Saab 93 Aero Wagon
Well it’s been nigh on 7 years since I bought RF52 WYW back in June 2005 and the car is 10 years old this December.
In celebration of these two ‘milestones’ I thought its about time I created a project thread, or in this case, a documentary of its history up to now, as I never intended it to be a ‘project’.
The pictures don’t document everything as I simply haven’t documented everything with pictures!
I have decided to do this by year, watered down of course, and have added little stories along the way…be it trips, calamities, **** ups and the like.
This may go on a bit…
Late 2004 – 2005 – The Beginning
I’d been looking to get a ‘Sport’ of some kind to replace my Mk2 1.2 RN…in fact I longed for one, and having snatched a brief drive of a Ph1 172 Exclusive the previous year it was cemented in me that I had to have one.
Having a good friend working as a salesman at SMC Renault Guildford helped.
A proper test drive of a rather ratty Ph2 172 followed but it didn’t appeal visually.
What I wanted was a Cup.
Sure enough a mint 2003 Cup with approx 4000 miles was taken into stock in November of 2004 and I was offered first refusal at a ‘mates rate’ of £10k.
Now, unlike some of our high rolling members, buying outright wasn’t an option so I pursued the loan route literally an hour after seeing and driving the car, but as I had virtually no credit history I was declined.
Stomping of feet followed…. which turned thunderous when a mate of mine then bought that very car!
Anyway, after 6 months of pouting, on a Saturday in late May 2005 I got a call from my mate asking if I wanted to come and have a look at a 2002 Cup they had taken in just that morning.
A 2 owner car, the first being another local Renault dealer so I presumed it had been a demo, and the other a 50yr old who kept it garaged and cleaned it every weekend.
With only 8000 miles on it and up for £8200 it was a relative bargain. A test drive and some RFS paperwork signing later it was pretty much mine.
Finance was the only option available and I wasn’t going to miss out on another one.
I even got £2500 for my old 1.2. Which was nice.
So it began.
Being 2.5 years old it still had 6 months Renault warranty on it. This I made full use of a month later when the windscreen moulding started to come adrift…..something I now know they all seem to do no matter if its old or new but at the time I was young and uneducated. So it was changed.
It also sailed through its first MOT in December of that year.
It was also washed and polished. A lot.
At the time I worked as a valeter/detailer/general Lotus PDI and prep pervert so it became routine to wash and wax it every week.
This held the car in good stead for later life as it is still a doddle to keep looking clean….unlike a certain dog eared Trophy we all know and love...
.
2006 The Learner Year
During 2006 the car remained virtually standard but naturally, getting involved with the meet circuit that was all the rage in the South East at that time made me start to consider certain subtle changes.
The first of which was the trusty ITG panel filter. I swear it gained me at least 10bhp which of course meant I need to upgrade the suspension.
Springs only mind, and not TOO low….so Eibach Prolines were duly purchased and fitted.
Now this, in my mind, sharpened up the handling which I thought just was a bit too roly poly. Of course it wasn’t at all, it was due to the bar stool seats giving that impression. These would have to change in due course.
After running around on the Prolines for a while I decided that the stance (yo) was still that bit too high, but I couldn’t afford coilovers and nor did the driving I was doing warrant having them. It was my commuter and traffic light grand prix weapon…ahem.
I mean why fit them if I wasn’t doing any sort of track time anytime soon?
So the compromise was switching to Eibach Sportlines.
At this point we were still having the regular ‘Meets’ but now interspersed with the occasional but brief summer ‘Run’, usually from the pubs we were meeting.
In the summer of 06 I was invited along to one of the North West Welsh runs from Chester into the heart of North Wales.
It started at Midnight and after several furious hours chasing a V6, being chased by the same V6, getting lost and near enough V-maxxing the living death out of the car, I was wired. I had to do more of these.
It took another year to pull my finger out and organise my own.
