After studying the recent spread on the 900 SPG in Hemmings Sports and Exotic Cars, I had to face the fact that Saab stopped making SPGs in 1991. Since I owned a 1993, that caused me to think. (I’m at least bright enough to figure that out!)

I owned a 1993 Saab 900 3-door which was specially equipped for performance. “Factory tuned” to make 10 more hp than any SPG ever made. It had the same (or similar) suspension modifications. It had the factory SPG body kit installed. It was black. It possessed some of the best leather that money could buy.

But, alas, it wasn’t an actual SPG, and I’ve always assumed that it was.

In my defense, in those days you really only could get information on the differences between model years from a few reliable sources. Even if you had the information in hand, you likely had to collate and compare manually and account for the undocumented exceptions on top of that. So as ludicrous as it may sound now, even a Saab enthusiast wouldn’t know the exact model year changes on a long-running automobile such as the 900 without a lot of effort.

What exactly did I own? It appears that it was a 1993 900 Commemorative Edition. From the Saabce.com site (with thanks to PGAero for pointing me in this direction):

The 900 Commemorative Edition Turbo Coupe was offered in the US market in the spring of 1993. This model was only available as a three-door turbo with a manual transmission. It had a 185 Hp engine which made it the highest performing 900 ever. The extra horsepower was achieved through the modified “red box” APC, a 2.8bar fuel pressure regulator, and a special distributor with enhanced vacuum advance. It also offered an improved suspension. You could get it in any color you wanted; as long as that color was black with tan interior. At the time, it was considered the quintessential Saab 900 Turbo. Only a limited number were produced (literature states 325 but it appears only about 314 were actually built). All included leather interior, a burled walnut instrument panel facia (the first Saab 900 to get this treatment), a leather gear knob and boot, and special directional alloy wheels with polished outer lips and metallic gray centers.
Each 1993 Commemorative Edition came with a special 3.5″x 1.5″ engraved brass plaque to be mounted on the floor console in front of the shifter. The plaques showed each car’s specific number in the series (xx of 325). The plaques were not mounted on the cars when they were built and may not reflect the cars actual build number. The plaques came in the owner’s packet for each car and were to be installed by the dealer or by the owner. They were mounted with double-face tape and often came off, or perhaps were never installed, so some CE’s may not have their original plaque.

This fits my car’s description exactly. That silly little plaque was an eyesore that I removed almost as soon as I bought the thing. It was affixed to the glove box door on my car. Cheesy. It was as if Saab USA had contracted with Things Remembered or a local sports trophy shop to make a few thin little stick-on markers with the standard serif font. As stated above, they simply used double-sided tape to stick the plate to the car. Again, cheesy.

When I bought the car from TRA Saab, our local Saab dealer in Knoxville, Tennessee (I lived there at the time), it was two years old and already had the SPG body panels installed. In fact, it is quite possible that they were installed on the car when new, either by the dealer (TRA also sold the car when it was new) or by Saab USA. Either way, it would have been an undocumented upgrade. As an interesting bit of trivia, TRA Saab may have been the smallest Saab dealer in existence at the time. I have no way of knowing 100% whether that’s true, but it was small. The owner, Gary Wagner (I cannot believe that I remember his name), was also the only salesperson! There was one Saab mechanic and only two other employees for a total of four people working at the dealership. They sold out to the local Cadillac dealer in an odd bit of foreshadowing only a couple of years later.

So, here’s the “tale of the tape” as they say. 1991 900 SPG v. 1993 900 CE:

Engine Output:
1991 900 SPG: 175 bhp @ 5500 rpm, 195 ft-lbs. @ 3000 rpm
1993 900 CE: 185 bhp @ 5500 rpm, 201 ft-lbs. @ 2800 rpm

Chassis Modificiations:
1991 900 SPG: Gas-filled shocks with shorter, stiffer springs. Lowered two inches.
1993 900 CE: Gas-filled shocks with shorter, stiffer springs. Lowered two inches.

1991 900 SPG: Sway bars front and rear.
1993 900 CE: Sway bars front and rear.

