How did you get into Saabs?

[Edward]

Another thread made me wonder how we all got into Saabs. For me, the year was 1985. My dad was looking for a second car, and ended up at Hoy Fox VW in El Paso Texas. He was interested in a Volvo 245 they had on the lot, but mentioned how he liked the look of Saabs more than Volvo. For some reason, I knew what a Saab was and pointed out a little yellow 73 99E a few cars away. At first, he didn't think it was Saab (he only remembered 900s), but quickly fell in love with the car and bought it. Granted I was only 4 years old, I still remember this like it was yesterday. The little yellow 99 vanished from a body shop a decade layer, but it started a sickness that will follow me to the grave.

[SwedeSport]

I was ready to plunk down my hard earned cash on a charcoal metallic 87 BMW M5 in about 95. My buddy let me drive his 82 900S 4 door sedan and I was pretty impressed with how it felt for a car with 280k on it. I ended up buying my 85 900 turbo with 81k on it.

[DougM]

Here's something I wrote to the Saab 99 mailing list six years ago.

After I got out of high school in 1982, I went to work for a local tire store. I became friends with one of the lead mechanics in the shop, who at the time was driving Opel GT's. An older gentleman used to come into the tire store to get service work done on his collection of Saabs, which included a 73EMS in copper coral, as well as five C-900's. My friend Bob used to do all the service work on the cars, since he was a master technician with all foreign car repairs. An added bonus was Bob was also an experienced body man and painter. His skills and knowledge on all aspects of automotive work gave me great respect for the man, and in a few short years, he would pass on most of that knowledge to me. The old guy(who was a lawyer) eventually talked Bob into buying a 74 99LE, which he suped up with a header and wide TRX rims and tires. The car was phenominally peppy for a little 4 cylinder, and we would take crazy, spirited drives in it after work and on the weekends.

I was impressed so much that I eventually found a 77EMS local to me for $500....Hurray! a replacement car for my 1975 4dr cutlass supreme rust bucket. The seats were a tad ripped, and the body needed bondo and paint. I would go over Bob's house every day after work, and he helped me get the car looking presentable. Every chance I got the car was doing 100MPH on the highway, 106 if I was going downhill with a tailwind. It was great! In the meantime, a 74EMS that a friend of ours had for sale would be purchased by me. Bob let me buy it on one condition > I had to give him the EMS grille emblem, and little did I know how rare they would become. The 74EMS needed a lot of work, as the car would go no more than 60mph and the brakes were almost non-existent. I didn't drive it that much, but one day it was thrust into service rather quickly. It was a 90+ day, and I was on hot sticky pavement. I wound out the 77 and released the clutch, and a smoke screen came out the back(James Bond style). I pulled over and oil was dripping from every joint in the exhaust system. Oops, I wasted some piston rings. The 77 was parted out soon afterwards, and the 74 became a daily driver. The next few years were spent fixing up the 74, and it actually was a 2nd place concours winner in 1990. Speaking of concours winners, the 73EMS that the old lawyer guy owned also won the 99 concours at the SOC in 1985. Bob was contracted to do bodywork and paint, and he hired me to do my first official job as a body man. My job was to mask the car off(you have to start somewhere). Some of you old guys may remember the car as Bob had done a mural down the center of the hood in candy colors that said SAAB SAAB SAAB < 7 times I think it was. I was told the other day the lawyers son still has that car tucked away in a garage somewhere down south.

I got out of college in 1986 and went to work for Midas Muffler for a year and a half. It was a good gig while living at home, as it allowed me to sign my weekly paychecks over to the Snap-On man, thus amassing a lot of the tools I still have to this day.

Bob and I opened up a Saab and Volvo repair shop in the spring of 1988, and did quite well, until rampant drug abuse ate up all of our money.:) We closed the shop in Dec 1991, but those years gave me countless hours and loads of experience working on Saabs, mostly 99's and C-900's. It was a full service shop, so I self learned body, paint, as well as mechanicals....well, I will give Bob alot of credit, as he was a good friend and teacher.

[SalemSaab]

Through the door!
But seriously ... I was never really a big SAAB fan until recently.
I've always been a "european car enthusiast," and drove Volkswagens for my first 8 years of automotive ownership.
I do recall loving a Viggen @ an auto show when I was too young to drive. Always thought classic 900 hatchbacks were cool too. My Aunt has a newer 9^3 sedan and enjoys it.

About 5 years ago, a good friend inherited her father's original 1981 900 Turbo sedan, and used it as her first project car. She also had a 9000 Turbo briefly; I rode in each once and was surprised how quick they were. (900 has been parked for years + 9000 got totalled)

Saw a 99 in my city one day and thought it was cool as hell. Only saw my 2nd one when I was randomly browsing Craigslist (as I always do) and saw an advert for my current 99 (see icon); took a look & it was too cool to pass up, though it needed a lot of work.
At the time I thought I was getting a new job and no longer needed a daily driver (so I sold my awesome GTi), this fell through but luckily the 99 has served well as a commuter, though I wish it did not have to.

I'd love a Turbo, but am scared away from 900s/GM Saabs from all the extras / problems that seem to come with them. No way they handle as well as the 99 (though the notchbacks are sweet).
Thinking of picking up another 99 and starting a collection, though. Simply fantastic vehicles.
Wish I had a garage & better daily-driver, but I hope to keep the 99 as long as I can.

