause of the rough running.
But if this doesn't solve the problem,
we may well be in serious trouble.
Right, that's it. Hopefully, for just over £30,
we might have got to the bottom of our lumpy running issues.
I won't know that until I fire it up and take it out for a spin.
I've overhauled the ignition system. It's time for a test drive.
The engine is running smoothly,
which means those changes to the ignition have worked.
I'm happy that that's fixed the problem,
and I wanna give it a bit of a blast
to see what the performance of this engine's like.
That's almost comical.
I mean, my goodness, you have to wait for it. [laughs]
I mean, back in the '80s, that's what Turbos were like.
I mean, the clutch is a little bit less precise than it should be.
Steering also a little bit sloppy and waywards
but it is a 1980s car.
I'm pretty sure we can do a lot better than that.
-How'd get on? -Yeah, got the Saab out on the road.
It's just a set of ignition parts to get it going again.
So, that was cheap, which is good.
But, yes, pretty dated to drive, isn't it?
Yeah, I can remember selling them back in the day.
You'd have a customer sat beside ya, you'd say, "This car's really fast."
You put your foot down and then you'd have to fill the air
with a sentence before the turbo kicked in
and off you went down the road. They suffer terribly with turbo lag.
Massive turbo lag. But as you know,
modern technology can overcome that.
There's lots we can do to make it more responsive.
I was kind of wondering if I get the turbo off,
can I give it to you to take care of cause I've got other things to do.
Not a problem. Did you also notice a problem
with the steering as you're driving down the road?
When I did, I felt it was just, well, loose.
Yeah, it's very sloppy, isn't it?
I haven't investigated yet, but there's definitely some work to do there.
Also the clutch has got some problems,
I'm thinking about doing something with that, too.
I'm ahead of you there. I noticed the clutch.
I've taken the liberty of ordering a complete clutch pack.
So, if you get the turbo off, put it in a box,
-I'll take it with me. -Perfect. Nice one, mate.
[Elvis] Just like their flat pack-designing countrymen, the Swedes at Saab
really thought the design of this engine bay through.
And that means removing the turbo is a piece of cake,
orlatt som en platt if you're in Sweden.
If Mike and I are gonna celebrate the brilliant engineering
behind this Saab, we need to sharpen it up.
One of the things that needs some attention,
given that it's done 100,000 miles, which might not seem like a lot,
but the car is also more than 30 years old,
is the clutch, so that's what we'll do next.
Now, in typical Saab brilliance, the clutch on this car
isn't where you'd normally find it at the back of the engine.
To improve the handling and suspension on the 900,
those crazy Swedes opted to once again spare a thought
for the mechanic working in the engine bay. Thanks, guys.
Now, what they did was they put the engine
and gearbox on top of each other.
Now, that in itself is not necessarily unusual.
It's been done many times before.
Set up something like that.
But here at Saab, what they did to maximize the space
and allow that interior bulkhead to move forward,
giving us more space for the occupants,
they put the clutch and the flywheel assembly
on the front end of the engine at the front of the car.
That in itself is unusual.
That also means the drive now comes out the front of the engine.
They have to then turn that around by 180 degrees to have it come back
into the gearbox and then drive the front wheels of the car.
They did that through a clever system of gears and chains.
That was clever. It was inventive. It was ingenious.
It means I can change the clutch without putting the car
up in the air and take the gear box off.
I can do it by standing at the front end of the car.
To get it out of the car, I first need to find a way
to keep the clutch pedal depressed while I work under the bonnet.
With Mike out sorting the turbo, I'm gonna have to call
on my other glamorous assistant, Woody.
I'll tell you, he's doing just as good a job as Mike,
but without all the chat. This is brilliant.
Okay. So now, with my clutch depressed,
the next job is to lever out the input shaft,
which comes out the front of the engine.
I'm just going to pop this bolt into the end of it
and then use that together
with this giant lever bar to lever it out.
They can be quite difficult to pull out and take quite a lot of force.