Wheels:
1991 900 SPG: Silver SPG/Aero three-spoke wheels.
1993 900 CE: Metallic grey/silver directional three-spoke wheels.

The bottom line: I owned a great Saab 900. It wasn’t an actual SPG, but it was darn close. I wish like heck that I still had it.

Highs: Great pictures, some solid tips on automobile condition and what to look for.
Lows: Workman-like prose, a few omissions.

Result: A satisfying four-page spread on my favorite Saab.
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I’ve always had a fondness for Hemmings Motor News, the original publication from Hemmings that was and still is, to some degree, the gold standard in collector car classified advertising. I can remember reading Hemmings 30 years ago and learning that a) there were a slew of car marques that I knew nothing about, b) English cars had horrible electrical systems and c) people could and would do almost anything to a car.

There were sleek Jaguar E-types and Jensen-Healys from Britain, odd-looking World War II surplus vehicles with various mods and really fat American cars from the 1940′s and 1950′s. It didn’t take very long to determine that Dusenburgs, Cords and pre-war Rolls-Royces were the big money cars (probably still are today) and that people were fascinated with 1957 Chevrolets, an interest that I honestly do not share. Of course, Mustangs and Corvettes were abundantly represented, too.

I remember one particular story written in narrative style by an Austin-Healy Sprite collector that had agreed to buy a bug-eyed Sprite over the phone, took the bus to Denver, Colorado from his home in California and drove the car home. His account included a few twists and turns that I’ve since forgotten, but I remember two fascinating revelations: first, he discovered that the Sprite’s sputtering along the way home was due to the fact that an ignition wire had failed and was arcing the path instead and, second, he had a regular paint shop where he dropped off the car without a word exchanged because “they knew that I never willingly painted any car any color but green.” I wondered then what it must be like to have so many cars that you had a regular paint shop!

All of this digression for a reason: I never really thought that I’d have one of those “collector” cars featured in a magazine such as Hemmings. Oh, I always thought that I’d have a car or two worth talking about, but I always wanted the different cars, the slant-eyed Chrysler Newports, low-slung Citroëns, muscular Oldsmobile 4-4-2s, busy Lancias and the slab-side Lincoln convertibles. I never really cared for the cars that everybody else wanted.

Fast forward to today, and I’m at least partially there. Hemmings has done a feature piece on a car that I used to own: the Saab 900 SPG. As you can see, the spread is beautifully photographed, and it features the red 1991 SPG from the GM Heritage collection. The article contains a reasonable amount of information about the Saab 900 SPG, particularly with respect to model year changes and volumes. Unfortunately, the article is available only to subscribers or purchasers of the magazine. If you are a Classic 900 fan as I am, you’ll want to buy your own copy for your very own — it’s US$5 very well spent.

An excerpt from the article’s first page:

Saab built 908,810 900-series cars in five body styles — three- and five-door hatchbacks, two- and four-door notchbacks and convertibles — between 1979 and 1993, but the three-door hatchback was the most recognizably “Saab”. It was this style in which they chose to showcase their ever-evolving engine performance technology in 1984, with a show car that made its debut at the Brussels Salon Auto-Moto that January.

Called the Turbo 16 Aero, this pearlescent champagne three-door was powered by the third generation of Saab’s H-type 1,985cc four-cylinder. While the Bosch K-Jetronic fuel-injected 2.0-liter engines in production 1984 900 Turbo models sported a single overhead camshaft and two valves per cylinder head, the contemporary Turbo 16 Aero used Bosch LH-Jetronic fuel injection and wore a new aluminum pent-dome cylinder head with dual overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder flanking a centrally mounted spark plug. It also featured an intercooler that cooled the charge-air coming from the Garrett AirResearch T3 turbocharger from roughly 250 degrees to about 140 for greater density.

First of all, I didn’t know that the SPG debuted as a show car, much less in Belgium. Interesting history.

Secondly, it’s interesting to note just how much Saab engineers changed when they moved from the eight-valve turbocharged four to the 16-valve turbocharged four. New turbocharger, new fuel injection system, revised turbocharger cooling (added water cooling), added intercooler, new heads, valves, and the additional camshaft to drive it all. The punch line here is that Saab engineers made this very new package fit in the exact same body, with the same mounts, same transmission design, same basic block.

