The small team behind TunStyle began by making exterior and interior upgrades for their own cars. Years later, the project continues to give Saab owners access to parts that have become rare, discontinued or prohibitively expensive.
A few years ago, I became acquainted with the people behind TunStyle, a small group of Saab enthusiasts who spend much of their free time developing custom exterior and interior parts for the cars they drive themselves.
They have always preferred to keep the attention on their work rather than on the individuals making it. TunStyle is not built around a public founder, a large workshop presented on social media or a carefully manufactured company image. It is a specialist project maintained by people who know the practical difficulties of owning, restoring and modifying an older Saab because they encounter the same problems as their customers.
Their story is therefore best told through the parts. TunStyle began with a familiar Saab-owner frustration. The team would see photographs of carefully styled 9-3s and 9-5s on Facebook, enthusiast forums and club pages, only to discover that many of the components fitted to those cars were no longer available.
Some had disappeared with the companies that originally produced them. Others had been discontinued after relatively short production runs. A few could still be found second-hand, but usually only after a long search and at prices that reflected rarity rather than the actual complexity of the part.
Instead of waiting indefinitely for used examples to appear, the people behind TunStyle began asking a more practical question: could they make some of those parts themselves?
A Project That Started With Their Own Saabs
There was no formal product launch at the beginning and no plan to create a large aftermarket business. The first objective was simply to improve their own cars.
Like many Saab enthusiasts, they had a clear idea of how they wanted those cars to look. They were interested in modifications that worked with Saab’s existing design rather than overpowering it: a better-defined lower body line, a more purposeful rear section, a steering wheel with improved materials or an interior detail that looked as though it could have belonged in an official accessory catalog. The available options did not always match those ideas.
Original styling accessories were already becoming scarce, while some of the most desirable specialist parts had been out of production for years. Even when a suitable used component appeared, its condition could be poor, shipping could be complicated and the final price difficult to justify.
The TunStyle team began experimenting for their own use. Exterior pieces were followed by interior work, leather-covered components, customized steering wheels and other details that allowed them to develop their cars without depending entirely on a shrinking supply of original accessories.
Friends and fellow club members soon noticed the results. Questions followed. Where had a particular spoiler come from? Could another one be made? Was a similar part possible for a different Saab model? Could an existing interior component be refinished in leather or carbon-pattern material?
What had begun as a personal workshop hobby gradually started serving a wider circle of owners. That process eventually became TunStyle.
Not a Conventional Tuning Company
The word “tuning” can suggest dramatic body conversions, oversized aerodynamic components or cars transformed beyond recognition. That description does not fit most of the work in the TunStyle catalog.
The project has generally concentrated on details that Saab owners already understand: spoilers, diffusers, lower body components, steering wheels and interior trim pieces designed to complement the original car.
Many of these parts are influenced by accessories and styling packages that once existed for Saab models but are now difficult to obtain. The intention is not to pass a newly made component off as a rare original. It is to offer an accessible alternative for owners who appreciate the original design but cannot realistically find or afford surviving period parts.
That distinction is particularly relevant with Hirsch-inspired components.
Original Hirsch Performance parts have become highly desirable within the Saab community. Some were never produced in large numbers, and surviving pieces are often already fitted to cars whose owners have no intention of removing them. Loose components that reach the used market can command substantial prices, especially if they are complete and undamaged.
For many owners, the choice is no longer between buying a new original part and buying a reproduction. The original part simply does not exist as a normal retail product anymore. TunStyle works within that gap.
Its Hirsch-style products reproduce the general character of some sought-after styling pieces while remaining clearly presented as contemporary alternatives. That gives an owner the possibility of completing a visually coherent project without dismantling another rare car or spending years searching classified listings.
Why These Parts Matter Now
Saab’s disappearance as a new-car manufacturer did not immediately end the supply of accessories and specialist components. For several years, established stock remained available and used parts could still be found without extraordinary effort.
The situation is different today.
The youngest Saab-built cars are already well into their second decade. Earlier 9-3 and 9-5 models have entered the phase in which condition, maintenance history and parts availability matter more than simple age. Cars that were once routinely broken for spares are now being restored, while original accessories that were previously regarded as used styling parts are increasingly treated as collectibles.
This change affects more than decorative components.
A damaged diffuser, cracked spoiler or worn interior panel may be technically nonessential, but it can determine whether an otherwise excellent car looks complete. Owners restoring higher-specification models often discover that mechanical parts are easier to source than certain trim pieces.
At the same time, not every Saab owner is attempting a factory-perfect restoration.
Some are building cars influenced by period tuning catalogs. Others want to add one carefully selected detail to an otherwise standard Aero, Vector or Griffin. A customized steering wheel may be chosen because the factory leather has worn through after years of use. A rear diffuser may replace a damaged original while also giving the car a more deliberate finish.
TunStyle’s role is not to provide every part for every type of restoration. Its value lies in addressing a specific part of the ownership experience that larger suppliers do not always cover.
A Hobby That Became Useful to the Community
One of the most important details about TunStyle is that it is not the team’s primary occupation.
The people behind it have regular professional obligations outside the project. Development, production, communication with owners and the preparation of new components take place alongside their everyday work.
That naturally limits the speed at which new ideas can become finished products. A small enthusiast operation cannot approach development in the same way as a large automotive supplier with dedicated departments, rapid prototyping budgets and warehouses filled with inventory.