I'm going to put this little cloth down in front of it,
just to protect the radiator. Here we go.
[grunts in effort] Yes.
There we go. That's out.
Radiator's still intact as well. [chuckles]
Next, I can get the clutch cylinder out,
release the bolts...
...and start to remove the remaining pieces.
Getting it out the way you can now see that connection that
takes the drive coming out the front of the engine,
through the system of gears and chains,
down to the gearbox underneath. It's a very clever system.
It means I've just removed the clutch without having
the difficulty of working with everything above my head.
All right, there it is.
I think that's the first clutch I've ever taken off
while standing in front of the car for the whole job.
It's actually... It's not too bad.
Given that this car's done nearly 100,000 miles and is quite old,
the clutch, I mean, I've definitely seen worse.
It's not too heavily worn. It is glazed.
It's gone a little bit shiny, and that's probably due
to overheating at some point. But nothing too serious.
Over time, particularly with age these can become brittle
and little pieces can start flaking or chipping away.
But none of that's happened. It's actually probably
got quite a lot more life left in it.
However, given that a brand new one together with all the ancillaries
that go with it costs just £170.
It's an absolute no-brainer that I'm gonna stick a new one in.
Modern technology, modern materials
have meant that things like this friction plate,
the part that takes up that drive between engine and gearbox
have evolved to the point where it now lasts a lot longer.
It's more environmentally friendly to produce
and can cope with a much wider variety
and temperature during its operating usage.
These springs that were on the old one are there
to take up any shock loading when you first pull away in a car,
giving you a smoother experience. So, together, the whole assembly,
with its modern materials and technology,
should mean that when I put this back in the car,
we'll get a much cleaner, sharper driving experience,
which is exactly what we want.
So, all I need to do is throw it back in.
[upbeat music playing]
Which, thanks again to that brilliant Swedish engineering,
may be the easiest clutch replacement I've ever done.
Let's just hope the next job is as straightforward.
Myself and Elvis are really keen
to get our Saab driving as good as it can do.
But it's got those 1980s problems,
and they are basically, when you put your foot down, nothing happens.
So, I'm on my way to Northampton to go and meet a chap called Jeff.
He's been tinkering with Turbos for the past 40 years,
and he reckons he can upgrade the turbo for a Saab
and make it a much more pleasurable, a more modern driving experience.
And hopefully we can also add on a few quid come sell time.
Look at this place. Amazing.
You, sir. You must be Jeff.
-Yes. -Hello, Jeff, I'm Mike.
-Hi. -This is nice.
How to be greeted when you come in the door by
-an early Saab. -Yeah.
-An early Saab with a turbo bolted to it.
-What's going on here? -Yes, very definitely a Turbo.
But Saab never made a Turbo in this year. So what's going on here?
This was actually the no. 2 test car
when they were developing the engine
for one of the major projects at that time.
What? So, you are telling me
-that you are part of a development team that... -Yep.
-...put the Turbo into a Saab. -Yes.
-I know that I'm in the right place, then. Most definitely. -Yeah.
Er, so, when I reached out to ya, I did let you know
that I've got this rather tired
turbo that's come off our Saab 900 Turbo.
And I was, kind of, hoping you could improve it for us.
[Jeff] So, we can put a more modern compressor wheel in it,
which is a little bit lighter.
So, it'll spin faster. That's exactly what I'm looking for.
-Yeah. -So, who do I go and see to get it done?
[Jeff] You need to see Matt.
[Mike] I didn't expect to be meeting Saab royalty today.
This place is epic.
[Elvis] Back at the workshop, I've got the clutch in,
so it's time to tackle the next issue.
When Mike and I both drove this car,
each of us pointed to issues with the steering.
And this is, of course, literally the thing
that connects the driver to the road.
So, if we're going to get this car back driving properly again
and celebrate the brilliance of Saab's engineering,
this is the next bit to sort out.
That's not good.
There is more oil on the outside of this steering,
than I imagine there is on the inside.
It's got a proper leak, and there is just oil everywhere.
