Description
Due to a change in personal circumstances, I am regretfully putting up my beautiful Saab 900 Ruby for sale.
The car comes complete with a very large folder of service history, including the original service book stamped by Saab main dealers and well-known Saab specialists until 2007, then from 2012 to 2020 with approx. £10k of receipts from Howe Engineering, Saab specialists in Buntingford including engine work in the last 10k miles. Other notable works at this time included a complete brake overhaul and clutch replacement. The car, in this period, was under single ownership from 2005 until 2021 when the last owner took possession.
The new owner then undertook a significant amount of work, totalling more than £6, 000 that included welding (see pictures), a complete new headlining including side trims and new Zegna cloth replacement for the front seats (the sale also includes a portion of spare Zegna cloth, quite difficult to source).
When I purchased the car, whilst presentable it needed some love putting back into it, in particular with the common corrosion points of front wings and bonnet. Given the need to blend these panels with the rest of the vehicle, I opted to paint the remaining door panels, both rear arches and tailgate despite not requiring any work. Included in this work, both bumpers and their extensions were also fully painted. This resulted in a fantastically consistent shine to the car and completely rot-free arches which the plastic arch extensions usually cover.
From a mechanical perspective, she drives faultlessly. In June, I had a major service carried out by local Saab specialist TDC Car Care, including the replacement of the commonly problematic Idle Control Valve, as well as a clean-up of all electrical connectors to remedy a slightly inconsistent idling issue. The car now pulls and boosts as she should. Lastly, a full Jetex exhaust has been fitted and adds to the wonderful 900 Turbo burble without being intrusively loud.
Unusually for a 900, the stereo system works perfectly with great sound and is fitted with a fanastic in-period-looking Blaupunkt Bremen DAB system. Also unusually for a 900, this unit does not induce battery drain, an all-too-familiar issue with past 900s in my ownership!
Having added recently refurbished Carlsson 16” wheels (the standard silver finish working better with the Ruby stance than the more troublesome diamond cut rims), these are also fitted with as-new Avon ZV7 tyres with the correct 195/ 55 profile, and have only seen less than 500 miles of driving. However, by negotiation I can remove these wheels and add the original Ruby grey directionals which are in fine fettle and have a good set of branded tyres fitted. I am also in possession of a set of rare Carlsson 16” cross-spoke alloys, also refurbished and fitted with brand-new Toyo Proxes TR1 tyres that can be fitted if desired for no extra cost over the price of the car with the three-spoke Carlsson wheels. Lastly, the car will come with a beautiful Nardi wood steering wheel and boss (both not currently fitted), in the correct specification to the original Saab optional offering, albeit without the Saab horn button but the standard Nardi one only.
All-in-all, a wonderful opportunity to own a very well cared-for modern classic. There are currently less than 50 remaining of the 150-model run Rubys, which are considerably rarer than the bodykitted Carlsson but ostensibly the same vehicle mechanically.
I can be contacted throughout the day and evening, all week, and happy to talk through the car in detail if desired.