But the hobby-based nature of TunStyle is also central to its character.
The team does not select products only by calculating which part could produce the largest sales volume. Many ideas originate in the same places where the project started: their own cars, conversations with friends and questions from other Saab owners.
A request may reveal that several people are looking for the same unavailable component. A photograph of a rare accessory may start a discussion about whether something similar could be recreated. Feedback from an owner may lead to changes in material, mounting method or finish.
The relationship between maker and customer is therefore closer to the way Saab clubs have traditionally solved technical problems than to conventional mass-market retail.
Someone identifies a missing part. Another owner has measurements or photographs. A prototype is developed. The finished component is tested and, when practical, offered to others.
TunStyle has simply given that informal process a more permanent structure and an international catalog.
Exterior Parts Without Rewriting the Car
Saab body design leaves relatively little room for careless additions.
A component can be well made and still look wrong if its proportions do not follow the lines of the bumper, sill or trunk lid. This is particularly noticeable on the 9-3 Sport Sedan and SportCombi, where the factory design already uses strong transitions between the body color, black lower trim and aerodynamic sections.
The same applies to the 9-5. Its shape can support a more purposeful stance, but large universal-style additions easily disrupt the restrained character of the original design.
The more successful TunStyle exterior components tend to work because they are based on forms already familiar to Saab enthusiasts. Rear spoilers extend an existing line rather than creating a new one. Diffusers occupy areas already visually separated by the factory bumper. Lower body pieces add definition without requiring a completely different front or rear fascia.
These are not modifications intended to disguise the car’s identity. They are meant to sharpen details already present in the original design.
Paint preparation and installation remain important. A primed component still needs to be checked, prepared and painted correctly, while the final result depends on alignment and the quality of the mounting work. No aftermarket body part should be expected to compensate for rushed installation.
When handled properly, however, the result can look closer to a discontinued specialist package than to a generic body kit.
Interior Work Beyond Cosmetic Replacement
The interior side of TunStyle is equally relevant because Saab cabins are reaching an age at which even well-maintained cars show wear.
Steering-wheel leather becomes polished, cracked or thin. Soft-touch surfaces deteriorate. Frequently handled trim pieces collect scratches, while replacement parts from donor cars may be in no better condition than the originals.
TunStyle’s customized steering wheels and leather-covered interior components address both deterioration and personalization.
A refurbished original steering-wheel structure can be reshaped or retrimmed using combinations of Nappa leather, perforated sections, contrast stitching and carbon-pattern materials. The objective is not merely to conceal wear, but to produce a part tailored to the owner’s car.
Similar work is available for selected dashboard and interior trim elements.
This area requires more judgment than simply adding visible carbon-effect surfaces. Saab interiors were designed around a controlled range of textures and low-glare materials. Too much visual contrast can make an otherwise well-preserved cabin feel inconsistent.
The more convincing combinations use the new material selectively, connecting it to an existing element such as dark dashboard trim, factory leather seats or a particular stitching color.
Again, the value comes from giving owners an option that no longer exists through the original dealer network.
Our Previous Experience With TunStyle
SaabPlanet’s cooperation with TunStyle is not beginning with the current project.
In 2023, we documented the installation of a TunStyle Hirsch-style rear diffuser on our 2011 Saab 9-3 Aero Griffin.
The car already had the later Griffin front treatment, while the rear diffuser introduced a detail associated with the earlier Hirsch Performance approach to the 9-3. Rather than attempting to imitate carbon fiber, the part was painted in a gunmetal finish that contrasted with the Jet Black Metallic bodywork.
That earlier installation gave us the opportunity to evaluate a TunStyle component as an actual part of a regularly driven car, not merely as an item photographed for an online catalog.
The relationship continued after the article was published. We remained in contact with the TunStyle team, followed the development of their catalog and discussed the ongoing difficulty of keeping specialist Saab parts available.
They also continued following SaabPlanet and the stories shared through the site, which made a renewed collaboration a natural next step.
The Next SaabPlanet Project
TunStyle has now sent us a Hirsch-style body kit for our Saab 9-3, currently fitted with the Griffin front bumper.
Combining Griffin front-end styling with Hirsch-inspired lower body components creates an interesting project because the elements come from two different interpretations of the final 9-3 design. The important question will not simply be whether each piece fits, but whether the complete package works visually on the car.
That deserves a separate article.
We will document the parts themselves, preparation, installation method and final result once the work is completed. The project will also show how the kit relates to the existing diffuser and whether the individual components create a coherent overall appearance.
For now, however, this first story is about the project behind those parts.
TunStyle did not begin as a calculated attempt to enter the Saab aftermarket. It developed because a small group of owners wanted components they could no longer buy, began making them for their own cars and then discovered that many other enthusiasts faced the same problem.
Years later, it remains a hobby pursued alongside regular work.
The difference is that the hobby now helps Saab owners far beyond the team’s immediate circle. Their catalog has grown from parts made for personal projects into a practical source of exterior and interior upgrades for several Saab models.
For a community maintaining cars long after the original production lines closed, that kind of small-scale work has become increasingly important.
None of the Saab aftermarket manufacturers produce performance parts for the 2006–2009 Saab 9-5.😭
I can vouch for their quality craftsmanship
Such good quality from them! I always enjoy getting things from them.