Well, that's definitely not good news.
A, it could well be the source of some of the problems
that Mike and I found when we drove the car.
But getting it out looks like a bit of a challenge in itself.
And if it needs replacing, this is a brand that doesn't even exist anymore.
How on Earth is Mike gonna find a new one?
[Mike] We're celebrating the beauty of Swedish engineering
and hoping to make a few quid in the process.
But we might have hit a problem
because Matt is stripping our old turbo down
and it doesn't look good.
It looks a little bit worse for wear, doesn't it?
[Matt] It's seen a bit of corrosion,
but we get it nice and clean, we get more flow through there.
Because the flow at the moment is disrupted by this rust.
It will. If your exhaust isn't sealing on here properly
you can have some exhaust leaks and possibly bad pressure issues.
Okay, right. Good one.
And our problems don't end there.
Okay, so we'll remove the core.
We'll have a look at the turbine housing.
First thing we notice, we've got two cracks
-on your wastegate hole. -No way.
-Oh, yeah, look at that. -[Matt] There.
So, of course, that will cause, er, your leaking boost pressure
because the wastegate won't fully be shut.
-That could be a cause of your slightly lagging issues. -Gotcha.
[Mike] A turbo works by compressing air
to get more into the engine and so more power out.
But these cracks mean the air is escaping,
so we're gonna need to replace the housing,
plus a new lighter impeller
will help the turbo work much better.
At least we can save some of the components
once they've been given a wash and brush up.
If you look at the state of that going into this machine,
er, 15 minutes later,
you see the way it comes out is rather remarkable.
It uses a... A nickel chromium, like, shot
to blast the surface and all the rust off of the metal.
They're absolutely brilliant.
Go on and switch it on. We'll have a cup of tea.
[upbeat music playing]
[machine whirring]
A quick brew and a biscuit later,
and it's time to check on our turbo parts.
Look at that. What a difference to the elbow.
That is fantastic.
How rusty it was before all smooth and clean now.
-Thank you, Matt. -No problem.
[Mike] Right, time to go and see Dean to get it rebuilt.
-Deano. How are you? -Hi.
-All right. And you. -Nice to see you.
Dean's going to be using a combination of salvage parts
and new parts that have been cast here on-site.
But before he sticks everything back together,
I want to look at the one item
that should radically change the performance of our car.
This is the impeller. Let's talk through this.
-That's the standard one? -[Dean] That's a standard impeller.
What we've got... Gonna do for you is put you in
a billet wheel, which is slightly bigger trim.
Give you a little bit more brake horsepower, make it more drivable.
-It's much lighter as well. -[Dean] Yeah.
Well, let's get building.
[Dean] The bigger, lighter impeller will spin faster,
and that will get more air into the engine quicker,
resulting in a bigger boost of power.
With the new impeller installed,
it's time to see if Dean's work is up to scratch
by testing it on the balancing machine.
So, what this machine will do is it will blow air
across the top of the impeller and then we'll get a reading up here
to see if that impeller is balanced.
If it isn't and it goes back in the car,
it's out of balance, it can detonate and destroy the engine.
So, er, fingers crossed, ay.
[air whooshing]
[upbeat music playing]
It's in. Look at... [laughs] Hey, that's good ain't it?
That's how you build a Turbo, right there.
[Mike] With a sign-off from the balancing machine,
Dean can get the last pieces put back together
and our turbo is almost ready to roll.
That is looking just remarkable.
It's only a few hours ago I turned up with it in a box that was...
It was filthy, it was very second-hand.
Now, not only does it look brand new,
it's going to really enhance the engine bay,
but its gonna perform better, and we've cut down on turbo lag.
You've done an amazing job both you and Matt,
it looks absolutely incredible.
And the best bit, it only sets us back 300 quid.
Thank you very much. I can't wait to get it
back to the workshop. Get it bolted to the car.
[Elvis] Back at the workshop, I've got the clutch in,
so it's time to tackle the next issue.
