Saab ownership stories rarely move in a straight line. They zigzag through family garages, winter roads, childhood memories, and the kind of late-night decisions only car enthusiasts understand. When Adam — better known as The Swedish Car Guy – turned his camera toward a Carbon Gray Saab 9-3 Turbo X, he wasn’t just documenting another enthusiast build. He was stepping inside the mindset of a driver who treats the Turbo X as a long-term companion, a future classic worth preserving, refining, and using exactly as Saab intended: in all weather, at full torque, without apology.
Niklas, the owner featured in the newest episode, doesn’t posture or romanticize his car. He speaks plainly, yet everything he says reveals a vision rooted in the values that defined Trollhättan’s best engineering: balanced performance, everyday usability, and a stubborn refusal to compromise. His Turbo X is not a garage trophy; it is a working machine being shaped into a durable and increasingly personal interpretation of Saab’s final performance chapter.
What unfolds in the video is a conversation that touches on heritage, value, engineering details, driver ergonomics, rust realities, and community culture. It is also a portrait of how a modern Saab enthusiast grows into the brand – by accident at first, then with conviction.
A Turbo X With Purpose, Not Pose
The first minutes of Adam’s interview establish something essential: Niklas didn’t buy his Turbo X to flip, brag, or park under soft lighting. He bought it because it fits the kind of life he wants behind the wheel. When asked why he chose the Turbo X over several tempting alternatives – including a Porsche Cayenne and a Nissan 370Z Nismo – his answer arrives with the clarity of someone who has spent years thinking about it:
The Turbo X delivers capability, character, and long-term value in a way no other Swedish performance car of its era manages.
And value, for Niklas, is not a matter of speculative appreciation. It’s the reassurance that he can invest time, money, and energy into the chassis without worrying that his work is being poured into a depreciating sinkhole. “Even if I never sell it,” he says, “it feels good knowing that it holds its place.”
Yet the confidence in his choice is not just financial. Niklas sees the Turbo X as a platform Saab should have pushed even further. In his hands, that unrealized potential becomes a roadmap – one defined by practical upgrades rather than cosmetic noise.
The car still looks close to stock from a distance. Only when Adam steps closer do the details begin to surface: upgraded seats, chassis improvements, and a future plan that echoes the engineering philosophy of the Porsche GT3 – a car you can drive to the track, punish for hours, and drive home without drama.
That is exactly the kind of duality Saab always aimed to achieve. And it’s exactly what Niklas wants to protect and build upon.
Recaro Seats and the Question of Driver Fit
It’s impossible to miss the most obvious deviation from stock: the Turbo X no longer carries its original front seats. Instead, Niklas installed Recaro Sportster CS units, a choice guaranteed to split opinion among Saab traditionalists.
Saab’s factory seats are legendary – often praised as some of the best long-distance chairs ever fitted to a mainstream model. But Niklas approaches the issue from a driver’s perspective, not a nostalgic one. After a 2,000 km journey with his partner, he realized the stock bolsters simply didn’t hold him in place. He is tall, heavy, and active behind the wheel; the seat moved with him instead of supporting him.
Function, not aesthetics, drove the decision.
He wanted lateral support for track driving. He wanted stability in corners on rural backroads. He wanted to sit in the car, not on it.
What’s notable is how he executed the swap. He retained the original Saab seat mounts to ensure compatibility with factory safety systems and interior ergonomics. The weight savings were modest – under 10 kg – but this was never a weight-loss project. It was about transforming the seat from a comfortable chair into a workstation for spirited driving.
When Adam jokes about the incoming wave of comments (“Why replace the best seats ever made?”), Niklas simply nods. Saab made brilliant seats – but not for every driver, and not for every purpose. His Turbo X is slowly becoming a track-capable long-distance companion. In that environment, the Recaro seats shine.
From a Renault Clio to a Family of Saabs
Every Saab enthusiast has an origin story, and Niklas’ begins long before he had the keys to his own Swedish machine. His brother received a Saab 900 from their father for 2,000 kronor. At the time, Niklas wasn’t yet deep into cars. But as the years passed, and his brother advanced from a 900 to a Saab 9-5 V6 Aero and eventually a 9-3 V6 Aero, something clicked.
The stepping stones mattered. Each generation of Saab carried its own personality, and each one sharpened Niklas’ desire to join the lineage.
He began with a 2009 9-3 Aero – a car he still owns. The only flaw in that first Saab, he says, is that it wasn’t XWD. That small detail created the gravitational pull that eventually led him to the Turbo X.
When he finally found the right one – after a seller canceled the deal two days before pickup – he acted quickly. The car in Oskarshamn was available. He asked whether he could come see it. The seller agreed. He and his brother drove up in the 9-3 V6 Aero and returned with two Saabs.