The new Asian-electric company can crash & burn as far as I'm concerned
Long live the classics

[Geoff]

Bob and I opened up a Saab and Volvo repair shop in the spring of 1988, and did quite well, until rampant drug abuse ate up all of our money.:)

My uncle used to be a SAAB dealer back in the '60s. My aunt bought one of the first V4s and my dad liked the fact that it was front wheel drive but the car ended up being a lemon so he wasn't ready to buy a 95 or a 96. He and my mom drove Volvo 544s and 122s because they were cheap and reliable.

In the early '80s my dad bought a red '74 99 3dr. I thought it was neat because it was the first car I had ridden in that didn't have rear doors. One of the things that sold me on SAABs was when my mom and I took it grocery shopping before a family reunion and bought a whole pile of groceries. The bagger at the store helped us out to the car, took one look, and said "You can't fit that all in that little car!!". Mom put it all in the trunk.

A few years later my dad got a blue '79 900 5dr and then a few years after that a red '83 900T 3dr. That car was what really sold me on SAABs. I remember the first time he took me for a ride on it and said, "This is what the turbo does" while accelerating heavily. My neck muscles weren't strong enough to pull my head away from the back of the seat.

Another thing that really got me interested in SAABs was the rallying history. I was interested in rallying as a kid but didn't know what it was, I just liked the cars and that fact that they didn't use a boring oval track. When this new thing called "the internet" got invented I started doing some more research, finding out about rally, finding out about the SAAB I was driving that my dad had given me for my fist car, and then found out about SAAB's rallying history.

[burnsside42]

My friend DeLorean (Jeff) found an 86' c900 Turbo for sale - asked what I thought - I said sounds neat. He bought it - I liked it. I bought a 9000T - hooked ever since. I learned how to fix cars based off my first car 1988 VW Fox and the second car - 1987 9000T. I was 17 when I bought my first Saab. I just bought my 13th Saab last week and own 6 currently. I am 27 presently.

At this rate - by time I am 50 I'll have owned nearly 43 Saab's.

[jskrebs]

It was my parents fault

[MattWatson]

When I was 16, I was over at my shop (wood) teachers place. He restores muscle cars and does woodwork/wood frame restorations for Model T's and old vehicles. He has always owned Saabs as well, and was in the process of rewiring a 4 Door blue 900 and asked if I wanted to buy it when he was done. Apparently it had a couple gremlins that he was fixing, and becuase of them, a friend had given the car to him for free. It was rust free and a good runner and at the time for 1000$ well worth the money. Unfortunately, when dad and I phoned our insurance company, they wanted $2500 a year for me to insure my own car, so that was a no go.

Fast forward 6 or so years later, since my sister ended up with my parents 92 Passat, they were going to spend the equivilent amount on me for my university grad. So I phoned up the same shop teacher, asked if he knew of any more saabs for sale, and he pointed me to one of his friends that was getting rid of my 85 SPG cheap due to rust in the floor. Bought it, fixed the floor a year or so later, and never looked back.

It pains me to not be prepping a saab for rally, but I just can't justify it given the gearboxes even though I LOVE these cars. Makes my heart sad just thinking about it. Although the rally car is going to end up with a crapton of saab parts in it... so it will have a bit of Saab veneer.

[Blue Jello Rain]

Engineer friend in highschool had an 85' 900 turbo, we got to talking and I loved how every detail of the car was laid out. We did some pretty stupid shit in that car, even got away from the cops twice. I loved the curved windshield, engine orientation, body shape...

There was a particular occasion where we were in a movie theater parking lot, nothing but riced out Toyotas with fartcan exhausts revving their engines. So infront of about 20 of them my friend, from a stop, shifts into first, wheelspins...second, wheelspins...third, wheelspins, clouds of smoke behind us...all the way out of the parking lot. Knowing what I know now, I have no clue how the transmission took that abuse, but I couldn't stop laughing at the faces of everybody there.

Now I'm 20 and managed to pick up an 86' SPG for $600. I'm about 1500 into it (Including buying it) and it has never let me down, just got done replacing all the calipers and master cylinder. Rebuilding a spare engine and transmission I also got with the car, ordering a small miller welder to fix the rusted through front quarter panels in a week, after that I'm ordering paint and spray guns. T5 is of course on the list as well. Trying to find more details of the Audi AWD system that was transplanted into a 99 running a 900 turbo engine too.

I've been working 12 hour days for months, but it's all worth it

[Crazyswede]

I looked into what it would take to install the Audi Drive train with a saab engine or a Subaru drive train with a saab engine. however the engine has to move too far forwards in order for the front driveshaft to align. consider looking at a Nissan Skyline GTR R 32 or R 33 drive line setup. this system though somewhat bulky allows the engine to sit wherever you need it.

[Jordan]

Gearsets are out there. People just have to realize that racing/performance isn't cheap. There are so many parts of a SAAB that don't need money thrown at them that pushing the limits of the stock gearset will require some serious investment, but no more than most spend on the same thing. We've all been lulled into "cheap" performance, but you shouldn't condemn the mark because it ends up not being cheap.