Things are also looking up at the workshop
because a little treat has arrived for me, courtesy of Mr. Brewer.
Great news. I've got myself a replacement steering rack.
And even better news than that is that Mike managed to find a company
that's going to exchange this one for the leaky one that's on the car.
And therefore it didn't cost us a fortune, either.
That's a fairly simple rack-and-pinion system
that's connected to the steering column
and the steering wheel at the other end of that.
When you put that input through the steering wheel, of course,
it turns the pinion which has a gear on the end of it
and sits in some teeth on a rack bar inside this housing.
When you turn the pinion, the rack bar moves left and right.
Of course, it's that that turns the wheel.
Now, I might be able to show you, actually, a bit more clearly
using this model car here, exactly how it works.
If I put that down and you look closely inside here,
you can actually see the rack and pinion turning
and doing exactly what it does on our Saab.
A simple but very effective system.
Now, all I need to do, then, is get that one off the car
and swap it for this one.
[upbeat music playing]
[Elvis] But I'm guessing even those nice Swedes
didn't find an easy solution for this job.
First off, I'm draining what remains of the power steering fluid...
...then disconnecting the steering column from the steering rack
and the track rod ends from the wheel hubs.
And with some mechanical persuasion, it's done.
Okay.
[grunts in effort] Yes. Thank goodness for that.
That definitely put up a fight but I won it.
All right, there we go. What a messy bit of kit.
The pinion bearing seal has failed.
And actually it may be that that is a symptom.
Yeah, as I thought.
That's a symptom of the pinion bearing itself failing,
and it started to break down, which caused this play in the shaft.
It's that that we'd have been feeling at the steering wheel.
That in itself has then damaged the seal,
allowing all of the oil to leak out.
I'm really pleased we managed to get
this exchange unit at a budget price cos that's definitely the fix.
You can change these, but it's difficult and complicated,
and you need specialized tools, which I haven't got.
What I need to do is swap a bit of pipe work over
and these two track rod ends. And to do that,
I'm gonna count the number of turns as I take this one off
and wind it onto the new rack exactly the same number of turns.
That's gonna get me somewhere close
before I do the tracking at the end of the job.
So, it's 12 and-a-half turns off the old rack
and 12 and-a-half turns onto the new one.
With the piping switched over, I think we're there.
All right, there we go. That is now ready to go back into the car,
and I'm absolutely confident
it's gonna make our Saab drive the way it always should have done.
[upbeat music playing]
Elvis, mate, come over here. Yes.
-Ooh. -Look at that.
-Brand new one. -It's not a new one.
No, this is the one that come off the Saab that you gave me.
-[Elvis] Is it? -Yeah, I've had it rebuilt.
It's got a lighter impeller, so it spins up faster.
It's going to cut down on that turbo lag.
It's got new casings because the old ones were cracked.
That's why we were down on power. So, this one is good to go.
Nice one. That's great news, mate. Well done.
-How you've been getting on? -Really good. Clutch has changed.
The new steering rod that you found me, that's on.
Actually, we're in pretty good shape.
Excellent. I've also ordered a set of the turbo star wheels.
I did check. It was an option on that car back in the day.
-And I think it'd look great with the turbo star wheels. -Yeah.
I've been thinking about what to do
to our Saab at the end and how to celebrate it.
Because Saab were not only famous for making iconic cars,
but they made, as we know, aeroplanes,
-but they did trucks, buses, all kinds of stuff. -Yeah.
So, I'm thinking of having a gathering
and getting as many as we can together in one spot.
-That'd be really cool. -Be good, wouldn't it?
-We could celebrate our car. -Sling that over.
I'll get that on, and then we'll get it finished
-and out of here. Nice one. -Nice one.
[Elvis] We're renovating this Saab 900 Turbo
before they all disappear from our roads for good.
And I've just got a few final jobs to take care of
before it's ready to head to our festival of Saabness.
I'm sticking Mike's wheels on for that proper '80s look.
Next, I'm bolting the reconditioned turbo into position.
And that's the engine done.
