A new TTELA interview reveals the full scale of Joakim Bratell’s Saab world: the cars he drives year-round, the unfinished factory bodies he is rebuilding, the model he regrets selling, and the 2011 9-3 Aero TX Edition he would keep above all others.
Joakim Bratell wants his three silver 2014 Saab 9-3 sedans brought up to mint condition. The other cars in his collection are allowed to carry scratches, mileage and evidence of regular use.
That distinction explains his approach better than the headline number. Bratell currently owns 20 Saabs, plus several unfinished bodies and ongoing projects, but he has little interest in maintaining a silent row of polished cars that never leave the building. His collection is used, repaired, modified where he sees a reason, and continually reorganized around whichever car suits the season.
SaabPlanet readers already know Bratell from two unusually substantial stories. Through his company, he acquired the former Artex equipment, original patterns, leather stock and tools needed to restart Saab upholstery production in Sweden. Then, following the Klaravik auction of the final Saab and NEVS cars retained at Stallbacka, he added two silver 2014 Saab 9-3 sedans to a collection that already contained a matching car.
A detailed new interview by Mia Thornberg for the Trollhättan-area newspaper TTELA now fills in the parts of the story that auction results and company profiles could not: how the second 2014 car really joined the collection, why Bratell refuses to park his collector cars permanently, which Saab he drives through Swedish winters, and how much unfinished Trollhättan hardware he still has waiting for assembly.
The result is less a conventional collection profile than an inventory of active Saab work.
He Planned to Buy One 2014 Saab 9-3
When the final factory-ground cars were offered through Klaravik’s dedicated Saab auction, Bratell was away at a country festival at High Chaparral in Småland.
He followed the bidding remotely from a beer tent and concentrated on one of the silver 2014 Saab 9-3 sedans. His intention was straightforward: buy one car.
The second purchase happened differently.
After the auction, Klaravik contacted him to explain that one of the other silver cars had not found a buyer. Bratell already owned a silver 2014 9-3, had just secured another, and was now being offered the opportunity to complete a trio. He accepted.
That first-person account adds an important detail to Klaravik’s later profile of the buyer, which established that the two cars had covered 18,430 km and 58,640 km and changed hands for 172,000 SEK and 142,000 SEK, respectively.
Bratell now owns three silver Saab 9-3 sedans from model year 2014, all connected to the short NEVS production restart in Trollhättan. He told TTELA that the color makes the group particularly satisfying because most of the 420 cars built during 2014 were black.
The three silver cars occupy a very narrow point in the Saab timeline. They belong to the brief period when 9-3 production resumed under NEVS, after Saab Automobile’s bankruptcy but before the Saab name disappeared from the company’s production plans. Their importance does not depend on an Aero badge, an unusually powerful engine or a numbered special edition. It comes from their position within the final series-production chapter at Stallbacka.
For the wider technical and production background, former NEVS project manager Peter Dahl previously helped SaabPlanet separate the last Saab-badged production cars from the later NEVS prototypes and development vehicles.
Bratell’s verdict on the 2014 cars is based on the cars themselves rather than their auction provenance. He considers the late 9-3 exceptionally well assembled. The two new arrivals need attention, but his standard for this particular trio is firm: they will be returned to mint condition.
That does not mean every car in his buildings receives the same treatment.
A 20-Car Collection That Is Expected to Move
Around half of Bratell’s 20-car collection was present at the location visited by TTELA; the remainder is stored elsewhere. Although the cars qualify as collectibles, Bratell rejects the assumption that collector ownership requires permanent storage and constant cosmetic preparation.
Some have small dents or scratches. Others have covered substantial distances. He accepts that condition as part of owning older cars and has no ambition to spend every available hour polishing them.
His principle is more direct: the cars should be driven.
The three 2014 sedans may receive exceptional preservation because of their production position, but the broader fleet has jobs to do. Bratell chooses a summer car and a winter car, puts mileage on both and repairs what regular use wears out.
For summer 2026, his choice is a black 2002 Saab 9-3 Aero Convertible with approximately 260,000 km. It has received replacement front seats and a new steering wheel, practical improvements to a car that still serves as seasonal transport rather than a static exhibit.
