COOL CLASSIC CAR SPOTTERS POST! (Vol 3)
Discussion
uk66fastback said:
Super cool and getting expensive these days. A friend of mine had a LPT one many years ago, lag you could measure with an egg timer but all part of the fun. It was superbly built I remember.One of the few (only?) cars that can carry off a 3 spoke alloy (Ford Probe, P38 Range Rover amongst others show how you can't always pull it off!).
Blown2CV said:
the LPT was meant to address the lag of previous versions too 
It may have been a full fat one, but not the S. It was no spring chicken, 200k if I remember. If you used the gears and kept the turbo pumping then all was good. But it was actually more fun to let the boost die, then floor it and experience the wait for it....wait for it....wait for it....and....and....here it comes....bang!! on every straight. Probably not ideal for fuel consumption and longevity of either tyres, turbo or license but it was fun!Dapster said:
Blown2CV said:
the LPT was meant to address the lag of previous versions too
It may have been a full fat one, but not the S. It was no spring chicken, 200k if I remember. If you used the gears and kept the turbo pumping then all was good. But it was actually more fun to let the boost die, then floor it and experience the wait for it....wait for it....wait for it....and....and....here it comes....bang!! on every straight. Probably not ideal for fuel consumption and longevity of either tyres, turbo or license but it was fun!It seemed to depend on how you drove. My one careful previous owner 900 T16S had 246K when I gave it away
and was still - fortunately - in possession of its perfectly working original gearbox. By contrast, my 9-owner Monte Carlo Convertible was on its third, at 146K when sold.I believe the turbo lag was due to the convoluted path air had to take to enter the engine. The turbo was mounted on the right hand side of the engine bay, due to the position of the exhaust manifold. It drew air from the air filter mounted on the left side of the engine. Pipes took compressed air round the front of the engine and, on a T16S, through a very restrictive, low-mounted intercooler, before climbing up to the air flow meter and into the throttle housing and hence in inlet manifold on the engine's left side. I reckon air had to travel nearly 10 feet before it hit the combustion chambers.
A monthly routine was to check all the jubilee clips and vacuum hoses for tightness.
SpudLink said:
Watcher of the skies said:
There s one on a driveway near me, also in Leicester. But it has a different private plate, so not the same car. Rob 131 Sport said:
They didn t sell many of these in Britain in comparison with the all conquering E30, especially in 325i guise where they were the same price as a 900 Turbo. The 325i also held onto its price superbly well due to its desirability whereas the 900 Turbo was a real auction cheapie at 3 years old.
Almost entirely incorrect. You're right that the BMW marketing team did a better job than the two blokes in Trollhatten tasked with selling a quirky, divisive-looking car. It must have been much easier to sell something as conventional as an E30.
SAABs were bought by people who considered their purchase carefully, weighing up their needs and investing in something built to last. Most BMWs in period were bought by people who didn't even test drive one. (Source: BMW dealer friend back in the day).
With similar power outputs (~170 bhp ish), the 325i and 900 T16 achieved broadly comparable performance but went about it in a different way. The silky smooth I6 of the BMW was linear and better at the 0-60 dash; the boosted SAAB was more peaky and excelled in the 50-70 range. Which was best? Personal choice.
The biggest problem SAAB enthusiasts face now is fear of parts supply, post-GM abortion. While there are many sources of good used parts, these are dwindling and certainly can't compete with heritage parts supply like BMW and Mercedes provide.
It didn't help that the 900 remained largely unchanged from 1979-1993: 14 years and c330,000 units. BMW had the budget to move on so was able to evolve the E30 into the E36 by 1990, after 8 years in production and c2.4m units.
Auction cheapie at three years old? Most SAAB owners wouldn't even have been thinking about changing at three years old.
Or is it more that you take delight in berating cars that you don't personally like?
Turbobanana said:
Almost entirely incorrect.
You're right that the BMW marketing team did a better job than the two blokes in Trollhatten tasked with selling a quirky, divisive-looking car. It must have been much easier to sell something as conventional as an E30.
SAABs were bought by people who considered their purchase carefully, weighing up their needs and investing in something built to last. Most BMWs in period were bought by people who didn't even test drive one. (Source: BMW dealer friend back in the day).