There's just one other clever bit
of Swedish engineering I wanna upgrade.
Right. This is the cabin air filter,
and it might look like there's nothing much special to it.
But the Saab 900 was the first ever production car
to have one of these fitted.
It comes with these little fins,
which increase its surface area.
It's made from a mix of multi-fibre paper and cotton.
And its job is to capture any pollutants,
particulates, bugs, bits of dust in the air
before they work their way through to the heater system,
then through the vents and into the cockpit itself.
It's an important job. This one has been doing its job
clearly for a long time. And so, for £19,
managed to get myself a new one.
All right, there we go. That is all of my jobs done.
Just to get the bonnet back on, give it a bit of a tidy up,
and then I can take it to go and meet Mike.
[upbeat music playing]
This journey hasn't always been a smooth one.
It's shaking and that's not the road surface,
that's the car.
[Elvis] But thanks to some ingenious Swedish design.
I think that's the first clutch I've ever taken off
while standing in front of the car for the whole job.
And a lot of spit and polish.
What a difference to the elbow. That is fantastic.
How rusty it was before, all smooth and clean now.
[Elvis] We've dragged this '80s icon into the modern day.
Absolutely confident it's going to make our Saab
drive the way it always should have done.
[upbeat music playing]
So, how much has the celebration of Swedish style set us back?
Mike bagged the car for 6,500 grand.
The new ignition parts were £30,
the replacement clutch kit £170
and the reconditioned Turbo 300.
The replacement steering rack was a bargain at 220 quid.
The new wheels £250
and a replacement cabin filter £19.
Giving us a total spend of £7,489.
Wow, this car feels amazing.
I can't wait for Mike to get behind the wheel.
And on that note, I'm just pulling into the airfield now,
and so he should be here any minute.
But I have no idea how he's gonna get here
because he didn't want a lift.
Although he did say he was arriving in a Saab.
Mike told me to meet him here...
about now.
There's no sign of him anyway.
[engine revving]
[Mike] That's because I've got a little Saab base surprise
for the Goose to my Maverick.
Because thisWheeler Dealer...
...has wings.
How cool is this.
Watching that Saab advert
from the 1980s got me feeling all nostalgic
about how Saab used an aeroplane to sell a car.
So, I went on a hunt, and I found this guy.
This is Mark, sat beside me,
and we're in his wonderful 1962 Saab Safir aeroplane.
What a way to arrive.
There's Elvis out there, I can see him.
Standing next to the car. Once I come in and land,
he ain't gonna believe it's gonna be me popping out of this Saab.
That was amazing, that landing.
-That was so smooth. -Good.
-Good. I'm glad you liked it. -What a ride.
Is that Mike?
[laughs] Unbelievable. All right, Top Gun.
-Hey, how about that? -What, that was incredible arrival.
Fantastic. Well, you arrived in a Saab, so did I.
-Is that a Saab? -Yeah, that's a 1962 Safir.
So, I thought, if you're coming in a Saab, I've got... [chuckles]
-I've got to out-rank you in a proper Saab. -Amazing.
That is a fantastic aeroplane. It's a proper classic as well.
But, talking of classic Saabs, look at that. That looks amazing.
Yeah, it does look good, doesn't it?
And it drives as well as it looks.
-It's amazing. -I can't wait to get behind the wheel.
Listen, we got the runway to ourselves,
so do you wanna jump in?
[upbeat music playing]
Right now, this is genuinely the first time
I've driven this car since I bought it.
Get out of here. You're kidding me.
[laughs] It's good, isn't it?
Seriously. That is... That is astonishing, Elvis.
[laughs] When I bought this car it was trapped in the 1980s,
but now that is, like, precise.
It's beautiful. The steering. Look.
That steering is finger light, is beautiful and direct.
There's no scuttle shake coming from the car.
But the biggest thing of all is the power delivery.
[upbeat music playing]
No, lag at all. That's instant.
[Elvis] I knew it would get that reaction.
Wow, that is brilliant, man. What have you done to it?