His winter car is a red 2011 Saab 9-3X TTiD with an automatic transmission. Bratell describes it as an excellent winter car and jokes that it is the one he sacrifices to snow and road salt.
That choice says something useful about his collection. A 9-3X TTiD has already become scarce enough to justify careful preservation, particularly in markets where rust, diesel-system repairs and accident damage continue to reduce the surviving population. Bratell still assigns his one a winter role because usability remains part of its value.
The same approach runs through the rest of the collection. Cars are retained because they appeal to him, because they represent an interesting specification, or because he sees potential in them. Investment awareness entered the picture over time, but it did not replace personal judgment.
His first purpose-bought collector car was a 1989 Saab 900 Aero, purchased for what felt like serious money at the time. Years of buying, repairing and selling Saabs have since taught him which specifications remain desirable and which cars may appreciate. Even so, his collection does not resemble a market-value ranking assembled from auction databases.
It resembles the buying history of someone who still wants to turn the key.
A Copper-Metallic Saab 99 EMS Started the Sequence
Bratell did not originally expect his first car to be a Saab.
While preparing for his driver’s license, he had been looking toward a Volkswagen Golf or Ford Escort. His father’s 1984 Saab 900 Turbo 16 changed the direction. Bratell liked the 900 enough that his first personal car became a 1972 Saab 99 EMS in copper metallic.
He later took over his father’s 900 Turbo 16. That car eventually left the road and ended up in a ditch. The police officer attending the accident told him he had been fortunate to be sitting in a Saab.
A 1985 Saab 900 Turbo sedan followed, then a 1990 Saab 900 Aero. Bratell says he has owned and driven too many Saabs to count accurately.
His explanation for remaining with the marque is specific and physical. The seating position works, the cars sound right to him, and the way they drive produces a recognizable feeling that he has not found elsewhere. He tested other brands, including Volvo, but only briefly.
His conclusion is concise: “I don’t need another car.”
Coming from a man who owns 20 examples from the same manufacturer, the sentence is not a claim of restraint. It means he sees no reason to look outside Saab for the functions, sensations and projects he wants from a car.
He has a particular preference for the later 9-3 generation, although the collection extends well beyond it.
His Favorite Is Not One of the Final 2014 Cars
Asked to select one car from the collection, Bratell does not choose one of the silver 2014 sedans.
His favorite is a black 2011 Saab 9-3 Aero TX Edition sedan. It combines the twin-turbo diesel engine with an automatic transmission, and Bratell has refined several cabin details with leather-covered grab handles and Hirsch interior panels.
The appeal lies in those small changes and the way the complete car drives. He describes it as a particularly enjoyable machine, even while acknowledging how difficult it is to select only one Saab from the fleet.
Nearby is a car with a different type of rarity: an Odoardo Gray 1991 Saab 9000 2.3 Turbo CC. Bratell bought it in Hungary and drove it home to Sweden. Its color matches his first collector car, while its specification combines the early 9000 body with the 2.3-liter turbo engine in a configuration associated with that single model year.
Another late-production curiosity is a 2012 Saab 9-3X Griffin that Bratell says was assembled at ANA after Saab’s bankruptcy. It has all-wheel drive, a glass sunroof and an audio system intended for a possible 2015 model-year car.
The collection also contains a red 2005 Saab 9-3 diesel automatic with 370,000 km. Bratell originally bought it for his son. When his son later decided to sell, Bratell bought the car back because its equipment level and condition made it worth retaining within the family.
Next to it is a 2006 Saab 9-5 that previously served as a diplomatic car. It had been repainted and largely dismantled, leaving Bratell to reassemble it. He rates it above the 9-3 as a long-distance car because of its larger cabin and more comfortable seats, although his experience also gives the 9-5 a clear disadvantage: considerably worse corrosion than the 9-3.
The conspicuous absence is a Saab 9-4X. Bratell previously owned one of the Mexican-built SUVs and regrets selling it. He intends to add another when the right opportunity appears.
The Last Convertible Body Is Becoming a Sky Blue Car
The complete cars account for only part of Bratell’s Saab inventory.
After Saab’s bankruptcy, he managed to acquire what he describes as the final convertible body left on the production line. That shell is now being assembled into a complete car and has been painted Sky Blue.
