My first car and SAAB is a type 96. And it has the V4 engine. This SAAB has been bought by my parents in 1991, as a second car. When buying this SAAB 96 V4 it wasn’t original anymore. It had already the bumpers from the last model year instead of the original chrome bumpers. And it had seats from a later SAAB 99/900. In the first years we have had troubles with the engine and gearbox. Doing the reparations together with my dad. We have spent a lot hours together in the garage, before I even had my driving license. So when I had my driving license in 1995, my parents said now you have to drive and you can do it with the 96.

Start to learn driving with a SAAB 96 V4

It was such a great time to learn driving. At that time I used the 96 everyday to go to school, which was in another town next to where I live. And luckily I didn’t break the SAAB too much.

Updating SAAB 96 V4

I love driving the 96, but I also love modern technology or gadgets. So I added central locking in combination with a alarm system (which is currently broken).  For driving with, at that time, the yearly night drive of the Dutch SAABclub there came extra lights (fog and far). And last but not least I bought a set of soccerball wheels. They have unique looks and are really SAAB.

Later we broke down a SAAB 96 V4 model year 1979. Everything that could easily be swapped out has been put in ours. So engine, gearbox interior, lights, etcetera.

Oh and now I have a Simons sport exhaust waiting for installation.

Keep the SAAB 96 V4

Although I love the 96 I also love the more modern SAAB’s. So I bought a great SAAB 900 Turbo (see the post Our cars (mostly SAAB) about all our cars). But I could not and did not want to sell the 96. So I kept the 96 and today it is still in our garage not much driving, but also not for sale. As it was the car we drive our marriage!