Story of a £2k Saab 900 Turbo with quarter million miles on
Discussion
Buy a cheap 250,000 mile Saab 900 Turbo, put into daily commuter duties and drive it to LeMans after a week of ownership, what could possibly go wrong!
I meant to do a write up on my classic Saab last year in my first year of ownership and when it passed its milestone of a quarter million miles. However, time passes and the Saab has continued on in daily service until I bought an Abarth 595 Competizione at the weekend. This will put the Saab out of everyday duties so I thought it was good reason to do a little write up on my journey of classic Saab 900 Turbo ownership.
As a bit of back story, I found myself in 2014 handing the keys back on my company Alfa Brera (simultaneously a terrible and beautiful car but that’s for another thread!) and having £3k to spend on a presentable daily driver.
I spent a few weeks using my trusty Alfa GT Junior and my wifes Morris Minor for the 30 mile commute. Whilst that was fun I knew it wasn’t fair on either of them and after not finding anything for a month I panicked and bought a Saab 9-3 Conv. Deep down I knew it was the wrong decision even as I drove it off the forecourt but I stuck with it for 9 months, it looked smart enough but it felt tired and the constant electrical glitches meant I knew I needed to move it on come the summer convertible season. Bought for £2800 and in less than a year I was pleased to see the back of it for £1800.
I vowed to make sure the next purchase was going to be a car that I would fire up some emotion. I had around £2000-£2500 to play with. The remit was that it needed to be able to cope with a 30 mile round commute plus lots of small journeys during the day, have 4 seats, be reasonably reliable and presentable and importantly have some petrolhead credentials and that look back factor.
So, for the next few weeks I did the usual trawling daily of eBay, PH, Autotrader, Classic Car Classifieds etc. I was looking at everything from E30 BMW’s, Reliant Scimitar, Range Rovers, tatty 635’s and XJS’s, 916 ALFA GTV’s. Every now and again I’d try to be sensible and look at GTI’s, S3’s etc but I knew it wasn’t going to scratch that itch like an Alfa. Always at the forefront was a Saab 900 Turbo but they were few and far between with prices on the up and so often look really knackered at that price.
Then one afternoon, in a bored moment at work I did the usual flick through Autotrader and there appeared a Saab 900s LPT which had just been listed. The ad read well and honest, that it had been looked after, full service history, massive wadge of receipts yet it had done 238,000 miles. It was the right colour, black with grey leather interior and body looked straight, regularly waxoyled underneath.
Perfect. I knew this was it so I phoned the guy up and offered to put down a deposit there and then if he could wait for me to get the train 80 miles or so that evening. I’m not sure he knew what to make of it having only put the ad on-line an hour earlier. He reassured me that he wouldn’t sell it to anyone else and would wait for me, I was still nervous though. I phoned up my wife who couldn’t understand why I was so desperate to drop everything that afternoon and race up there.
The car was as described, it had been loved and regularly used, replacement gearbox, new wings, massive file of work. He was selling as he was emigrating for 2 years otherwise would have kept it. I had only driven one once before and this didn’t disappoint.
It has a lovely driving position with arguably some of the most comfortable seats of any car. The cock-pit is a nice place to be with a pleasing mix of leather and wood effect. The right amount of eighties and everything very functional. The windscreen wraps around like a plane cock-pit with thin pillars giving a really nice all round view and sense of connection with the outside. The doors are deep and cover the sills and have a lightness to the which takes a while to avoid slamming to hard, it still bugs me every time someone new to the car exits and makes the car rock when they close with an unnecessary force. Starting up then settles into a really nice burble with what I suspect is a factory upgraded exhaust, not loud but noticeable and different to the tone of anything else. The steering is light and the gearbox smooth although you do need to be careful with it. I like a gearbox that requires thought when changing and a lightness of touch. It’s just very satisfying when you master it and means you feel like you are really driving it.
Acceleration is good, its not fast by modern standards but it will have a go. But out and out speed is not what the car is about, it’s a sleek cruiser designed to get from A to B as coolly yet practically as possible. Because it’s an 80’s design, made with thin metal the sensation of speed is so much more and also very rewarding. When you floor the pedal and take it up through the gears quickly you can feel everything pulling together and working hard and you are very much connected to the inside and outside, it keeps all the senses alert. Then there is the sound, it’s a whoosh and swoosh unlike anything else, almost like its gliding.
Anyway, if I was sold on the car before I arrived then there was no doubt now that it was coming home! So I duly transferred the cash and headed out into the night. I love those first drives home in a newly bought car. Absorbing all the features, lights, dials, cubby holes as you drive along. A sense of excitement and fear about a new purchase, will it be all you had hoped and worth the cash you’d just parted with or will it dump you on the side of the road any minute making you wait for a relay truck?