I did, however, know that the three “pearlescent champagne” (Saab color code 156G officially named Pearl Metallic Clearcoat) prototypes were the beginning of the SPG/T 16 Aero as a high-performance variant of the Saab Classic 900. Much to my surprise, according to a sidebar accompanying this article, one of the 1984 Saab 900 SPG prototypes is in private ownership in the United States! Michael Connelly, the current owner, bought the car from a Saab tech that worked at a dealership in Rhode Island. Apparently suffering from a failed transmission, the SPG had been transported to the dealer on a flat-bed wrecker sometime in 1985. A mechanic at the dealership saw it and immediately asked to buy it. Saab USA wanted the car back, but persistence sometimes pays. That lucky technician bought one of the only three 900 SPG/Aero prototypes ever made! I’ve now made it a goal to track down Mr. Connelly to get his thoughts on owning a little piece of history. Heady stuff.

Oh, and another thing from this section that we all know: “…the three-door hatchback was the most recognizably “Saab”.” Yeah, tell me something else that I don’t know!

From the “Tips” portion of the spread:

On body work: “900′s can corrode in the wrap-under sections of the doors, in the front and rear wheel arches and on the sides of the hood.” Uh-huh.

On the interior: “The falling headliner is an older Saab trademark…” Yep. (But not on a ‘vert!)

On the engine: “The turbocharged engines…are legendary for providing spirited performance and imbuing the car with a powerful but light and agile feel.” Yes!!!

On the transmission: “Saab long had a reputation for building finicky transmissions, and the five-speed manuals in all 900 Turbo SPGs were no exception.” Yikes. I learned that one the hard way.

Stuff that I learned from the write-up that I didn’t know before:

1. I’ve always said that I owned a 1993 900 SPG. Actually, I owned a 1993 900 Turbo Commemorative Edition. Otherwise mechanically identical to an SPG, the Commemorative Edition had two major advantages: the “red box” APC and a 2.8-bar fuel pressure regulator to accommodate the increased boost. Now I’m even more depressed for selling that car!

2. Only 7,625 Saab 900 SPGs were brought into the United States from 1985-1991. I find that to be a pretty small number, considering Saab was selling 30,000 – 40,000 units a year in those days.

3. A few 1985 900 SPGs were imported with color-matching trim. This has always bothered me — why did the other regional markets get color-matching body kits when North America got Anthracite Grey for all SPGs? As it turns out, the all of the 1985 SPGs were black and the earliest ones had black trim. The colors didn’t match very well, and the decision was made to change the lower fairings to grey. I don’t like the decision, but I understand the decision.

4. The three-spoke wheels were originally intended to improve aerodynamics.

5. Red 900′s look a LOT better with the Buffalo Grey interior rather than the Sierra Tan.

Once again, I suggest a trip to your local newsstand to pick up your personal copy.

What I knew nothing of, however, was the story behind the trailer – which is the story that John’s passed on for sharing here at TS.

I just love original projects like this. Enjoy.

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Saab and a half……Or Clifford and Harvey (halfy) as my daughter prefers.

My daughter named our 1991 T16S convertible Clifford as he’s red, has a name tag (the Clifford alarm plate) after the children’s cartoon character Clifford the Big Red Dog, and Harvey, well, let me explain about Harvey.

Last year we went on holiday to Albas in the Lot region of France, and after many an evening enjoying the good food and very good wine, we bemoaned the fact we had flown, which severely limited the amount of wine we could take home.

After one particularly long day enjoying the fruits of the region and several hours evaluating the possibility of resurrecting our guests’ VW Karmann Ghia Conv from the boathouse, our guests knowing we had a passion for Classic 900’s suggested we drive down the following year and bring a trailer to allow us to take home as much wine as we liked. After a few more glasses, the plan became more contrived and it was sort of agreed that a Saab trailer would be created to be towed behind our T16S Conv.

Unlike other silly late night discussions, this one carried forward to the next morning, and got more meat on the bones. My wife Julie thought it was just like me, but as the 900 we were planning on driving down in the following year was hers, she contributed that as long as it was the same colour, had the same body kit and alloys, then why not? Let’s do it!