What a transformation, eh? Spin it round and have another go.
I'm gonna... I just can't believe how good it is.
The power now just comes in the moment,
-pretty much, you hit the throttle, isn't it? -Ready?
Nothing, nothing, nothing. Throttle.
-It's done! It's there. -[Elvis] It's instant.
That's what this car should be all about.
It feels like an aeroplane cockpit, doesn't it?
With its curved screen, the controls all laid out
in that nice, efficient way around you.
And now it goes like an absolute rocket.
It doesn't. I feel like I'm behind the wheel of a jet fighter.
If I put my foot down... This should be a yoke.
I should be able to pull it and off we go.
-This is a brand that's gone extinct. -[Elvis] Yeah.
And I feel that because it's gone extinct
this needed to be done.
It needed to be saved and brought back on the road.
Got me thinking about when we sell the car,
do me and you really wanna chase, you know, ridiculous profit
or are we just happy that we managed
to keep a Saab out there for prosperity?
That's it. There's never gonna be any more of these.
They're only gonna be less and less. If we can save just one more
from absolute extinction, I think it's worth it.
Well, listen, mate, this has been absolutely epic,
this journey we've had with his car,
-and I've absolutely loved it. -Yeah.
-And it's not over yet. -[car horn honking]
We've brought together an epic collection of Saab cars...
...buses, trucks...
...and aeroplanes, to find out just what it is
that people love about these iconic Swedish designs.
What a lineup. Look at this.
-Amazing, isn't it? -Incredible.
-How long you had this? -I've had this 33 years.
-Wow. -Done a million miles.
-What! -What!
A million miles?
Really? In the same truck?
-Yeah. -Still going strong.
Every day. Yeah.
That's incredible.
You've got Saab 9-5 and then a chopped up
Saab 9-5 as a little sort of motor home at the back.
-Yeah, this is my 47.5. -[laughs] Half of 9-5.
Yes, of course it is. It's a fantastic thing
-for you to bring down. Did you have to come far? -Yorkshire.
You can sleep in it on the way home.
-Yeah. Thank you. -Good luck.
Adam, I love this car.
But out of all the cars here, this looks like the most
-boy racerish almost. And I kind of love it. -[laughs]
I wouldn't call it boy racerish.
But, yeah, this is basically my pride and joy.
I've had it for about seven years.
This is a special edition. The Carlsson.
Correct. Yeah. They only made 600 of these.
So, 200 red, 200 white, 200 black.
You've had a few of these over the years?
-Yeah, I've, er, I've actually had about 35. -What?
35 in total. I've still got 20.
[Mike] This may be Adam's 35th Saab,
but looking to bag his first is our potential buyer
who's just arrived to look around our 900 Turbo.
We're covering these many Saabs together.
Obviously, word gets out in the Saab community
that we've got this amazing car for sale.
So, this young man, Theo, he got in touch with me.
-And I hope, Theo... How are you, mate? -Hello.
-Very well. Thank you. And you. -Good to see you.
I hope you like the car. So, why a Saab?
Well, I've got an E36 328 convertible.
Erm, same generation.
This is a Turbo, obviously.
Fancy something a little bit different.
Hey, do you love what we've done with it?
-What with wheels and the look? -It looks fantastic.
Interior, exterior is spot on.
I am asking eight-and-a-half grand for it,
so I'm hoping you can get near to that.
Would you take eight-four? £100 to get me home.
-How's that for ya? -Hold out your hand.
You just bought yourself a cracking Saab Turbo. Well done.
-You've made my day. Thank you. [laughs] -Thank you.
[Mike] It may well have been a decade since
the Saab car business went under,
but the love for this iconic brand endures.
Now, this Saab Turb convertible found us through misfortune.
No longer did the owner want it to live
in an Ultra Low Emission Zone.
But that became our fortune because this car was a joy
to have through the Wheeler Dealerworkshop.
Not only that, we've sold it to a young man
who's going to enjoy it on the open road
with the roof back for many years to come.
Ta-ta.