I've owned several Saabs in my life.
2 Sonnets
...1 didn't survive going end over end at 125 mph +++ on Rte 150 in Richmond.
...1 got sold after my wife blew the engine and I replaced it with the one from its totaled predecessor.
1 SAAB 99 EMS, best damn car I ever owned until we got the Avalon. In 1979 I ran it out of oil on the Jersey turnpike,(front seal blew out, and I didn't see it coming) and sold it to the wrecker driver for more than I paid for it.
2 SAAB 96, good car, funny looking, crappy mileage, safe as he!!. I had a video from the dealer of a 96 being rolled down a mountain in Sweden, then a driver gets in, turns the key and drives off. Traded them both on the first Sonnet
1 SAAB 95, got it cheap cause I was working at the SAAB dealer and the man who owned it didn't want to pay dealer price for a clutch. Sold long time ago.
I wouldn't mind having any of them back. Even the stroker 95.
They were all great cars even if they don't survive an "endo". BTW I walked away from that and had no real injuries. Just goes to show you the strength of the vehicles, not necessarily the intelligence of the driver. What did I know, I was 19 for crying out loud.
!!! Get off me.!!!
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When you are courting a nice girl an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder a second seems like an hour. That's relativity. Albert Einstein
Love those 99's also. Haven't seen one of those in ages. Would love to see what a Sonett III with a small modern Honda engine would do providing the transmission could handle it.
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Lest we forget, all of the early Saabs had a freewheel between the engine and transmission. No end of fun.
Quote:
Originally Posted by metroschultz
1 SAAB 95, got it cheap cause I was working at the SAAB dealer and the man who owned it didn't want to pay dealer price for a clutch. Sold long time ago.
Do you mean the loveliest Saab of them all, the lever-shocked, 1.5 ton carrying capicity, rear-facing third row seat, Saab 95?
Very similar to the white one you pictured.
3 cylinder
2 stroke
radiator behind the motor kinda laying down crossways.
lever shocks, which btw, you can fill with your own oil and vary the resistance. Use 50w for rough driving or 20w for light highway. The only rebuildable shock I ever had on a car.
Turned out the clutch was O.K.
I replaced the disc anyway while it was tore down
---------------BUT---------------
the freewheel mech in the trans had come apart and was free all the time.
I had the body shop guy weld it solid so I could drive the car and not have to buy a new one.
My wife said it was the ugliest car ever made.
I bought it for $150.oo (a weeks pay in 1977)
and sold it for $500.oo to pay for my first 96.
At the time I worked for
Bibb Svenska Imports
Jeff-Davis Highway, Richmond.
The 99EMS and the 2nd Sonnet came from private owners. All the rest I got while at Bibbs.
I would buy another 95 in a heartbeat. Or 99, or Sonnet, I'm not thrilled with the direction of the company since the mid 90's.
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When you are courting a nice girl an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder a second seems like an hour. That's relativity. Albert Einstein
of work they will pass the factory specs in OEM form.
Quote:
Originally Posted by evolutionmovement
Love those 99's also. Haven't seen one of those in ages. Would love to see what a Sonett III with a small modern Honda engine would do providing the transmission could handle it.
I regularly drove mine over a hundred, and didn't spend a lot on performance upgrades.
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When you are courting a nice girl an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder a second seems like an hour. That's relativity. Albert Einstein
I don't doubt it, but a more modern engine in that body should be more economical and faster than that German Ford V4. I heard the transmissions aren't too keen on extra power, though, and I'd have to find a small Honda that rotated the same way. I almost bought a '71 Sonnet, but the guy wanted too much (for me at the time) and I ended up with a '70 240Z. I soon learned a hard lesson about rust. The Saab would have been the better choice. Actually, now I wonder if a Subaru engine and fwd transmission could fit between the frame rails. It's been a long time since I've looked in the engine bay of one. Likely too narrow.
They were great cars. The first one was a 99 GLE model. I forget what year model it was, sometimers flaring up. The second was a 1984 900S. They were both built like tanks and handled very well. Fuel efficiency was outstanding.
The other nice thing about the SAAB's I owned was the excellent utilitarian aspects of the hatchback design. In the picture below, my 900S looks like it is giving birth to a quarter scale clay model of a mid-engined sports car design.
I delivered the model to the client in Arlington, Texas in the fall of 1992 and sculpted the full scale car in the spring of 1993. It was a nice looking car in which a Falconer V-12 was to be installed. The Super-Car days are long gone now, except for the new ones which will now be electric, and much more aerodynamic!
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