1979-1993 & 94 Conv [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
Hey, y'all:
My first experience with a SAAB 900 (well, any SAAB, for that matter), came in the fall of 1995. My father, who worked about an hour away at the time, near Charlotte, NC, at a large Dodge/Chrysler lot, brought home a silver 1984 900S (8V nat. asp., of course) for us to look over and evaluate, as we needed a good second car. The car was a three-door, five speed, with 203,000 miles on the clock! It was in need of a clutch and driver's side power window motor, and some TLC, but my Mom and I immediately fell in love with the car.
After a bit of begging, I got to test drive the car, which they only wanted $600 for, and was amazed at the spacious cabin, how all the controls fell to hand nicely, and the great handling of the car. As others have said, the 900 8V IS a peppy motor, especially when you're used to driving a wheezy old 1979 Toyota Corolla (albeit a 4-spd.) or a underpowered 1985 2.6L 4-cylinder Plymouth Voyager, automatic tranny.
Growing up in rural North Carolina (Wilkes Co., my home, is in NW NC), we had never seen a SAAB that I remember. I was 16 years old and I dearly wanted a car of my own. I had no job (to keep up my grades) and no money (my parents could only afford a car for each of them, making a car of my own that much more unattainable). Nevertheless, I devoted every waking hour thinking, dreaming, and eating SAABs after we bought that 900S. A mechanic and SAAB aficionado who worked at the Dodge place with my father was commissioned to fix the ailing 900's clutch, which had a horrible squeal unless the pedal was depressed. With that fixed, the roomy hatchback became the family car of choice for jaunts to the mountains--our family especially loved touring the Blue Ridge Parkway, only 45 minutes away--in the 900. We could haul our Australian shepherd dog, too, in the hatchback with the seat down!
Later, we did get a third car, and the 900 became mine, all mine, for my senior year in high school. I babied it and kept it serviced (well, spark plugs and filters were all that was in my realm of knowledge back then). I did the best I could with it and the confusing Haynes and Chilton manuals we had.
My father always changed cars (albeit for no good reason), so I couldn't let him trade in our precious 900S. Several times my mother and I had out and out squabbles with Daddy about selling the SAAB. We wouldn't hear of it. And we always won the fight to keep our little Swedish beast!
During my freshman year in college, I didn't have the 900 with me, as I would have to park it about 2 miles away (out of sight) away from campus. (Silly freshman rule...) Also, my sophomore year, I didn't have it with me (we were back to being a two-car family). But my junior year--OH BOY!-- I got to take the 900 to Boone, NC, where I attended college at Appalachian State University! All was well until late September 2000. Then, my Mom drove up from Wilkes (35 miles) and swapped vehicles with me so that she could get new tires on the 900. (I had no time to do so during the day with classes, etc.) She didn't even get out of Boone before the 900 was hit in the McDonald's parking lot by some crazed Acura driver using the lot as a short-cut to a back street (at full speed).
The 900 was a sa sight. Mom and her mother, who was riding shotgun, were not injured. But the SAAB received a severe blow which crumpled the upper and lower A-arms and spring on the driver's side front wheel. It was no longer roadworthy. It had shoved the top of the wheel in at a 45°angle towards the engine. It ran, but wasn't drivable. We had it towed home, where it sat with a forlorn look for over a year.
Then, in November 2001, I located a one-owner 1984 900S (tan) 3-door, with 5-speed, though it was over six hours away in Chattanooga, TN. We hauled it back (to save time of getting license to drive it back) after a test drive and now the silver '84 is a parts donor to my daily driver tan '84!
And now, Mom has a 1990 900 base 3-door (love that 3-door profile!) and I just bought a 1989 900S as a fixer-upper/parts donor for $100.
The love affair with SAABs is now over seven years old and still going strong! These cars have more character and more versatility than most cars you could name, and a very high fun factor to boot!!!
All the best to all you SAABers,
Micah in NC
posted by 208.25.248...
, Sat, 25 Jan 2003 10:07:44
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