'91 Monte Carlo SE 'YellowJacket'
Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2015 9:28 pm
Not that we needed another Saab project but madness has no reason.
YellowJacket has a long, storied history like any 25yo Saab. She was bought new in Manhattan as a gift from a loving husband who thought his wife needed something sporty to drive around in. At the time of purchase, the dealer offered them $1000 cash to have it painted another color if they didn't like Yellow. That didn't happen. But, we're not sure about the $1000 - hopefully they took it anyway. Her original and only owner (until now) eventually became an eclectic Sausalito houseboat-residing artist now 86 years old. We spotted YellowJacket sitting in a houseboat parking area several years ago while driving along 101N. Whenever we were in the area, we checked to see if she was still there and sure enough she was. We eventually left a note explaining we loved Saabs and if they ever needed any help or wanted to sell, please contact us. That didn't bring an answer, but we still checked once in a while to see if the car was still there.
Another year and another note did bring an answer and an adventuresome visit with what has to be one of the coolest, most interesting people we have ever met. After a long visit we found she did not want to sell the car she called 'YellowJacket' but did need some help opening the trunk. A return visit with a bunch of old keys collected from many years of Saab ownership did the trick and I gifted her with the magic one. Once open, we were greeted with a wide variety of things only a cool old hippie houseboat woman would store there. A hint was the numerous Burning Man stickers on both side windows and the rear window. If YellowJacket could only talk! We eventually struck up a friendship and visited every few months to fix small things which needed done but had long given up on buying the car which was destined for a granddaughter.
Around Christmas we noticed the car was gone but didn't think much of it since she was still driving it. Another two weeks and it was still gone and curiosity got the best of us. Maybe it had finally gone to the granddaughter? Our visit was sad. Her elderly owner had had an 'experience' and did not know where her car was. Could we help her find it? Some detective work found she had a small parking lot 'issue,' appeared not fully in charge of her mental facilities and the car was towed away at the approval of her family who, along with most of her neighbors, felt she should no longer be driving. They had agreed to let the car go to the tow company as a way of keeping her off the road. Since we had been helping her with Yellowjacket, we felt torn as to what to do. In the end, we respected her family and decided to wait and try to save it from the crusher. We did manage to save it and that is where this project begins.
YellowJacket needed pretty much everything inspected and refurbished. Her loving owner for 25years drove her but did little else. She had a regular mechanic who fixed her when she needed it and we managed to get copies of all that work. But, her condition was less than spectacular. There were wheel arch trim and bumper extensions missing. Bumpers scraped and abused. Parking lot dings and scrapes. Passenger door handle falling off. The power seats were frozen in place. The top was inoperable but decent for an aftermarket installation. The brakes were virtually gone. Dash horribly cracked. Electrical system in disarray. Exhaust sytem rusted and leaking. Windshield scraped from bladeless wipering, etc. Surprisingly enough, she ran like a top, shifted smooth as silk and had good turbo boost.
I immediately began stripping her down, cleaning her up and rounding up missing pieces. Once ready, she went to a local small body/paint shop specializing in classic Alfa restorations who found her worthy of their efforts. I sought them out because I wanted a small, skilled shop who would put the metal back right without a bunch of filler and BS. We got her back today. Following are the pics. Next up, I'm refinishing all the SPG moldings and bumpers. Hopefully, that will happen soon...
YellowJacket has a long, storied history like any 25yo Saab. She was bought new in Manhattan as a gift from a loving husband who thought his wife needed something sporty to drive around in. At the time of purchase, the dealer offered them $1000 cash to have it painted another color if they didn't like Yellow. That didn't happen. But, we're not sure about the $1000 - hopefully they took it anyway. Her original and only owner (until now) eventually became an eclectic Sausalito houseboat-residing artist now 86 years old. We spotted YellowJacket sitting in a houseboat parking area several years ago while driving along 101N. Whenever we were in the area, we checked to see if she was still there and sure enough she was. We eventually left a note explaining we loved Saabs and if they ever needed any help or wanted to sell, please contact us. That didn't bring an answer, but we still checked once in a while to see if the car was still there.
Another year and another note did bring an answer and an adventuresome visit with what has to be one of the coolest, most interesting people we have ever met. After a long visit we found she did not want to sell the car she called 'YellowJacket' but did need some help opening the trunk. A return visit with a bunch of old keys collected from many years of Saab ownership did the trick and I gifted her with the magic one. Once open, we were greeted with a wide variety of things only a cool old hippie houseboat woman would store there. A hint was the numerous Burning Man stickers on both side windows and the rear window. If YellowJacket could only talk! We eventually struck up a friendship and visited every few months to fix small things which needed done but had long given up on buying the car which was destined for a granddaughter.
Around Christmas we noticed the car was gone but didn't think much of it since she was still driving it. Another two weeks and it was still gone and curiosity got the best of us. Maybe it had finally gone to the granddaughter? Our visit was sad. Her elderly owner had had an 'experience' and did not know where her car was. Could we help her find it? Some detective work found she had a small parking lot 'issue,' appeared not fully in charge of her mental facilities and the car was towed away at the approval of her family who, along with most of her neighbors, felt she should no longer be driving. They had agreed to let the car go to the tow company as a way of keeping her off the road. Since we had been helping her with Yellowjacket, we felt torn as to what to do. In the end, we respected her family and decided to wait and try to save it from the crusher. We did manage to save it and that is where this project begins.
YellowJacket needed pretty much everything inspected and refurbished. Her loving owner for 25years drove her but did little else. She had a regular mechanic who fixed her when she needed it and we managed to get copies of all that work. But, her condition was less than spectacular. There were wheel arch trim and bumper extensions missing. Bumpers scraped and abused. Parking lot dings and scrapes. Passenger door handle falling off. The power seats were frozen in place. The top was inoperable but decent for an aftermarket installation. The brakes were virtually gone. Dash horribly cracked. Electrical system in disarray. Exhaust sytem rusted and leaking. Windshield scraped from bladeless wipering, etc. Surprisingly enough, she ran like a top, shifted smooth as silk and had good turbo boost.
I immediately began stripping her down, cleaning her up and rounding up missing pieces. Once ready, she went to a local small body/paint shop specializing in classic Alfa restorations who found her worthy of their efforts. I sought them out because I wanted a small, skilled shop who would put the metal back right without a bunch of filler and BS. We got her back today. Following are the pics. Next up, I'm refinishing all the SPG moldings and bumpers. Hopefully, that will happen soon...