My L Reg Saab c900 2.0 16v (Pic Heavy!!!)
Discussion
Having had what is my 5th Saab for a few months now, i think it's about time i write a post about it.
The first time i really took notice of a Saab was when a friend of my parents bought an immaculate 9000 Aero in red. The three spoke deep dish wheels and the leather, and the speed of the thing was really impressive for something so old! It felt as safe and stable at speed as anything brand new these days and had a lovely safe feeling about it. So, after a couple of crap cars, Nissan Almera 1.5 S and a Citroen Xsara 2.0HDI, incase you care, i stumbled across a clean looking Saab 9-3 convertible in the classifieds.
My Citroen was an embarrassing bogey green metallic and being 19 at the time i was desperate to have something that would impress girls a little bit more than the hideous 'green machine' as i had nicknamed it. So i turned up to see the Saab, parked in some dodgey car dealers garage at his home.It was gleaming, but had absolutely no service history with it's 70,000 miles, just an MOT, logbook and key. I drove it, top down, back home and from that moment i was hooked on Saabs!
So a bit of background on the 900 then. I was dying to scratch the 900 itch, and began searching for a 900 T16 that was cheap enough. The trouble is, the ones which were cheap enough were in very bad nick. I saw this 900 16v non turbo, and it was SO clean, i just had to have it. I drove to Norfolk from Northants to have a look at it, and ended up arranging to pick it up the following week. It has to be the most honest car i'd ever seen - owned from new buy a Saab enthusiast who alsmost always had taken it to the Saab Specialist garage in Norfolk at which it was for sale - he had eventually some 20+ years later traded it for a 9-5 estate. Here are some pics from the original ad:
[/pic]
Excuse all the pictures, but hopefully they show just how clean this car is and why i HAD to buy it. Do i regret not getting a turbo? Not at all, it goes really well, and i just cannot believe the condition. It's on 128,000 miles but the seats look like they've never even been sat in.
On the drive home from Norfolk i nearly ran it out of fuel because there wasn't a petrol station in miles and miles! I got the car home, and then went out to the shops in it, and it was pissing with what i thought was oil. Luckily it was just the O rings in the power steering pipe... so had these replaced and it stopped leaking power steering fluid. A coolant hose has recently failed which i have replaced for c.£5. Other than that, it has been a shining example of reliable swedish magnificence!
My plans for this car are as follows:
First, new alloys. I'm thinking some three spoke deep dish Aero wheels with the centres refurbed in anthracite. The petrol cap and sunroof painted cover need replacing or repainting. There is a tiny amount of surface rust in one or two places. To make the bodywork in perfect condition i have been quoted £400 which i thought was pretty damn good. I'm going to have the rear windows and screen tinted. I'd thought about a whale tail spoiler too but i don't want the car to be trying to be something it isn't, so i've almost decided against that. The headlining is sagging, so i have some material and glue ready to go - just need the time. Lastly, i want to fit a nice audio system that doesn't look too out of place in amongst the walnut dash - the current one isn't really up to scratch, new speakers desperately needed.
I'm really enjoying owning this old thing so far, it certainly turns heads and brightens up car parks full of repmobiles. I love it. Infact, when all the little jobs are done, i'm going to use it as a daily driver. It handles superbly, and has a very comfortable ride. It cruises effortlessly along on the motorway, or when you want to overtake there's plenty of power - but I find when I drive this I rarely want to drive 'enthusiastically', It has a wonderfully calming effect. I love how you can feel the road through the wheel in a way that has been lost in recent years on newer cars.
More pictures to follow over the coming weeks and months of improvements
The first time i really took notice of a Saab was when a friend of my parents bought an immaculate 9000 Aero in red. The three spoke deep dish wheels and the leather, and the speed of the thing was really impressive for something so old! It felt as safe and stable at speed as anything brand new these days and had a lovely safe feeling about it. So, after a couple of crap cars, Nissan Almera 1.5 S and a Citroen Xsara 2.0HDI, incase you care, i stumbled across a clean looking Saab 9-3 convertible in the classifieds.