With similar power outputs (~170 bhp ish), the 325i and 900 T16 achieved broadly comparable performance but went about it in a different way. The silky smooth I6 of the BMW was linear and better at the 0-60 dash; the boosted SAAB was more peaky and excelled in the 50-70 range. Which was best? Personal choice.
The biggest problem SAAB enthusiasts face now is fear of parts supply, post-GM abortion. While there are many sources of good used parts, these are dwindling and certainly can't compete with heritage parts supply like BMW and Mercedes provide.
It didn't help that the 900 remained largely unchanged from 1979-1993: 14 years and c330,000 units. BMW had the budget to move on so was able to evolve the E30 into the E36 by 1990, after 8 years in production and c2.4m units.
Auction cheapie at three years old? Most SAAB owners wouldn't even have been thinking about changing at three years old.
Or is it more that you take delight in berating cars that you don't personally like?
They are both great cars and certainly appealed to different customers so it would certainly be a personal choice, i'd have either.You're right that the BMW marketing team did a better job than the two blokes in Trollhatten tasked with selling a quirky, divisive-looking car. It must have been much easier to sell something as conventional as an E30.
SAABs were bought by people who considered their purchase carefully, weighing up their needs and investing in something built to last. Most BMWs in period were bought by people who didn't even test drive one. (Source: BMW dealer friend back in the day).
With similar power outputs (~170 bhp ish), the 325i and 900 T16 achieved broadly comparable performance but went about it in a different way. The silky smooth I6 of the BMW was linear and better at the 0-60 dash; the boosted SAAB was more peaky and excelled in the 50-70 range. Which was best? Personal choice.
The biggest problem SAAB enthusiasts face now is fear of parts supply, post-GM abortion. While there are many sources of good used parts, these are dwindling and certainly can't compete with heritage parts supply like BMW and Mercedes provide.
It didn't help that the 900 remained largely unchanged from 1979-1993: 14 years and c330,000 units. BMW had the budget to move on so was able to evolve the E30 into the E36 by 1990, after 8 years in production and c2.4m units.
Auction cheapie at three years old? Most SAAB owners wouldn't even have been thinking about changing at three years old.
Or is it more that you take delight in berating cars that you don't personally like?
My first taste of Saab was riding in one as a child when a family friend purchased a brand new 99 Turbo. He was always happy to drive everywhere flat out and i was can still remember being amazed at the performance of it.
Doyliestag said:
Turbobanana said:
Almost entirely incorrect.
You're right that the BMW marketing team did a better job than the two blokes in Trollhatten tasked with selling a quirky, divisive-looking car. It must have been much easier to sell something as conventional as an E30.
SAABs were bought by people who considered their purchase carefully, weighing up their needs and investing in something built to last. Most BMWs in period were bought by people who didn't even test drive one. (Source: BMW dealer friend back in the day).
With similar power outputs (~170 bhp ish), the 325i and 900 T16 achieved broadly comparable performance but went about it in a different way. The silky smooth I6 of the BMW was linear and better at the 0-60 dash; the boosted SAAB was more peaky and excelled in the 50-70 range. Which was best? Personal choice.
The biggest problem SAAB enthusiasts face now is fear of parts supply, post-GM abortion. While there are many sources of good used parts, these are dwindling and certainly can't compete with heritage parts supply like BMW and Mercedes provide.
It didn't help that the 900 remained largely unchanged from 1979-1993: 14 years and c330,000 units. BMW had the budget to move on so was able to evolve the E30 into the E36 by 1990, after 8 years in production and c2.4m units.
Auction cheapie at three years old? Most SAAB owners wouldn't even have been thinking about changing at three years old.
Or is it more that you take delight in berating cars that you don't personally like?
They are both great cars and certainly appealed to different customers so it would certainly be a personal choice, i'd have either.You're right that the BMW marketing team did a better job than the two blokes in Trollhatten tasked with selling a quirky, divisive-looking car. It must have been much easier to sell something as conventional as an E30.
SAABs were bought by people who considered their purchase carefully, weighing up their needs and investing in something built to last. Most BMWs in period were bought by people who didn't even test drive one. (Source: BMW dealer friend back in the day).