The year ended with the usual Christmas meets and get togethers but December is the Cup’s MOT moment of truth time of the year. Needless to say it sailed through again.
In celebration of these two ‘milestones’ I thought its about time I created a project thread, or in this case, a documentary of its history up to now, as I never intended it to be a ‘project’.
The pictures don’t document everything as I simply haven’t documented everything with pictures!
I have decided to do this by year, watered down of course, and have added little stories along the way…be it trips, calamities, **** ups and the like.
This may go on a bit…
Late 2004 – 2005 – The Beginning
I’d been looking to get a ‘Sport’ of some kind to replace my Mk2 1.2 RN…in fact I longed for one, and having snatched a brief drive of a Ph1 172 Exclusive the previous year it was cemented in me that I had to have one.
Having a good friend working as a salesman at SMC Renault Guildford helped.
A proper test drive of a rather ratty Ph2 172 followed but it didn’t appeal visually.
What I wanted was a Cup.
Sure enough a mint 2003 Cup with approx 4000 miles was taken into stock in November of 2004 and I was offered first refusal at a ‘mates rate’ of £10k.
Now, unlike some of our high rolling members, buying outright wasn’t an option so I pursued the loan route literally an hour after seeing and driving the car, but as I had virtually no credit history I was declined.
Stomping of feet followed…. which turned thunderous when a mate of mine then bought that very car!
Anyway, after 6 months of pouting, on a Saturday in late May 2005 I got a call from my mate asking if I wanted to come and have a look at a 2002 Cup they had taken in just that morning.
A 2 owner car, the first being another local Renault dealer so I presumed it had been a demo, and the other a 50yr old who kept it garaged and cleaned it every weekend.
With only 8000 miles on it and up for £8200 it was a relative bargain. A test drive and some RFS paperwork signing later it was pretty much mine.
Finance was the only option available and I wasn’t going to miss out on another one.
I even got £2500 for my old 1.2. Which was nice.
So it began.
Being 2.5 years old it still had 6 months Renault warranty on it. This I made full use of a month later when the windscreen moulding started to come adrift…..something I now know they all seem to do no matter if its old or new but at the time I was young and uneducated. So it was changed.
It also sailed through its first MOT in December of that year.
It was also washed and polished. A lot.
At the time I worked as a valeter/detailer/general Lotus PDI and prep pervert so it became routine to wash and wax it every week.
This held the car in good stead for later life as it is still a doddle to keep looking clean….unlike a certain dog eared Trophy we all know and love...
.2006 The Learner Year
During 2006 the car remained virtually standard but naturally, getting involved with the meet circuit that was all the rage in the South East at that time made me start to consider certain subtle changes.
The first of which was the trusty ITG panel filter. I swear it gained me at least 10bhp which of course meant I need to upgrade the suspension.
Springs only mind, and not TOO low….so Eibach Prolines were duly purchased and fitted.
Now this, in my mind, sharpened up the handling which I thought just was a bit too roly poly. Of course it wasn’t at all, it was due to the bar stool seats giving that impression. These would have to change in due course.
After running around on the Prolines for a while I decided that the stance (yo) was still that bit too high, but I couldn’t afford coilovers and nor did the driving I was doing warrant having them. It was my commuter and traffic light grand prix weapon…ahem.
I mean why fit them if I wasn’t doing any sort of track time anytime soon?
So the compromise was switching to Eibach Sportlines.
At this point we were still having the regular ‘Meets’ but now interspersed with the occasional but brief summer ‘Run’, usually from the pubs we were meeting.
In the summer of 06 I was invited along to one of the North West Welsh runs from Chester into the heart of North Wales.
It started at Midnight and after several furious hours chasing a V6, being chased by the same V6, getting lost and near enough V-maxxing the living death out of the car, I was wired. I had to do more of these.
It took another year to pull my finger out and organise my own.
The year ended with the usual Christmas meets and get togethers but December is the Cup’s MOT moment of truth time of the year. Needless to say it sailed through again.
