[Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
#1
He went out to the parking lot at his school, and being being Vermont, there are plenty of Saabs to go around. Being the nonchalant guy he is, he just walked up to the first black 900 turbo he saw. He put the key in and drove away. I have heard stories about Saab keys working in random Saabs. Anyway, about 20 minutes later (I guess it was in the morning so he was not quite awake yet) he starts to realize that this is not his car! It happened to be a black 900 turbo automatic, but none of the cd's were his, you get the picture. I think he figured out it was a chick's car, since I think there was make up in there or something. Nonetheless, he completed his errands, and quietly drove back to campus! He brought the car back to the lot, but is positive he did not put it back in the same space he took it from. She must have freaked out when she came back to her car. Wacky.
#2
My personal best involves upstate New York and the aquisition of a dead SPG. We thought we'd make it home to MD, a good 400 miles from our starting point in Utica, NY. Early January: 20 degree temperatures, big stiff winds, and mountains of snow everywhere. It took about 2 hours to get the SPG roadworthy. We settled on the deal and drove the car away. I was driving my own SPG, with my brother, a Saab mechanic, following behind me in the junk SPG. About 1 mile into the trip (but already on a major highway) the temperature gauge shoots into the top of red and steam comes out of the engine. We pull over right away. Keep in mind this highway has no real shoulder. Two gray cars, covered in gray salt muck crap from the roads, and an overpass making shadows made for a very scary situation. People not paying attention while driving were barely missing hitting these cars, as we pulled off near an off ramp. We figured we should actually go up this off ramp to try to fix whatever was broken. I get in my car and take off. My brother is not behind me though. The SPG won't start! Argg. I wait for him at the top of the ramp for a few minutes, and then I try to call his cell phone. He picks upm yelling "The f*cking car won't start and people are barely missing the car. OH SH*T!!!" and all I hear on the other end is "click". The phone goes dead.
I freaked out; hoped in my car and took off to get back around to where he was. Too bad every damn road was one way, and it took me 10 minutes to go 1/4 mi with all of the switchbacks I had to make. I broke a few do not enter sign laws at that time. Anyway, I finally made it back to where the car SHOULD have been, and no car! He had been sitting in the car trying to get it to crank when it came on full power, and shot away from that spot like a cannonball. I found him at the top of the exit, with the hood up. We got the car to a parking lot, and finally got it running and fixing the blown off heater core coolant hose, among other things.
The car finally ran, and it drove nicely for about the next 250 miles or so. We pulled off at a rest stop, letting the cars sit for a moment. We get back in, and the junker won't crank, again. Turns out the fuel pump relay was acting up, and we had to let that cool off. Holy crap. In all, it took us 11 hours to get back from Utica. We finally made it home, and put the car up on the lift. Turns out the ball joints were about done, and the calipers were almost completely rusted. A very unsafe ride indeed! I'm just glad we made it back in one piece. We dubbed her Sgt. York, and short;y thereafter ended her life by completely parting it out. The engine does live on, even today, in an 87 SPG I sold not long ago.
Mike
No Site Registration is Required to Post - Site Membership is optional (Member Features List), but helps to keep the site online
for all Saabers. If the site helps you, please consider helping the site by becoming a member.