With similar power outputs (~170 bhp ish), the 325i and 900 T16 achieved broadly comparable performance but went about it in a different way. The silky smooth I6 of the BMW was linear and better at the 0-60 dash; the boosted SAAB was more peaky and excelled in the 50-70 range. Which was best? Personal choice.
The biggest problem SAAB enthusiasts face now is fear of parts supply, post-GM abortion. While there are many sources of good used parts, these are dwindling and certainly can't compete with heritage parts supply like BMW and Mercedes provide.
It didn't help that the 900 remained largely unchanged from 1979-1993: 14 years and c330,000 units. BMW had the budget to move on so was able to evolve the E30 into the E36 by 1990, after 8 years in production and c2.4m units.
Auction cheapie at three years old? Most SAAB owners wouldn't even have been thinking about changing at three years old.
Or is it more that you take delight in berating cars that you don't personally like?
My first taste of Saab was riding in one as a child when a family friend purchased a brand new 99 Turbo. He was always happy to drive everywhere flat out and i was can still remember being amazed at the performance of it.
Agree, different cars for different people.
Early 1980's - A family man all of a sudden so it was curtains for the Lotus Sunbeam. I got talking over the petrol pumps at a fuel station near Hyde Park to a guy with a Saab 900 Turbo. Turned out that he wanted something sportier and I needed something more sensible. So I travelled up from Carshalton to his pad in North London that evening and we did what, from memory, was effectively a straight swap - although I did donate some Skip Brown goodies that were yet to be fitted.
For a week or so I thought "what have I done" before understanding the Saab dynamics/turbo-lag & I became hooked. I bailed out a couple of years later into an E30 (325i) but it didn't float my boat so within 6 months or so it was back to an Abbott-modified Saab. The affiliation would continue until GM modification/nullation came along.
Early 1980's - A family man all of a sudden so it was curtains for the Lotus Sunbeam. I got talking over the petrol pumps at a fuel station near Hyde Park to a guy with a Saab 900 Turbo. Turned out that he wanted something sportier and I needed something more sensible. So I travelled up from Carshalton to his pad in North London that evening and we did what, from memory, was effectively a straight swap - although I did donate some Skip Brown goodies that were yet to be fitted.
For a week or so I thought "what have I done" before understanding the Saab dynamics/turbo-lag & I became hooked. I bailed out a couple of years later into an E30 (325i) but it didn't float my boat so within 6 months or so it was back to an Abbott-modified Saab. The affiliation would continue until GM modification/nullation came along.
moffspeed said:
Agree, different cars for different people.
Early 1980's - A family man all of a sudden so it was curtains for the Lotus Sunbeam. I got talking over the petrol pumps at a fuel station near Hyde Park to a guy with a Saab 900 Turbo. Turned out that he wanted something sportier and I needed something more sensible. So I travelled up from Carshalton to his pad in North London that evening and we did what, from memory, was effectively a straight swap - although I did donate some Skip Brown goodies that were yet to be fitted.
For a week or so I thought "what have I done" before understanding the Saab dynamics/turbo-lag & I became hooked. I bailed out a couple of years later into an E30 (325i) but it didn't float my boat so within 6 months or so it was back to an Abbott-modified Saab. The affiliation would continue until GM modification/nullation came along.
Did he give you the polo neck jumper as part of the deal!Early 1980's - A family man all of a sudden so it was curtains for the Lotus Sunbeam. I got talking over the petrol pumps at a fuel station near Hyde Park to a guy with a Saab 900 Turbo. Turned out that he wanted something sportier and I needed something more sensible. So I travelled up from Carshalton to his pad in North London that evening and we did what, from memory, was effectively a straight swap - although I did donate some Skip Brown goodies that were yet to be fitted.
For a week or so I thought "what have I done" before understanding the Saab dynamics/turbo-lag & I became hooked. I bailed out a couple of years later into an E30 (325i) but it didn't float my boat so within 6 months or so it was back to an Abbott-modified Saab. The affiliation would continue until GM modification/nullation came along.
I remember the 900 Turbo having a high image in period - particularly the convertible which had a lot of prestige. They appealed to a different customer to the BMW. The 325i was the ultimate Yuppie dream car whereas I saw the SAAB as appealing to a customer who was no less affluent, but perhaps a bit older. Both were interesting cars then - and still are now.
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