#madetoscrape

“The biggest obstacle is the marque. It’s painfully interesting to build this car when it’s nearly impossible to buy something for it.” — Dima

The 900 came from Germany in 2002, when Dima ordered his acquaintance car trader an Audi and he’s answered: “I’ll come to Germany and I’ll try to find something looking good”. He called soon and their dialogue sounded like that:

Trader: There’s Saab in a mint condition, how are you?

Dima: I wanted an Audi.

Trader: Look, I’m taking it, you’re using it for a week. If you won’t like it, I’ll leave it for me.

Dima: Deal.

That’s how he got his car and doesn’t even think about selling it after all those years. He hasn’t modified until the right style was found. Everything started with a set of TA-Technix coilovers designed for Opel Vectra A, which obviously aren’t too reliable, so springs were instantly replaced by shorter and stiffer ones. That wasn’t enough, so Dima with a help of his friend Maksim fabricated a fully custom suspension.

Exterior has been freshened by a combo of the 9-3 bumper, splitter and USDM turn signals.

As the base of the new look, the wheels, Dima chose ASA AR1 as, the coolest 5x110 patterned wheels as he thought at the moment. Actually, they were popular among Saab owners back in the day. However, seven and a half inches were too narrow, so searches for something special continued. He finally found a set of three-spoke 17x8 OZ Cygnus splits, which slightly remind stock Saab wheels. Some say, limited versions of pre-facelift 9-5’s were supplied with them. Dima received his wheels and… Uh-oh, they are 2-piece, not 3-piece like he expected. He saw only one exit, to convert them to 3-piece by cutting stock lips off and mounting wider ones. He was looking for someone to do that for a month or two and then decided to make it without help. He took an angle grinder, cut them, changed lips and the look has instantly changed. Wheels are 17x10 with 215/40/R17 tires in the rear and 17x9,5 with 205/40/R17 in the front. Plans are to get lower, to shorten absorbers and front struts and keep it in the same condition.

Steve is a forty year old father of 5 who works in software development and lives in Temecula, CA on 4 acres of property in wine country. He bought his first VW in 1990, a '76 Dasher wagon, but he says he's been "in the VW scene" since 2002. That started out with a Sequoia Green Mk3 Jetta which was being built until finances required it to be parted and sold.

This one is a 1995 (1994 built) model which Steve acquired in November 2013 from a long time friend who was looking to upgrade. The car came in mostly stock condition, but included a load of spare parts, including the wheels that you see on it now, however Steve says they're still unfinished. The Jetta has changed a lot since he bought it,the changes started with adding the coilovers that came with it and some purchased smoked codes. Next came the move to airride with Air Lift performance struts and Autopilot v1. The wheel centers were powder coated by Precision Powder with silver vein and then loads of clear with micro red and gold flake in it. The rears were originally 9.5" wide and guess what? Steve didn't want such an aggressive fitment, so he sourced some 6.5" barrels and narrowed them so they are 8" all around.

To get the front as low as possible without moving the subframe, he added ball joint extenders, flipped the tie rods, notched the frame for axles and tie rods on both sides, and also did a bunch of trimming and reinforcing of the subframe. After that was time for paint and body. He acquired Euro smooth clip on rub strips from across the pond and sent everything over to West Jones Auto with a list of changes he wanted to make. Bumpers have been shaved of blinkers, fogs, dummies and side markers in front, and tow hook and exhaust cutouts in the rear. Also, the washer nozzles, fender mounted antenna, rear emblem, rear seams and rockers were all shaved and smoothed and the mirrors were shortened. The interior had some work done to it before car was purchased and was converted to a black dash, black carpet, and black lower plastics. Dash plastics were swapped for euro pieces: an upper glovebox, and early Euro center console. Also swapped in was an early Seat Ibiza cluster with chrome rings, along with chrome HVAC rings and door triggers. The 5 gallon seamless air tank is mounted to the parcel shelf in the rear window and was powder coated to match the wheel centers. Behind that is a set of venetian blinds Steve sourced from Mexico. There is also a little touch of wood, with a Nardi Gara 4 steering wheel and shift knob. Other notable mods are the homemade early Vento badgeless grille, FK mono wiper, OEM yachting lip, and Eibach sway bars in the front and rear. Future plans include a mild shaved engine bay with a fresh built ABA and 020 2Y trans, complete trunk refresh with hardlines, and most likely an interior refresh.

"I would like to thank my buddy Todd for some of the photos, and of course Evan to for selling me an amazing car to build." - Steve