My first stop was to get some petrol. The perfect place to have some time to look at those lines, highlighted in the dark by the bright unforgiving forecourt lights. It just looks fantastic to me, dated yet ahead of its time and still nothing like it. Queuing to pay while staring across at it at the pumps looking sharp and 80’s. This was a good purchase, I’m on cloud 9, I get back in the car so chuffed with myself, clutch in as you have to keep it in reverse when parked, turn the key…..it won’t start!! That’s OK I think, its got an old school immobiliser with a little key pad on the windscreen and a fob on the keys. The owner told me the routine, press the button, turn the ignition, press the button again then fully turn ignition. Nothing. I try again, a different combo, nothing. The a fourth time and now the alarm goes off. Everyone at the forecourt stops and looks, everyone in the queue is turning round. I’m stabbing at buttons and eventually it stops. 10 mins I sat there for, trying various combinations of pressing buttons and turning key, I tried the override key pad with the code. Eventually it got going. This would happen to me at least once a day for the next week until I got the bloody thing disconnected.
My second week of ownership was to be its first big test and my highlight of the year, the annual pilgrimage to LeMans. I ordered a JPS livery pack and spent much longer than I expected the night before applying all the stickers.
I’ll continue this story when I have more time…and if anyone can be arsed to read!
I meant to do a write up on my classic Saab last year in my first year of ownership and when it passed its milestone of a quarter million miles. However, time passes and the Saab has continued on in daily service until I bought an Abarth 595 Competizione at the weekend. This will put the Saab out of everyday duties so I thought it was good reason to do a little write up on my journey of classic Saab 900 Turbo ownership.
As a bit of back story, I found myself in 2014 handing the keys back on my company Alfa Brera (simultaneously a terrible and beautiful car but that’s for another thread!) and having £3k to spend on a presentable daily driver.
I spent a few weeks using my trusty Alfa GT Junior and my wifes Morris Minor for the 30 mile commute. Whilst that was fun I knew it wasn’t fair on either of them and after not finding anything for a month I panicked and bought a Saab 9-3 Conv. Deep down I knew it was the wrong decision even as I drove it off the forecourt but I stuck with it for 9 months, it looked smart enough but it felt tired and the constant electrical glitches meant I knew I needed to move it on come the summer convertible season. Bought for £2800 and in less than a year I was pleased to see the back of it for £1800.
I vowed to make sure the next purchase was going to be a car that I would fire up some emotion. I had around £2000-£2500 to play with. The remit was that it needed to be able to cope with a 30 mile round commute plus lots of small journeys during the day, have 4 seats, be reasonably reliable and presentable and importantly have some petrolhead credentials and that look back factor.
So, for the next few weeks I did the usual trawling daily of eBay, PH, Autotrader, Classic Car Classifieds etc. I was looking at everything from E30 BMW’s, Reliant Scimitar, Range Rovers, tatty 635’s and XJS’s, 916 ALFA GTV’s. Every now and again I’d try to be sensible and look at GTI’s, S3’s etc but I knew it wasn’t going to scratch that itch like an Alfa. Always at the forefront was a Saab 900 Turbo but they were few and far between with prices on the up and so often look really knackered at that price.
Then one afternoon, in a bored moment at work I did the usual flick through Autotrader and there appeared a Saab 900s LPT which had just been listed. The ad read well and honest, that it had been looked after, full service history, massive wadge of receipts yet it had done 238,000 miles. It was the right colour, black with grey leather interior and body looked straight, regularly waxoyled underneath.
Perfect. I knew this was it so I phoned the guy up and offered to put down a deposit there and then if he could wait for me to get the train 80 miles or so that evening. I’m not sure he knew what to make of it having only put the ad on-line an hour earlier. He reassured me that he wouldn’t sell it to anyone else and would wait for me, I was still nervous though. I phoned up my wife who couldn’t understand why I was so desperate to drop everything that afternoon and race up there.
The car was as described, it had been loved and regularly used, replacement gearbox, new wings, massive file of work. He was selling as he was emigrating for 2 years otherwise would have kept it. I had only driven one once before and this didn’t disappoint.