My Citroen was an embarrassing bogey green metallic and being 19 at the time i was desperate to have something that would impress girls a little bit more than the hideous 'green machine' as i had nicknamed it. So i turned up to see the Saab, parked in some dodgey car dealers garage at his home.It was gleaming, but had absolutely no service history with it's 70,000 miles, just an MOT, logbook and key. I drove it, top down, back home and from that moment i was hooked on Saabs!
So a bit of background on the 900 then. I was dying to scratch the 900 itch, and began searching for a 900 T16 that was cheap enough. The trouble is, the ones which were cheap enough were in very bad nick. I saw this 900 16v non turbo, and it was SO clean, i just had to have it. I drove to Norfolk from Northants to have a look at it, and ended up arranging to pick it up the following week. It has to be the most honest car i'd ever seen - owned from new buy a Saab enthusiast who alsmost always had taken it to the Saab Specialist garage in Norfolk at which it was for sale - he had eventually some 20+ years later traded it for a 9-5 estate. Here are some pics from the original ad:
[/pic]
Excuse all the pictures, but hopefully they show just how clean this car is and why i HAD to buy it. Do i regret not getting a turbo? Not at all, it goes really well, and i just cannot believe the condition. It's on 128,000 miles but the seats look like they've never even been sat in.
On the drive home from Norfolk i nearly ran it out of fuel because there wasn't a petrol station in miles and miles! I got the car home, and then went out to the shops in it, and it was pissing with what i thought was oil. Luckily it was just the O rings in the power steering pipe... so had these replaced and it stopped leaking power steering fluid. A coolant hose has recently failed which i have replaced for c.£5. Other than that, it has been a shining example of reliable swedish magnificence!
My plans for this car are as follows:
First, new alloys. I'm thinking some three spoke deep dish Aero wheels with the centres refurbed in anthracite. The petrol cap and sunroof painted cover need replacing or repainting. There is a tiny amount of surface rust in one or two places. To make the bodywork in perfect condition i have been quoted £400 which i thought was pretty damn good. I'm going to have the rear windows and screen tinted. I'd thought about a whale tail spoiler too but i don't want the car to be trying to be something it isn't, so i've almost decided against that. The headlining is sagging, so i have some material and glue ready to go - just need the time. Lastly, i want to fit a nice audio system that doesn't look too out of place in amongst the walnut dash - the current one isn't really up to scratch, new speakers desperately needed.
I'm really enjoying owning this old thing so far, it certainly turns heads and brightens up car parks full of repmobiles. I love it. Infact, when all the little jobs are done, i'm going to use it as a daily driver. It handles superbly, and has a very comfortable ride. It cruises effortlessly along on the motorway, or when you want to overtake there's plenty of power - but I find when I drive this I rarely want to drive 'enthusiastically', It has a wonderfully calming effect. I love how you can feel the road through the wheel in a way that has been lost in recent years on newer cars.
More pictures to follow over the coming weeks and months of improvements
Edited by Ghost91 on Tuesday 20th October 18:44
Quhet said:
Fantastic, I love Saabs and this one looks clean as! This must be one of the last of the old 900s? I don't recall seeing one as late as an L plate before.
I think you might be right, the NG900 started on an MI've been watching a 9000 on ebay which I've had to fight very hard against bidding on... If only I had more parking
These are such great cars. I'd have another one tomorrow if I could find a really good one.
Was always a little worried about losing drive though when/if the manual gearbox grenaded itself. Went as far as to make enquiries about gear box rebuilds and it wasn't as frightening (financially) as I first thought.
One of the coolest cars around. Yours looks a cracker.
Was always a little worried about losing drive though when/if the manual gearbox grenaded itself. Went as far as to make enquiries about gear box rebuilds and it wasn't as frightening (financially) as I first thought.
One of the coolest cars around. Yours looks a cracker.
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