The price? 160,000 SEK.
A strong deal then, a stronger one now.
But for Niklas, the value is not measured in numbers. It’s measured in the role the car plays in his life and in the kind of future he imagines for it. He talks openly about rolling into “Bilby” (Bilsport Performance & Custom Motor Show) 30 years from now in the same Turbo X, with people asking what they’re looking at.
He wants a car that carries both his personal history and Saab’s cultural heritage forward. The Turbo X fulfills that mission better than anything else he considered.
Rust, Underside Restoration, and the Reality of a Seventeen-Year-Old Saab
Any conversation about Saab ownership in northern climates eventually circles back to rust. Niklas doesn’t shy away from the subject. He acknowledges it the same way Saab engineers would — pragmatically, without melodrama.
His Turbo X has rust, like nearly every 17-year-old Saab. The front end is peppered with stone chips. The rear subframe mounts on his other 9-3 are deteriorating. These are not surprises; they are maintenance realities.
His plan is methodical: Restore the entire underside, replace every bushing, clean and coat every rusty surface, and prepare the car for a life of year-round usability.
Not because he wants a showroom queen, but because he wants a durable driver – something capable of winter ski trips, remote journeys, and track days without hesitation.
This dual-purpose ambition defines his entire build. He repeatedly compares his vision to a GT3 philosophy:
drive to the track, push hard, drive home without mechanical anxiety.
For a Turbo X, this idea fits perfectly. Saab engineered the model with Haldex XWD, an electronically controlled limited-slip rear differential, and the kind of torque delivery that makes bad weather irrelevant. But longevity requires care – and Niklas is building his car backward from the finish line: a fully sorted chassis first, power and aesthetics later.
His approach reflects exactly what long-term Saab enthusiasts appreciate: durability earned through attention, not shortcuts.
Saab Community Loyalty and the Importance of Knowledge Passing
One of the most striking aspects of the interview is how naturally the conversation shifts from mechanical topics to car community culture. Adam mentions that he recently entered the Saab world himself and has already experienced the generosity of Saab owners. Niklas agrees immediately.
In a landscape where many car cultures fracture along brand lines, Saab has remained unusually cohesive. The owners are intergenerational. They are mechanically curious. They are patient with newcomers. They share tips on rust repair, XWD maintenance, handling improvements, and interior fixes not because they want attention, but because they want the cars to survive.
“There’s always someone who knows more,” Niklas says — not as a warning but as encouragement.
He emphasizes experimentation, personalization, and learning by doing. Whether someone wants to lower their car, widen it, wrap it, or simply refresh the interior, he believes the community should support that growth. Saab ownership, to him, is not about preserving untouched museum pieces. It’s about creating machines that reflect their drivers’ identities while keeping a piece of Swedish automotive culture alive.
This attitude echoes the philosophy Saab engineers practiced during development: continuous improvement through testing, iteration, and curiosity.
Building a Future Classic in Real Time
The most compelling part of the interview is not the seat swap, the rust repairs, or even the purchase story. It is the long-term vision – the idea that the Turbo X is still becoming the car it was meant to be.
Niklas is not done. He doesn’t pretend otherwise. He speaks openly about the next stages: deeper chassis work, more refined handling, and ongoing mechanical restoration. There is no rush, because the point is not to finish the car. The point is to shape it.
The Turbo X has always been a special chapter in Saab’s history: a limited run of roughly 2,000 units, the only model to carry the full XWD branding, and the last truly performance-focused Saab engineered before the company’s collapse. It was built as a statement – a reminder that Saab knew exactly how to make a driver’s car even when circumstances were tightening.
Niklas’ build keeps that statement alive.
His car already holds more meaning than a spec sheet can express. It ties him to his brother, to his father’s generosity, to his early Clio days, and to the community he now proudly contributes to. It also connects him to every Turbo X owner who plans to keep their car indefinitely – not because of scarcity, but because the driving experience continues to feel right.
The Turbo X is a machine that rewards commitment. Niklas is simply giving it the commitment it deserves.
A Closing Thought From a Turbo X Owner Who Gets It
Before Adam ends the video, he asks a final open-ended question: does Niklas have advice for other car enthusiasts, especially now that the car season is ending?
Niklas’ answer is pure Saab ethos:
Find what makes the car yours, try new things, and never hesitate to ask for help.
In his garage, experimentation isn’t risky – it’s how personal automotive stories begin. Saab built cars for people who appreciate purpose-driven engineering. Niklas builds on that foundation with authenticity.
He is not trying to outperform anyone. He is not chasing trends. He is taking a rare Swedish performance car and giving it a long future, one careful upgrade at a time.
For the Saab community, that kind of stewardship is worth celebrating.