After a few months of planning I began looking for a suitable donor vehicle that was cheap and eventually I found a 2-door 8 valve Turbo that was good and solid for £150 and collected him from S.Wales. Jon Saab in Poole kindly helped strip him down to a carcass, and distributed the engine, gearbox and other usable items to the needy cars of the region while I found help to get the oxy scalpel to work.

Andy, John and the guys at New Milton Motors initially thought we were bonkers but agreed to fabricate the chassis, cut the donor vehicle in half and mount it on the frame. I have to admit it was a very strange sensation drawing cut lines on pillars and the floor pans like some mad surgeon, but the deal was done, torches were lit and the 900 became half a Saab. The roof became the front panel, a heavy duty hitch was bolted on and phase one was complete and ready for a road test. The very strange looking appendage towed like a dream, but did create some amusement to the pedestrians we passed.

Next the trailer went to Kustom Kolors, the previous year they had done a good job in stripping down and re-spraying Clifford and were intrigued by the challenge of making a slightly rusty half a Saab look like a fully fledged trailer. It was decided we would line the trailer space with aluminum checker plate with the individual plates being seam welded, cap various holes created during the creation, fit an S kit post-spraying and work out how to fit a tonneau cover at a later date. A few months and a lot of part searching later Harvey was rolled out of the workshop and smiles the size of the Grand Canyon appeared on the faces of all who had been involved in creating it.

The last 2 parts of the jigsaw still remained, tonneau cover and alloys. The trailer went to a friend of Kustom Kolors called Gary (a vehicle upholsterer and roof manufacturer) who worked out the best way to match in the mohair and fit a cover that wouldn’t blow off while eating up the French motorway miles to Albas. This just left the alloys, Clifford has curly alloys but the trailer was born from a 1985 2-door leaving me with a slight problem to a problem, the axle stubs are different sizes which would mean acquiring a replacement axle for the trailer and fitting it in the 2 weeks left before holidays, so with great disappointment new wheel trims were fitted and that was that, to be honest it didn’t make that much difference, and did leave me with something to do next year.

Clifford was serviced, a new gearbox (many thanks 2stroke) and clutch was fitted in preparation for the journey and off we went. I can honestly say having been to several classic car rallies and shows that the combo definitely attracted more attention than envisaged. Clifford and Harvey were photographed endlessly on the motorway, at the services with many an interested party engaging in discussion about how long it took, how much it cost but all in all everyone was very positive and complimentary on the Saab and a half.

We arrived in Albas at Justin and Robin’s, a Saab friendly holiday destination where the initial idea was born, and the story of Harvey is complete. Needless to say many a vineyard visit later we returned home fully laden, very relaxed with great memories.

No breakdowns, 1700 miles later, averaging 30mpg empty and 26.5mpg loaded up, this years holiday was much more fun that simply getting on a plane, with the bonus of having made lots of new friends because of the Harvey the trailer. We thought we would share the experience with you.

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A few more photos follow. As always, the photos are enlargeable with a click.

My thanks to John for passing on this great story.

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I don’t cover vehicles for sale very often here at TS, but when it’s something quite unusual like this one, I’m happy to make an exception.

For sale, on Ebay and coming out of Pennsylvania, is a classic Saab 900 stretch limo.

It’s no show pony at the moment, but if you’re a collector who doesn’t mind expending a little effort, then this might be worthwhile.

Those central windows look a little questionable and it looks like there’s barely a surface inside, outside, or underneath, that you’d leave untouched. But if it was done right, this could be quite a show piece. Good enough for Scandinavian heads of state, good enough for you!

The car is a 1985 Saab 900 driven by a 16-valve turbocharged engine. The seller says the mileage is accurate and it stands at around 45,000 miles. That young engine isn’t exactly ship shape, though, blowing some smoke on start up.

It’s not for the faint-hearted, but it’s pretty rare and could be a lot of fun if finished properly.

Thanks Wulf!

