It took around a year to find what I was looking for - Saab 9-3 Aero, 2.8L V6 turbo and it had to be manual. It just happened to come in red

This is from 2007 with only 56,000km on the clock.









Richard.

[FruitLooPs]

Nice shots, bet that'll be a lovely ride. I used to own a Saab 9000CS 2.3 turbo which was good fun quiet and comfortable, although I too wished for manual

[RichardS]

Nice shots, bet that'll be a lovely ride. I used to own a Saab 9000CS 2.3 turbo which was good fun quiet and comfortable, although I too wished for manual

Thanks. I still haven't got the knack for car photos like Jer (Sailor), but I'm working on it. For example, I took a couple of the almost obligatory shark fin shots only to realise when I put them on the computer that the background made the shark fin pretty much invisible.

It is a lovely ride I'm really looking forward to my first long trip. I've also got a 1989 900 Aero (manual, of course) and the difference is noticeable. The 900 is still a great car to drive, comfortable and fast, but this is in a different class.

Very difficult to find a manual 9000 unless you got an aero.

Richard.

[Sailor]

Wow, buddy, it looks to have come off the assembly line yesterday - just like new. I love that rich red - it works very well on this car, and I appreciate the clean, uncluttered lines of a 9-3 (which I suspected was the car you bought). I'm a big fan of minimalist styling on a car - the form-follows-function school of Butzi Porsche. I'm glad you got it in manual - in the U.S., the manual transmission seems to be disappearing, so maybe it's a good thing to get a manual now while they're still around.

These photos look great to me - they make me wish I was passing through your neighborhood so that you could give me a ride (to a nice pub).

Jer

[monochrome]

Great photos! I recall a brief period of CarLust when that model appeared. There can't have been many imported.

in the U.S., the manual transmission seems to be disappearing

Electronically-controlled automatic transmissions have such a smooth torque curve now and get so much better gas mileage than manuals that manufacturers are reluctant to offer them unless on high-performance models - they have to meet fleet CAFE standards, don't you know.

[RichardS]

Wow, buddy, it looks to have come off the assembly line yesterday - just like new. I love that rich red - it works very well on this car, and I appreciate the clean, uncluttered lines of a 9-3 (which I suspected was the car you bought). I'm a big fan of minimalist styling on a car - the form-follows-function school of Butzi Porsche. I'm glad you got it in manual - in the U.S., the manual transmission seems to be disappearing, so maybe it's a good thing to get a manual now while they're still around.

These photos look great to me - they make me wish I was passing through your neighborhood so that you could give me a ride (to a nice pub).

Jer

Thanks, Jer. You're welcome any time. I'd have to take it easy, though. I got breathalysed yesterday - negative of course. That's twice in two months after not having one for several years.

I got lucky. I'm told that there are only two red ones in the Melbourne metro area and that's a population of just over 4 million. I haven't messed with the colour in any of the shots. It really is that rich red. If you look carefully, there's a bit of touch-up work done on the air dam at the front and there's a small scratch around 2mm long on the LH side skirts. In the year I've been looking I've seen maybe three other manuals for sale. Only one had low kms, but I didn't like the colour and they wanted too much.

Richard.

[RichardS]

Great photos! I recall a brief period of CarLust when that model appeared. There can't have been many imported.

Electronically-controlled automatic transmissions have such a smooth torque curve now and get so much better gas mileage than manuals that manufacturers are reluctant to offer them unless on high-performance models - they have to meet fleet CAFE standards, don't you know.

Thanks, monochrome. My CarLust kept going You're right - not many imported.

The semi-automatic on this model has a manual position with paddles on the steering wheel and up-down changes also available through the gear lever. It's quite good, but not as responsive as the proper dual-clutch sequential boxes they have on e.g. some BMWs, Audis, Porsches etc.

Richard.

[luftfluss]

Congrats on the sweet ride. Look forward to seeing more photos of it.

[RichardS]

Congrats on the sweet ride. Look forward to seeing more photos of it.

Thanks, luftfluss.

[daacon]

Nice ride 56k is a walk in the park ! Enjoy.