The project is intended to become a registered and usable Saab rather than a preserved bare body. Bratell plans to submit it for inspection and hopes to have it ready for the 2027 Saab Festival.
The distinction matters. An unfinished production shell can survive indefinitely as an industrial artifact, but Bratell’s objective is to resolve the interrupted manufacturing process and put the resulting car on the road.
He also owns five new painted bodies purchased when NEVS sold off remaining inventory. These are not decorative shells mounted to workshop walls. They represent future work and, potentially, complete vehicles or sources for highly specific reconstruction projects.
One current build is a Solstad, a Swedish special-vehicle format combining the front half of a Saab with an extended trailer and flatbed. Bratell is turning his example into a car transporter.
He has also prepared a 2005 Saab 9-3 for his daughter.
For Bratell, these projects serve a purpose beyond enlarging the fleet. When he feels stressed or low, he goes into the workshop and works with his hands. Mechanical work is his preferred form of therapy, whether the task involves finishing an abandoned body, adapting a special transporter or making another family Saab roadworthy.
He Also Preserved Part of Saab’s Interior Supply Chain
The most consequential part of Bratell’s Saab activity may still be the work taking place away from his private cars.
When Artex moved its Trollhättan operation, Bratell’s company acquired industrial sewing machines, Saab patterns, cutting equipment, thread, replacement parts and substantial stocks of leather. The acquisition made it possible to resume small-scale production of Saab upholstery at Trestad Center.
The operation reunited expertise that could easily have dispersed. Workshop manager Magnus Axelsson brought experience from Lear Seating and Artex, while veteran seamstress Eila Lilja, who had sewn Saab interiors for more than four decades, returned after a very short retirement. The workshop also began transferring that specialist knowledge to a new generation.
Hedin Parts helped create the initial demand and facilitated the equipment transfer while searching for replacement leather covers for the Saab 9-3 Convertible. Production also included material for the 2010–2011 Saab 9-5, with original patterns and surviving factory-specification materials used wherever available.
The latest TTELA interview adds a commercial update. Bratell now operates Trestad Bilcenter & Design, which sews upholstery in Saab’s original fabrics and also sells parts. His stock ranges from clips and small plastic components to steering racks and other mechanical items accumulated over years.
He says the international Saab community is growing and that his business can see the demand directly. Norwegian customers are particularly exacting about originality when replacing parts, but the same pattern is visible across European markets: owners increasingly want correct materials, correct patterns and traceable parts rather than generic substitutes.
Bratell worked in the Saab factory body shop himself, although only for 14 months. He does not present that short period as equivalent to the experience of Trollhättan residents who spent decades inside the company. His own connection, he says, comes primarily from sustained interest and detailed enthusiasm.
That distinction makes his present role more interesting. He did not inherit an entire career inside Saab’s production system. He chose to buy parts of that system after the company was gone: cars, bodies, tooling, templates, leather and stock that could still be made useful.
Preservation Without Freezing the Cars in Time
Bratell’s latest interview corrects one possible misconception created by the phrase “mint condition.”
He does want the three silver 2014 cars restored to an exceptional standard. Their low production numbers, shared specification and direct connection to the final Stallbacka cars justify that approach. But his broader definition of preservation is not based on eliminating every mark of use.
The 260,000-km convertible remains a summer car. The 9-3X TTiD goes into the snow. A 370,000-km diesel stays in the family because he still enjoys traveling in it. A dismantled former diplomatic 9-5 returns to service. An unfinished Sky Blue convertible body is being completed rather than displayed. Five new bodies wait for future decisions. Original interior patterns are used to produce new covers instead of being archived as factory memorabilia.
His collection is therefore closer to a working Saab fleet, parts reserve and reconstruction program than to a conventional private museum.
The scale is substantial, but the method is straightforward: use the complete cars, finish the incomplete ones, retain the difficult parts and keep the original manufacturing knowledge productive.
That is also why his choice of favorite car matters. The obvious answer would have been one of the final 2014 sedans, the last convertible shell or the rare 9000 brought home from Hungary. Bratell instead chooses the black 2011 9-3 Aero TX Edition because it is the car he most enjoys driving.
For someone with 20 Saabs, the decisive criterion is still what happens behind the wheel.
Lucky guy!