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When Peter found one for sale in late 2006, he snapped it up and immediately got to work on bringing it back to life. It was lucky he started straight away as there was a lot to do:

The recent spring and summer in Sweden have seen Peter hard at work, and the following update photos will show you just how far he’s come.

This thread at SaabCentral will give you a lot of progressive photos, but the shots below show the project as it currently stands. I believe Peter wants to get it ready for the Saab Festival in 2009 (though I may be recalling that incorrectly).

He’s doing an extraordinary job with this and I can’t wait to bring more shots as the project as it progresses. It’s looking fantastic so far, and this really is a car that should be preserved.

Click any of the photos to enlarge.

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If the early Saab 900 interiors were about the funk, it has to be said that the driver’s cockpit fascia, the dashboard, was all about the function.

I can remember my own first experience with the Saab 900. The thing that leapt out at me straight away was the dial in the HVAC controls with all the arrows on it. What the heck is that for?! was my immediate thought. Five minutes later it made perfect sense, and has ever since.

The Saab 900 dashboard is like that. At first it seems a little unfamiliar and more than a little strange. Spend some time there, especially with the car in motion, and you come to realise that it was developed by some very clever people.

So what are we talking about here? Let’s take a look.

Click.

The big thing about the Saab 900 dash is the ergonomic quality.

The dash was specifically designed to have all the operations that needed to be close by at the driver’s fingertips. Operating stalks for indicators, wipers, washers were all placed within reach of the driver’s fingers without the driver have to lift their hands off the steering wheel. The steering wheel itself was a masterpiece of comfort and control, too.

A short reach away on the door side of the steering wheel are the controls that only the driver should have access to. For example, the passenger shouldn’t be able to inadverdantly turn off the lights. Hence, they’re on the opposite side of the stering wheel. Same with the dimmer switch and the driver’s side mirror (also there because it’s the mirror for that side of the car).

A short reach away on the passenger side of the steering wheel are the controls for the audio system, the climate control system and other functions.

The dials for the climate system were all organised and set up to work so that the driver could operate them by touch without having to look at them. The fan was a small dial with discrete clicks between settings. The temperature dial worked in a smooth 180 degree arc (up for hot, down for cold – makes sense).

The confusing-until-you-got-used-to-it dial was the vent outlet dial, with a myriad of arrows pointing in all sorts of directions. Spend a few minutes to study it though, and it all makes perfect sense. The switch positions move logically from top to bottom. From the top, you can set it to the windscreen, then to the windscreen and feet vents, feet vents only, feet vents with cold air from the facial vents, the driver’s facial vents or all dash level (facial vents).

Note that those positions correspond with where the temperature setting would most likely be. When the temperature is set to hot (the dial points up) the most likely vent settings to be used are in the upper part of the selection range. It makes sense.

Many have noted the fact that the dials were also made so that they could be operated easily by a gloved hand in winter. It’s also notable that the Saab 900s heater is like a furnace!

Saab enthusiasts will also be familiar and very comfortable with Saab’s interior lighting. Green was chosen for its neutrality and the fact that it gave the closest effect to daylight conditions. The soft green lighting allows warning lights to stand out properly. It allows for the easiest reading of the matt black gauges with white lettering and orange needles – a setup that can be easily read with just a glance from the driver. Those gauges were deep set so as to avoid any glare on the 900′s superb, curved windscreen.

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The Saab 900 didn’t start the key-in-between-the-seats thing. That was the Saab 99. The 900 carried on the tradition, though, and I’m glad they did as it’s another case of something that’s seemingly unusual making perfect sense.

The “between the seats” area is actually pretty important. Saab maintained the practice of having the handbrake there so that it could be operated by the passenger if necessary. Having the key there meant that the driver could fasten the seatbelt, insert the key, start the car and release the handbrake all in one easy set of operations.

My 1985 Saab 900 also has electric window switches in this area (not shown in the photo, above) and these are perfectly positioned so that the driver can just reach down and operate the front windows without having to look for them. They’re located right where your fingers fall if you position your arm in this area.

Saab have always made brilliant seats, and those in the 900 were a big part of this heritage. Saab made them to be very comfortable, and adjustable to the extent that over 90% of all drivers should be able to find an optimum driving position (not bad considering there were no steering wheel adjustments at that time). Seat heating kept the driver comfortable and alert.

