Craig's Classic Saab Workshop

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In 1986 three of the then recently released SAAB 9000 turbos were run non-stop around a race track in Talledega, covering 100,000 kilometers in less than twenty days, driving with the speedo constantly on the 230 KPH mark. It was one of the most successful automotive promotions in modern history, and showcased the very fine engineering that went into producing these amazing motor cars...

Starting in 1988 and running until about 1992, Saab produced a very limited number of Saab 9000's with a special body kit along with specially tuned engine and suspension as the 'Carlsson' model. This was partly connected with the limited-release Classic 900 'Carlsson' cars as a celebration of one of Saab's most famous factory rally team drivers namely Erik Carlsson. There were approximately 100 to 200 9000 Carlsson's made and a small number of those (about 10 in total) were sold here in Australia.

In July 2009 I was very fortunate enough to be able to purchase a white 1990 Saab 9000 Carlsson with 5 speed manual transmission and 2.0 turbo engine from a seller in Melbourne, Australia. Condition-wise it wasn't top-class and it's been an ongoing project to restore and repair things as they're discovered. However that just makes it more of a challenge! 8-) There were both 2.0 (utilising the rugged Saab B202 engine adapted from the Classic 900's) and 2.3 (utilising the later B234 engine) 9000 Carlsson's though the 2.3's appear to be only sold on the UK. Besides the body kit, the other distinctive feature of the 9000 Carlsson's was special decal striping, 'Carlsson' badges plus Scottish leather seats.

You can find more Saab 9000 'Carlsson' pictures at Flickr and here.

If you can provide information about what happened to the other 9000 Carlsson's that were sold in Australia (perhaps you own one of them!), and/or provide more technical information or pictures, please get in touch!