It has a lovely driving position with arguably some of the most comfortable seats of any car. The cock-pit is a nice place to be with a pleasing mix of leather and wood effect. The right amount of eighties and everything very functional. The windscreen wraps around like a plane cock-pit with thin pillars giving a really nice all round view and sense of connection with the outside. The doors are deep and cover the sills and have a lightness to the which takes a while to avoid slamming to hard, it still bugs me every time someone new to the car exits and makes the car rock when they close with an unnecessary force. Starting up then settles into a really nice burble with what I suspect is a factory upgraded exhaust, not loud but noticeable and different to the tone of anything else. The steering is light and the gearbox smooth although you do need to be careful with it. I like a gearbox that requires thought when changing and a lightness of touch. It’s just very satisfying when you master it and means you feel like you are really driving it.
Acceleration is good, its not fast by modern standards but it will have a go. But out and out speed is not what the car is about, it’s a sleek cruiser designed to get from A to B as coolly yet practically as possible. Because it’s an 80’s design, made with thin metal the sensation of speed is so much more and also very rewarding. When you floor the pedal and take it up through the gears quickly you can feel everything pulling together and working hard and you are very much connected to the inside and outside, it keeps all the senses alert. Then there is the sound, it’s a whoosh and swoosh unlike anything else, almost like its gliding.
Anyway, if I was sold on the car before I arrived then there was no doubt now that it was coming home! So I duly transferred the cash and headed out into the night. I love those first drives home in a newly bought car. Absorbing all the features, lights, dials, cubby holes as you drive along. A sense of excitement and fear about a new purchase, will it be all you had hoped and worth the cash you’d just parted with or will it dump you on the side of the road any minute making you wait for a relay truck?
My first stop was to get some petrol. The perfect place to have some time to look at those lines, highlighted in the dark by the bright unforgiving forecourt lights. It just looks fantastic to me, dated yet ahead of its time and still nothing like it. Queuing to pay while staring across at it at the pumps looking sharp and 80’s. This was a good purchase, I’m on cloud 9, I get back in the car so chuffed with myself, clutch in as you have to keep it in reverse when parked, turn the key…..it won’t start!! That’s OK I think, its got an old school immobiliser with a little key pad on the windscreen and a fob on the keys. The owner told me the routine, press the button, turn the ignition, press the button again then fully turn ignition. Nothing. I try again, a different combo, nothing. The a fourth time and now the alarm goes off. Everyone at the forecourt stops and looks, everyone in the queue is turning round. I’m stabbing at buttons and eventually it stops. 10 mins I sat there for, trying various combinations of pressing buttons and turning key, I tried the override key pad with the code. Eventually it got going. This would happen to me at least once a day for the next week until I got the bloody thing disconnected.
My second week of ownership was to be its first big test and my highlight of the year, the annual pilgrimage to LeMans. I ordered a JPS livery pack and spent much longer than I expected the night before applying all the stickers.
I’ll continue this story when I have more time…and if anyone can be arsed to read!
Edited by JimmyJam on Monday 19th February 17:52
Edited by JimmyJam on Monday 19th February 20:49
Love these.
Pretty different both mechanically and styling-wise with the backwards fitted engine, curved screen etc. I had one on an H plate with around 250bhp ( Abbott ) which pulled like a train. The chassis coped well aside from wheel spin in the wet under boost up to silly speeds. Properly maintained mileage is likely not a big issue. Mine was bang on 250k when I bought it and it still felt like a really decent car.
Pretty different both mechanically and styling-wise with the backwards fitted engine, curved screen etc. I had one on an H plate with around 250bhp ( Abbott ) which pulled like a train. The chassis coped well aside from wheel spin in the wet under boost up to silly speeds. Properly maintained mileage is likely not a big issue. Mine was bang on 250k when I bought it and it still felt like a really decent car.
Thanks for the positive comments. I'll continue the story shortly and some more pics etc. Theres always a few pics on my Insta page too @woodygtj
https://www.instagram.com/woodygtj/
Here with a new plate on
https://www.instagram.com/woodygtj/
Here with a new plate on
Cookeh said:
Can definitely be arsed to read. Love these, almost bought one before realising I really rather needed an estate.
I hadn't realised before getting it, just how big the boot space is, its cavernous! Much bigger than my 3 series touring. Its a very long deep boot, obviously it doesn't have the full head height of an estate but the length more than makes up for it.Xtriple129 said:
Are you in Torquay?
I ask as the plate is the same/similar to a series that a local businessman runs (H@@@@ is back on top again).
No, in S London (but my family are from Torquay!). I bought the plate about a year ago....late night eBay, few beers, cheeky bid etc. Just thought it looked nice, short and symmetrical!I ask as the plate is the same/similar to a series that a local businessman runs (H@@@@ is back on top again).
Edited by JimmyJam on Tuesday 20th February 11:09
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