Wasaabi

We’re probably on safe ground when we suggest that to most, the 900 is the definitive Saab. The firm’s ‘humpback’ cars of the fifties and sixties, the 93, 94, and 96, were charming and capable in equal measure, and the 99, which followed, allowed Saab to move upmarket while exploiting the then newfangled (in mass market automotive terms), but it was the 900 that came to define the brand in its most successful decade—the go-getting nineteen-eighties.

Smartly styled and impeccably put together, the 900 spawned an impressively diverse range, crowned by the turbocharged versions of the H-Series engine in both eight and sixteen valve guise. Saab, in fact, made forced induction both its calling card and the cornerstone of its marketing (when not trying to draw a line between the 900 and the Viggen jet fighter, of course!), and as such the output of these ‘boosted’ engines climbed and climbed as the decade wore on, topping out at an impressive (for the time) 185 bhp in the special edition 900 Turbo Carlsson.

For these reasons and many more, the Saab 900 has always been held in high regard by the Retropower fraternity, and as such we were all excited by the prospect of being able to restomodify one—the example you see here, in fact. As is so often the case when these sorts of projects are in their formative phases, we can’t divulge too much concrete information at this point in time, not least as our plans are still very much in a state of flux and prone to change markedly as our consultation with the owner progresses.

Nevertheless, we can confirm this build, or ‘Project Wasaabi’ as it has been provisionally titled, will be among our most ambitious to date. It will see us comprehensively re-engineer the elderly Swede for it to make as much as 500 bhp, with all the emphasis on handling and stopping such a lofty figure demands. That power will come from a tuned version of Audi’s 07k, meaning that not only will the completed car ‘go’ with all the alacrity of the proverbial scalded moggie, it will, in the tradition of all big-boost five cylinder Audis, sound the part.

Plans for the Saab’s drivetrain have also seen us look to Ingolstadt for inspiration, and the upshot is that ‘Project Wasaabi’ will make use of the chassis and running gear from the B7 generation Audi S4. Indeed, as the images here should showcase, we’re already deeply involved in this phase of the build, with a sickly S4 Cabriolet having already been unceremoniously chopped up and repurposed, and Bobby in the process of splicing it with elements of standard Saab 900 and custom, clean-sheet metalwork.

Once complete, ‘Project Wasaabi’ will boast a one-off body shell, partially rendered in carbon fibre and with wide arches to accommodate enlarged wheels and (probably) some aerodynamic appendages. There’s no doubt that this car will have the looks to match its prodigious performance capabilities.

Project S is in its formative stages at the time of writing, so the best way of keeping up to date with the build and our plans for the Saab is by subscribing to our YouTube channel. There you’ll be able to watch our weekly Retropower Uncut video series; new episodes drop each Sunday evening at 7 pm.