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“Number 8”, a beautiful TiD4 Vector, recently changed owners and moved from The Netherlands to Belgium. The new owner, an avid Saab fan from Hoeilaart, decided to give the car a personal touch and to have it repainted to Sky Blue, making it the first and -so far- the only Saab 9-5NG Sportcombi in this colour in existance.
The first 9-5NG SportCombi in Belgium
I was first contacted by the owner almost three years ago. Already proudly owning of a Saab 9-5NG Sedan and a 1992 Saab 900 Convertible, he was desperately trying to find a way to obtain “the most beautiful car Saab ever built”, a 9-5NG SportCombi.
For most readers of this site, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that buying such a car was going to be a real challenge, if anything because of the fact that there are just 24 SportCombis in roadworthy condition known to still exist. But he turned out to be both creative and persistent and succeeded in buying “number 8” from its previous Dutch owner earlier this year.
Sky Blue
The new owner’s dream colour is blue. And not just any blue, actually inspired by our coverage of the 2019 Saabfestival and the 9-5NG Production Report, he had set his mind on Sky Blue, the colour Saab had planned for model year 2012. Only a very limited number of 9-3’s had left the Trollhättan factory with “colour code 318”, but unfortunately no 9-5NG (or any other Saab model, for that matter) was ever factory-painted in Sky Blue. That didn’t stop several enthusiasts around the world to repaint or wrap their cars to this amazing colour. In fact, he also had his Sedan repainted:
A new 9-5NG SportCombi is born
His joy of owning a 9-5NG in his dream colour was unfortunately very short-lived as only two months after he had taken delivery of it from the paint shop, the car was hit by a reckless truckdriver, severely damaging his dream car.
What now? Trying to get it repaired was one option, but pursuing the ultimate goal of owning a 9-5NG SportCombi was another. He tried many different avenues and ultimately succeeded in buying “number 8“, a Java Brown SportCombi with TiD4 engine and in Vector trim.
Nr.8’s new owner now not only repainted the car in his beloved Sky Blue, he also changed and personalised several other elements of the car, including the rims and the interior.
More information about YS3GP5ML4C4200008 is available here.
