Any Love for the Saab 90??

[TurboBudapest]

Hi Everyone,

Lately, I have found myself somewhat obcessed with the Saab 90. In my view, there are a couple of things which go in it's favor:

(i) the front end of the 99 (with the more direct steering);

(ii) lighter than the two door 900 (which from what I read on this site, is the ultimate Saab for rally purposes);

(iii) built in very low numbers in Finlad (they have a reputation of being very well built);

(iv) uprated rear axel and suspension of the 900, as well as a few other mechanical upgrades);

(v) I actually feel that the 90 has sharp looks - somehow the 99 looks better to my eyes than the two door 900; and

(vi) there is something about the pedestrian nature of the 90 which appeals to me (I believe this car competed in price with the VW Golf at the time).

This has got me thinking - would the 90 (and not the two door 900) be the best basis for a purpose built rally machine? I found this interesting link to a youtube video of a Norwegian guy who has dropped a 16V Turbo into a 90 and stripped the interor and replaced the windows with plastic - looks pretty tasty to me (espeically with the air flow kit). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzNZfTohX7w

I live in Budapest, and it is possible to import cars from Sweden here. I have been looking at Blocket.se, and good examples of these cars seem to be going in the EUR 1000-1500 range. It probably would cost about EUR 1000 to import, so I probably could pick one up for around EUR 2000 all in. If only I had the room to store all the Saabs I want to own......

Has anyone on this forum tried the 90, and compared the driving experience to that of the 99 and 900? Would be grateful for your feedback.

Thanks,

Ed

[Crazyswede]

Not many of them around to love. One recently sold here in the USA that I think came from Canada but that was the first one I had ever seen on the market around here.

[DeLorean]

Well, they are old enough now that you could legally import them into the US. Seems like almost no one does though. There are a good number of cheap 900's in the US, and the 99, while is is certainly an oddity, it's not exactly desirable in my opinion. Small engine bay of a 99, looks of a 900 (from the rear)

[Crazyswede]

yeah...I don't love them enough to import one. If I am going to import something its going to be something we never got here....sure we never got the 90's but a 99 and a 900 are close enough. However a Lancia Intragrale :)

[Sam]

Correct me if i'm wrong here, but isn't the 99 wagonback basically the same car as the 90? Obviously its the hatchback version but i have a sneaky suspicion that the floor tub is the same. Look at how the wheelbase length is clearly identical in these photos.

In a rally car, you could just build a cage back there to eliminate the chassis issues caused by the wagonback, put in lighter glass. The other thing is, you could just cut out the interior pass thru section from one of the many clapped out 99 coupes hanging around in the northeast. You would have to box the pass thru anyway to meet rally regs.

I did a photoshop composite so you guys can see how close it really is.

[tweek's Turbos]

This is the first one I ever saw.

Like mentioned b4, we didn't get them in the states.

[DeLorean]

It's a 99 front, 900-notchback in the ass.

[Jon1]

Outside the Saab Factory, June 2007 during the 60th Anniversary Festival

[Geoff]

I saw a few in Sweden when I was there in 2007 as well. From what I'm told many were bought new by people who were retired at the time and now no longer drive. Those people didn't drive much when they were driving so you can pick one up with relatively low miles/kms and in decent condition. They sell relatively cheap too because they're basic cars with no real options.

[SalemSaab]

I dig 'em.

Since the last year of the 99 in the States was 1980 and we only got the 2-door 900 two years, some more coupes would have been nice.



I guess the main reason they seem odd to me is that the US had round-headlights on 99s vs. square Euros. So they are really hard to tell apart from the 900 coupes here.

[Jordan]

It's all in the hood bulges

[Jon1]

It's all in the hood bulges

And in the corner lights

[DrewP]

It's all in the hood bulges

And in the corner lights

And the cowl scoop and the windscreen wipers point the other way....