Winter tyres + man-maths = Saab 9000??
Discussion
27 years ago I bought my first car, an Opel Manta, for £350.
And despite me loving it to bits and it serving me well for several years, with hindsight, it was an unmitigated shed.
A rear wing that was held in place with pop rivets, a smoky engine, leaks from the rust holes under the vinyl roof and a tendency to cut out at random and for an unspecified length of time were just a few of its charms.
What, you may ask, has this to do with today's trip across the M62 to Bradford?
Well, for the exact same sum, I today purchased my winter wheels and tyres. And they came attached to this....
1996 Saab 9000 Griffin 2.3 turbo. 6 months T&T, lots of toys and plenty of wafty automatic poke. With some pretty lightly used Nokians already fitted.
Cruising home in absolute comfort, I reflected on how much car a small sum of money can buy these days, especially if it is a bit thirsty and lacking in image.
So far as I can tell, everything on it works, the previous owner spend £264 in September getting the climate control repaired and recharged and there is a big wedge of paperwork to back up mileage and service history.
The arches are rust free, the underside looks pretty damn good and the interior is very tidy. It looks nearly as tidy in the flesh as in the picture with just a little lacquer peel by the boot lid and some (very common) bubbling on the screen pillars to let it down.
Obviously it's early days yet, but so far I'm pretty happy with my man-maths tyre purchase!!
And despite me loving it to bits and it serving me well for several years, with hindsight, it was an unmitigated shed.
A rear wing that was held in place with pop rivets, a smoky engine, leaks from the rust holes under the vinyl roof and a tendency to cut out at random and for an unspecified length of time were just a few of its charms.
What, you may ask, has this to do with today's trip across the M62 to Bradford?
Well, for the exact same sum, I today purchased my winter wheels and tyres. And they came attached to this....
1996 Saab 9000 Griffin 2.3 turbo. 6 months T&T, lots of toys and plenty of wafty automatic poke. With some pretty lightly used Nokians already fitted.
Cruising home in absolute comfort, I reflected on how much car a small sum of money can buy these days, especially if it is a bit thirsty and lacking in image.
So far as I can tell, everything on it works, the previous owner spend £264 in September getting the climate control repaired and recharged and there is a big wedge of paperwork to back up mileage and service history.
The arches are rust free, the underside looks pretty damn good and the interior is very tidy. It looks nearly as tidy in the flesh as in the picture with just a little lacquer peel by the boot lid and some (very common) bubbling on the screen pillars to let it down.
Obviously it's early days yet, but so far I'm pretty happy with my man-maths tyre purchase!!
Excellent choice I sold my 1997 CSE Turbo for a similar sum recently complete with a set of half-worn Nokians on a spare set of wheels. Mine had a very rusty front wing and quite a lot of rust around the windscreen though, so yours looks like a great buy if the wings are in good condition. It's ridiculous really how much car you get for so little money and they're so well engineered.
I owned mine for 4 years and was genuinely sad to see it being driven away when I sold it.
I owned mine for 4 years and was genuinely sad to see it being driven away when I sold it.
Edited by RDB on Sunday 17th November 17:06
Thanks for the kind comments chaps!
Didn't get a chance to take any better pictures today, and the light was very poor all day anyway, but I've had a closer look and the only additional faults I could find were:-
Didn't get a chance to take any better pictures today, and the light was very poor all day anyway, but I've had a closer look and the only additional faults I could find were:-
- One in-op number plate light, now fixed
- One headlight wiper parks a bit randomly
Had a bit of an issue with the car randomly misting up quite badly in wet weather and then suddenly clearing again.
A bit of investigation suggested that the air-con compressor wasn't kicking in very often and as often as not a sharp flick to the relay would set it running. Opened the relay and the contacts had pretty much turned to carbon dust.
A quick rummage in one of my many boxes of dead Saab parts produced an identical relay, fitted and the compressor seems to be kicking in regularly now. No misting up today, but it was dry all day, so we'll see what happens when the rains return...
Took advantage of the sun to take a few snaps (although the car is pretty filthy)
Plenty of tread on G2's
A fairly clean engine bay. No rust creeping into any of the under-bonnet bodywork and the plating of the fixings and brackets is almost like new. Puts my 8 year newer (but higher mileage) Monaro to absolute shame.
Boot appears to have hardly been used. Spare tyre has never been on car. Tool kit complete.
All 4 arches are utterly minty!!
Wood and (some) leather
Big bum!!
You can just see the lacquer peel on top of the rear wing. Does let the car down but really trying to avoid bad thoughts about getting it sorted!!
Lovely day
OCD alert - that headlight wiper is annoying me out of all proportion to the seriousness of the issue!!!
A bit of investigation suggested that the air-con compressor wasn't kicking in very often and as often as not a sharp flick to the relay would set it running. Opened the relay and the contacts had pretty much turned to carbon dust.
A quick rummage in one of my many boxes of dead Saab parts produced an identical relay, fitted and the compressor seems to be kicking in regularly now. No misting up today, but it was dry all day, so we'll see what happens when the rains return...
Took advantage of the sun to take a few snaps (although the car is pretty filthy)
Plenty of tread on G2's
A fairly clean engine bay. No rust creeping into any of the under-bonnet bodywork and the plating of the fixings and brackets is almost like new. Puts my 8 year newer (but higher mileage) Monaro to absolute shame.
Boot appears to have hardly been used. Spare tyre has never been on car. Tool kit complete.
All 4 arches are utterly minty!!
Wood and (some) leather
Big bum!!
You can just see the lacquer peel on top of the rear wing. Does let the car down but really trying to avoid bad thoughts about getting it sorted!!
Lovely day
OCD alert - that headlight wiper is annoying me out of all proportion to the seriousness of the issue!!!
I really like that. I have fond memories of being driven to school in a neighbour's 9000 when I managed to grab a lift.
On a freezing winter day, a toasty 9000 interior is a lovely place to be. No pretence about being a "driving machine": just a focus around real driving. Such a shame Saab lost a bit of their character at the end.
On a freezing winter day, a toasty 9000 interior is a lovely place to be. No pretence about being a "driving machine": just a focus around real driving. Such a shame Saab lost a bit of their character at the end.
Aah brings back fond memories of my 9000 and the several weeks of snow in December 2010. It never failed to start and get me to work safely in temperatures down to -13. That winter I realised just how well Saabs are designed for cold climates, everything from the heated seats to the rear passenger window demisters.
It was utterly amazing in the snow with winters on and I took great joy in carrying on along roads where the only other vehicles I saw were Landrover Defenders.
You've got yourself a absolute bargain there!
Mine with his winter boots on
It was utterly amazing in the snow with winters on and I took great joy in carrying on along roads where the only other vehicles I saw were Landrover Defenders.
You've got yourself a absolute bargain there!
Mine with his winter boots on
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