Hubault’s Frozen Legacy: Inside the Abandoned Saab Dealership Near Paris, Five Years On

A visceral report by a veteran Saab journalist: exacting details, stark updates, and heritage under siege.

In early 2020, we uncovered what looked like a miracle frozen in time: an untouched Saab dealership located just outside Paris, its windows caked in dust, yet housing a silent fleet of pristine Saab vehicles, including 9-3s, a 9-5 with LPG conversion, and a lone 9-7X SUV. It was as if the lights had simply gone out one evening, leaving the showroom, offices, and parts department trapped in a state of suspended animation.

That illusion no longer holds.

A new report has surfaced. In the summer of 2025, Turkish YouTuber and urban explorer Şevket Sahtiyan revisited the site. His video reveals a place in deep decay. The building has been breached, repeatedly. Glass litters the floor, doors hang off rusted hinges, and the remaining vehicles are ravaged—some stripped, others torched. This was no longer the pristine tableau of yesteryear. The silence is now interrupted by the echo of destruction.

A site with a name: Hubault Automobiles

What Sahtiyan uncovered, beyond the physical decay, was the identity of this location. This wasn’t an anonymous defunct dealership. It was once part of Groupe Hubault, a longstanding family-run enterprise based in Amiens. According to their now-obsolete but still-live website, Hubault had been involved in automotive sales and service for over six decades. Saab was not a side project – it was a core identity.

From the early 1990s until their closure in the early 2010s, Hubault Automobiles was one of the most active Saab specialists in France. They handled everything from routine service to niche technical conversions. LPG installations, once a rarity in France, were routine here. Saabs equipped with BRC gas systems rolled in and out of the facility, sometimes rerouted from other dealerships across the country. Hubault even claimed to be one of the nine official Saab LPG service centers in France.

Their expertise extended to Saab 900s, 9000s, Aero models, Viggens, and even 9-7X SUVs that were converted on-site to meet national GPL homologation standards. This was a shop where fuel technology, performance, and Swedish engineering intersected seamlessly.

Five years later: what Sahtiyan saw

In the opening of his video, Sahtiyan narrates his approach to the building – a massive structure, tucked in an industrial zone, still bearing its SAAB signage. From the outside, it resembles a ghost of prosperity. Inside, the reality is far more sobering. He films rows of once-immaculate Saabs now thick with soot and rot. One 9-5, previously seen in untouched condition, is now a charred carcass. Brochures lie scattered across the floor. Cabinets have been overturned. Engine bays pried open and left to rust.

Watch the full video from Şevket Sahtiyan:

There’s no denying the presence of valuable inventory still inside. He spots original advertising panels, stacks of LPG documentation, unopened Saab accessories, and even registration documents dated from 2008 to 2011. But this is no longer preservation—it’s salvage. A place slowly being picked apart by vandals, trophy hunters, and time itself.

A conversation with the caretaker

Halfway through the video, Sahtiyan encounters a local – perhaps a caretaker, perhaps just a neighbor who has seen one too many explorers with GoPros and drone kits. What begins as a confrontation turns into an impromptu interview. The man confirms that the site once belonged to the Hubault family, operated until around 2009. One of the two brothers who managed the business passed away. The other tried to continue operations but was financially overwhelmed. The company was liquidated by 2012, and the building left to stand.

More importantly, the man explains why the decay accelerated. In his words, people “came not just to look, but to destroy.” Fires were set. Parts stolen. He points to the former children’s play area inside the dealership – now a pile of debris. Brochures that once explained the benefits of E85 ethanol or Tri-Fuel conversions now lay torn underfoot.

There’s an edge of fatigue in the man’s voice. He’s seen what this place was. He’s watching what it’s become.

From showroom to cautionary tale

The story of the Hubault Saab dealership is no longer just about Saab. It’s about what happens when history is abandoned. This was once a regional hub of engineering and fuel innovation. The workshop converted not only Saabs but also Audis, BMWs, Bentleys, and even American 4x4s to LPG. Their website details experiments with hydrogen kits as early as 2009, well before mainstream adoption. It was forward-thinking, deeply technical, and passionately Saab.

But none of that is visible now unless you know what you’re looking at. The showroom has lost its voice. What remains is a husk. A shattered structure where Saab heritage once lived.

There is value in documenting this descent. Not for nostalgia alone, but for memory. These ruins remind us that not all Saab stories end in restoration or museum preservation. Some end with a scorched 9-5, plundered documents, and a sense that time, if left unchecked, will always win.

Final reflections

We’ve spent years reporting on Saab: the innovations, the collapses, the people who refused to let the brand die. The Hubault story is different. It’s not a celebration, nor a revival. It’s a eulogy. A visual record of what Saab left behind – not in the corporate ledgers, but in forgotten garages, dusty file cabinets, and the rusted bones of once-beautiful cars.

In 2020, the site asked for preservation. In 2025, it begs for remembrance.