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The Saab 900′s interior layout was a masterclass in modern ergonmics and drew high praise from the motoring public of the time. Trends in materials and design have taken a lot away from this interior but several of the main elements still remain: the green lighting, the key position (bring back those central window switches!), the toggled air vents. Many other aspects of the 900s interior such as logical switch positioning have been taken up by others and are now the rule rather than the exception.

It’s still a truly extraordinary place to drive a car from. Supremely comfortable and very, very functional. I can only imagine what it must have been like, how revolutionary it must have been, 20 years or so ago.

As Eggs is given to saying: Vive la 900!

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This is entry was ably assisted by resources and images from Wulf’s excellent Saab Media website.

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The interior is my favourite part of any car, especially in the Saab 900, where Saab unleashed the funk like few manufacturers before or since. Whilst later Saab 900s were fitted with the more sober interiors that we’re used to seeing today, the early models were all about color, color, color!

Like blue, for example:

Or green:

Or a warm, inviting red:

And finally, a more familiar tan:

This is something that I love about early Saab interiors and it’s something you just don’t see in many modern cars. I don’t know how Swedish it is, but it was definitely very 1970s, even if they used it into the early 1980s. These interiors were bold and inviting, very European and somewhat intoxicating. It can be a little unnerving to see this sort of boldness in a modern car, but when it’s done correctly it can really look fantastic.

Saab’s early 900s featured velour trim more than leather. This might have been less sophisticated than a leather interior (and more difficult to clean), but it was also more personal and inviting. The velour trim was always mild to the touch, great on winter days and visually stunning. It had a tactile quality to it that wasn’t present in many cars, and still isn’t today.

Of course, the velour also had its drawbacks. Darker colors were prone to fading over time (all the more reason to get one of those rear louvres!) and once the cloth got too much sunlight and wear, it had a tendency to tear along the seams.

Saab later moved to leather seat surfaces in the 900, maintaining a dark red interior for some time before narrowing the offering down to grey or tan. What the leather took away in instant familiarity, it more than gave back in sophistication, style and comfort.

My dark red leather interior:

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Of course, Saabs are more about function than form. Those funky interiors lent the cars a fair bit of personality, but the thing that really gets you about Saabs is how easy they are to hang out in.

That’s not just about comfort, it’s also about ergonmics. We’ll get to that next.

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I came across one of these old school techniques yesterday whilst looking up Saab 900 information at Wulf’s excellent Saabmedia.net website. A custom rear window louvre made by Saab. It’s not just your regular louvre, either. This looks like it was made to match Saab’s famous Inca wheels from the late 1970s and early 80s.

I’d gladly pay three figures to get one of these for my 900 now, even if I haven’t got Incas on my 1985 model. That louvre is retro-way-cool. I wonder how many were purchased during the product’s lifetime and if there are any hanging around in a warehouse somewhere?

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By the way, if you want to read all about the Saab 900 and it’s myriad features, there’s a scan of a 54-page engineering booklet on the Saab 900 at Saabmedia.net. It’s an incredibly good read and it’s stuff like this that got me to appreciate Saab’s design methods in the first place.

None of this wizardry was accidental.

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There were a lot of great things Saab did over the early years. The unique design of Sixten Sason’s cars, the aircraft links. Safety before it seemed important. And then there’s the whole rally thing. But the car that really embodied everything that Saab came to stand for, the car that piqued everyone’s interest and is still a point of both reference and reverence today is the Saab 900.

A few people mentioned it in the poll and the poll results articles here, and I’ve mentioned it several times in the last few years – Saab could do much worse than releasing a modern interpretation of the Saab 900. BMW have done it with the Mini and various brands are doing it with their historical hero cars. You take a modern platform and modern technology and combine them with the design and ethos of a great car from the past. If the Saab 900 was the subject of such an exercise I’m sure it would attract a lot of past Saab customers – and it would be one heck of a great car.

But a 2015 Saab 900 is not the point of this post.

