Morty - The 1985 Saab 900 Turbo 16S and winner of the Raddest European Car award

This September our vehicle of the month is Morty – A black 1985 Saab Turbo 16S and recent winner of the Raddest European Car award at Hagerty's UK Radwood event!

Owning his spot like a champ, it was a pleasure to see Morty in real life and accessorised with one of our Car Facts Discs sharing snaps of his restoration on the day. Since speaking to Paul, Morty’s proud owner, we have come to learn a great deal more about his journey to getting this rather irresistible, unconventional car. Here is Paul's reminiscence:  

“When I was in my teens, a neighbour had a ruby colour Saab 900 Turbo and I was in awe of it. To my bewilderment, none of my friends liked it, but I was smitten with its looks and in particular the uniquely curved windscreen and wood dash. Not being able to convince my Dad that a Saab needed to be his next car (he was a Lancia fan) I needed to wait almost 30 years before I finally got behind the wheel of my first Saab – a white classic 900i with blue cloth interior.

 I remember the drive back from Bournemouth to Cornwall was amazing. Sunroof open, loving the drive of the car, and finally being the right side of the curvy screen. Unfortunately, my joy was short-lived as a couple of weeks later a cooling system failure resulted in a blown head gasket and a buckled head. Not being flush with money at the time, I couldn’t afford to get it back on the road, so I reluctantly sold it to a chap who promised he would do his best to save it and not scalp for parts.  

My Saab failure hit me hard and I resigned myself to having boring but reliable cars from then on. And that’s what happened for the next few years. But there was always a voice at the back of my mind telling me that my Saab story wasn’t over, just resting.

 This voice got louder and louder until 2022 when I decided to quell my Saab appetite and start looking again. This time for a better example. I had a dream Saab in mind – a black 900 T16 with a tan interior. It’s the one I remember seeing in Saab advertising in the 80s and to me that’s always been the quintessential Saab 900 Turbo. I knew my chances were fairly low to get this combo, but I was in no rush, so I waited and scoured the forums and usual online auctions to see if one came up. A few examples did but there was always something ‘iffy’ in the adverts or claims by the sellers. Not wanting a repeat of 2016, I kept waiting until something felt right.

At 2023’s Car and Restoration Show at the NEC, my partner Jane and I made a beeline to the Saab Owners Club stand. I was greeted by the friendly smiles of Elli, Shaw, Jane from Dragon Saabs and Chris who had brought along his fantastic flat-fronted 900 Turbo. Chris was kind enough to walk me around the car, pointing out where I should be looking when viewing prospective 900s and what the main worry areas would be (yes, the rusty zones). I felt so welcome that I ended up joining the Club even though I had yet to find my Saab.

Spurred on by Chris’s advice and the support from everyone at the stand, I popped up a post in the Saab 900 group on Facebook. I asked if anyone knew of someone who had a black 900 T16 in black over tan which could be for sale.

Within minutes I had two replies. Both directing me to the same chap who had been at Swedish Day the week before with a beautiful black 900 which he’d just restored. Having shared his number, I sent a text message asking if he did indeed have one for sale. I quickly received a photo of a beautiful black T16 S along with the caption of ‘One of these?’ It even turned out to be a flat-front 900 which certainly added a thick layer of icing on the cake.

The seller turned out to be Dave Palmer who historically worked at City Saab in London and went on to run Millennium Saab. I called him that evening and he shared that he had just finished restoring the car after he picked it up as a barn find in 2019. He bought it as a dusty and tatty example with the ambition to restore it to its glory. He told me that while the car was certainly shabby, the amazing thing was that it had no rust, having been treated before going into the barn for over 10 years.

Dave got the car back to Benfleet, and then got to work with a full engine and gearbox rebuild, replacing the cigarette-stained tan cloth with a restored tan leather interior, treating it to a new headlining, new shocks and brakes all round and much, much more. After a couple of years working on the car on and off it was ready for a new owner.

While chatting with Dave on the call, he happily shared all the history and work he’d carried out and gave upfront replies to all my questions. He kept a photo diary of the restoration process and emailed me lots of shots so I could be sure it was what I wanted (as I didn’t live nearby to easily check for myself). After some polite haggling, we agreed on a price and, with a massive smile on my face, I opened a beer with Jane to celebrate.

The following week, I caught the train over to Essex to see if the car lived up to the photos. As I arrived, Dave stood at the front of his unit proudly pointing to a rusty, gutted black T16 with no seats. “Just as advertised” he exclaimed with a cheeky grin. For a split second my heart sank until he gestured for me to turn around where I saw a gleaming black 900 Turbo 16 S waiting for me.

We spent the next couple of hours chatting about the history and restoration and I got to see all the other projects Dave was working on. Dave’s unit is like an mechanical Aladdin’s cave, with over a dozen Saabs of all varieties dotted around in various states of repair including a child’s electric Saab go-kart. After the paperwork was complete, I was the new owner of an incredible Saab 900 Turbo 16 S and I hit the M25 on my way back to Oxford.

On my journey home, I tried to keep my eyes on the road but my attention was repeatedly pulled to the beauty of the dashboard, the simplicity of the layout, and the cockpit-like seating position which the curved windscreen gives you. At one point, I noticed a van driver was staying level with me on the motorway. As I looked over, he beamed a massive smile, pointed at the car, and gave a enthusiastic thumbs up. I never had that with a boring old Audi!

Since I got it home, I’ve taken the time to get to know ‘Morty’. It’s not all been plain sailing as a few electrical bits have needed a little attention and he sprung a leak in the sunroof. Nothing major and nothing I couldn’t fix and Dave has always been a great help when I needed a little advice. My longest run so far has been up to Wings n’ Wheels at Newark Air Museum where I met some great Saab enthusiasts who gave me more tips on making sure Morty stays in top condition. The responsibility of keeping such a iconic and classic car on the road has even motivated me to sign up to a car maintenance course so I can be sure that history will not repeat itself and no cooling failure will befall this fantastic driver’s car”.

If you would like to see if Paul’s car maintenance course turns him into a grease monkey, then we highly recommend checking out his YouTube channel: @kemosaabe, where you can continue to follow Morty’s story.

Photographed driving around Woodstock, Morty is also the feature car in Matt Searle’s new book, charting the history of the Saab 900 Turbo 16S.

And this is the complete story of Morty's new beginning - his restoration journey and fantastic life thereafter...

 The 1985 Saab 900 Turbo 16S

Paul, thank you for letting us share your personal story with fellow classic car enthusiasts beyond the great Saab Owners Club community, we look forward to future updates of your continued adventures!