The point of this post is a simple exercise that would cost peanuts and would capture the spirit of Saab in the offices of GM Europe. The officers in those offices basically hold the future of Saab in their hands. Saab is owned by General Motors in Detroit, but when it comes to Saab, they listen in large part to the advice provided by the people from GM Europe. We should all feel fortunate the Carl-Peter Forster’s in charge there and he’s a Saab fan. I’d be writing an Alfa blog if he weren’t and you’d all quite likely be looking for your next VW, Nissan or Subaru.

CPF’s a fan, but what about the bean-counters who work for him? We all know what Saab has represented in the past, what it could be again. Do they?

My simple idea involves a fleet of Saab 900s. Restore them all to good working order and have them in a car pool for GME employees to drive. Let them see exactly how far ahead the Saab 900 was in its day. Let them see exactly how well it drives. Let them see how good it is even by today’s standards (and yes, it’s still good).

All those commenters saying how the car they miss the most is their 900 aren’t sentimental fools. The car is actually quite outstanding, even today. This idea may seem incredibly simple and perhaps even a little quaint. But the 900 is a car that endears itself to the driver. It’s not just a funny looking design with an upright seat. It’s got a real personality to it and spending a week or two in one is a life-changing experience for anyone with an appreciation for cars and car design.

And that’s the allure behind the idea of a modern Saab 900. Drive an original 900 for a period of time and you’ll experience all that a modern Saab should be.

The design is visually beautiful. Few cars have ever had a more disctinctive and identifiable profile. The car was incredibly practical and is noted for carrying all sorts of rediculously large loads. The interior has ergonomics that once experienced, will leave you wondering why they’ve ever changed.

Most of all, though, it’s a brilliant drive. The car leans a little in the bends but it ends up exactly where you pointed it. It’s got a great driver’s feel, from the grippy steering wheel to the best seats of their generation, to the great engine and exhaust note. All combine to deliver a great driver’s experience. Put all the qualities of the Saab 900 together and you could quite literally drive it to theater on Friday night, bring furtniture home in the back on Saturday and take the whole family for a picnic on Sunday. It’s at home in all three scenarios – even in 2008.

This is quite simply a car whose spirit, design and ethos should never have died.

GM Europe probably won’t entertain my simple idea. They’ll probably find it amusing. Thankfully, there’s a number of people involved with Saab who still maintain 900s in their private garages. I’ve met a few of them personally and I know they love their 900s, even if they don’t get to drive them that often. I just think it’d be a great idea if a few of the decision makers got the same experience that many of us have had.

Maybe it’d be good if you got the same experience as well. 900s are getting older and cheaper. If you’re in the market for a weekend car or a hobby car, then put a post-1985 Saab 900 16v on your list. If you’re happy with less performance and like a funkier interior, then go for the earliest 900 you can find (more on interiors coming soon).

Saab are building an emphasis on their turbocharging history. The 900 didn’t start Saab’s relationship with turbos, but it was the car that brought that relationship into the limelight. The 900 wasn’t just about the turbo, and I’ll try and bring you as much about the car as I can in the coming week.

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The main outcome was that 50% of respondents have either never owned or never driven a Saab 900. This shouldn’t be so surprising. The youngest Saab 900s are now 14 years old and the oldest are 29 years old. That’s a lot of water under the bridge and I guess you could say it’s a testament to the brand’s longevity that there’s such a high proportion of 900-experienced people still hanging around.

The comments in the post were a testimony as well. There were a lot of fond memories shared there and it all pretty much confirms a thought that’s been forming in my head in the last few days – that the Saab 900 was quite possibly the best “attainable” car of the 1980′s and one of the best of the 1990s as well.

By attainable, I mean that there were possibly more desireable cars in this era – who didn’t want a Lamborghini? – but the Saab 900 was a great performing, comfortable and incredibly practical car that was pretty affordable in most markets.

But more than that, the car had incredible character. From the profile of the three-door to the funky interiors, the Saab 900 just oozes personality and it loses none of that when you get behind the wheel.

I’m going to post more on that later, but thanks to all who participated and stay tuned for some more Saab 900 thoughts and prognostications over the weekend.

Golfhunter’s two-tone 900

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