@@andyleo8418 I ended up to buy volvo 240 wagon. Saab does not have wagon that is old enough to me, and volvo is rwd and bit better looking IMO so that why I bought it. But finding parts to saab here in finland is not a problem, because there are so many of them (and some of them are made in here) But, when I have finished school and have work I need another car that have bigger trailer towing capacity and then my choice is Saab 9000.
You should've driven a 88'-93' Turbo with the boost turned up... Wanna talk about a turbo song, those cars when tuned properly went from 165hp to an easy 225hp. My 88' 900T SPG with a tuned Turbo would scream heavy metal. 20 years later, people in my town still know me as the guy with the crimson Saab. Thing was the quickest car around and the best looking as well
Sure did. I remember that whining type sound of the turbo when I was a kid. My parents had a white 1985 900 turbo coupe with a black rubbery looking spoiler. Really nice car. Even had the rear window outside shade that said Saab on the sides.
@@supafrancis Had an '87 900T with the red box APC, 5 speed, and an alcohol/water sprayed intercooler. Damned thing was BLAST to drive and would haul a couch without even blinking. And those TooFastTooStupid Hondas - seeee yaaaaa! I miss that damned car
@Tjfreak Right? It's interesting they killed Pontiac and kept Buick. Up until a few years ago you had to show your Medicare card to a Buick dealership before they would even let you test drive one.
kgbeezr75 Buick is the best selling car in China. They look at Buick how we see Rolls Royce. The Buick GL8 is essentially a Chevy Venture, and they pay top dollar for it. Pontiac was profitable to North America, but because Buick is so wildly popular in China, they kept it instead.
Count me as being in the group that always liked old Saabs from this era! They were counter-culture to the BMWs and Audis of the day, but that's okay - their performance and safety always outweighed their nagging faults and odd looks. That gem of a 16v engine was a rarity in 1985...oh how far we have come! I happened to like the progressive, evolutionary styling of the car, and that dashboard is a model in efficiency for simple, functional elegance. My friend's mom had a 1986 Saab 900 sedan and, of course, it was virtually identical to the cars on the video except for the color. Not the roomiest car but what it may have lacked in space it made up for with superior seating that was always comfortable front and back. This was definitely a premium car, despite having cloth seats. However, those cloth seats were heated at the front, a rarity even today! Not so good points about the Saab were the inevitable service costs - one time, I remember the wiper wash bottle developed a leak and it was an expensive replacement (several hundred $$$), mostly because of its odd-shape designed to fit in a small space against the front fender. When the a/c stopped working, out of warranty, it was a $2000 fix in 1991 money...ouch!
Damn, keeping that body roll in check. Really impressive compared to most of the test videos you guys post from this era. Most of the cars back then wallowed around like a ship in heavy seas.
This 80's video, with the empty suitcases, and secret compartments, makes it look like Craig Singhaus is heading down to Miami to pick up some premium coke from the Cubans.
I never really thought of that, I suppose it is quite funny when put into that context Haha. I suppose the opposite would be true for Americans saying that 4.0 litres would be a smaller/midsize engine
I was in college when I saw my first 900, it was a turbo convertible in red. It was captivating and looked expensive, still picture it clearly 30yrs later 😅
I ordered a black 900 Turbo in 1984 with burgandy cloth seats. I loved that car. I routinely purchase new Mercedes sedans now but my heart always is with that Saab.
Was lucky enough to own two of those, probably still my favourite car... now on my 7th SAAB & won't be changing brands anytime soon. Great to see this review.
it's amazing how saab took the triump TR7 engine with a toledo gearbox and perfected it. something leyland could never do. It was so unbelievable to convince people that this is the same engine that british leyland could never get right i also had a triump TR7 every time it broke down i use to scream why can't triump get that engine right like saab has
saab 900 turbo is today a very aprecciated classic, and good ones are expensive in europe. i really like the interior, and the design overall. so different, it looks good even today :)
I wish I was old enough back in the eighties and nineties to own a car back then. When I was a kid I always wanted a SAAB. Cars were so unique and cool back then.
Ive had the pleasure of owning 3-4 of these are cars not all turbos 16's but classic 900's and I dearly miss them. Ive owned Mercedes, Honda, BMW and plenty of Volvo's but the Saabs Ill always remember as simply awesome Swedish beauties!
I like how all the motoring shows and programmes claim the SAAB 900 (and Volvo 240 being old), in the mid 80's. They both held on until 1993. Two motoring icons nonetheless.
ryan kenyon no kidding, but no complaints that the cars had zero cup holders. Apparently in the 80's, you held your drink in your car and stared at the oil pressure gauge.
It tells you the condition of the battery and alternator and engine oil pressure. Many new cars don't even inform you of the coolant temperature anymore. I like to be informed about the condition of my car, but I guess people don't care anymore.
Basically since engines have become more reliable the manufacturers think customers don't care much about what the pressure/ voltage/ flow-through is unless there's actually a fault (in which case a little light goes on which most people still don't even understand anyway?), whereas in the seventies/eighties you really did want to know if your car was about to go wrong, because it would be far more likely to jam up in the first place and most people didn't have a cell phone to call for help... but what the hell, I still like to know what my car's doing anyway.
4 door versions of those are a bit hard to get into and out of. The doors are small. Upside to that is that you can open the door more when you're parked.
A friend of mine had one of these brand new. We all kinda thought it was pretty funny looking. And then we drove it a few times and understood what he liked about it, handling was fantastic. Great to ride in as well. But a little expensive for the rest of us.
I suspect because leather and sunroof were a package deal, the sunroof made the package more appealing even if the leather had its' drawbacks vs the standard cloth.
I'd thought bundled options. If so they were unbundled the next year since the '86 that Regular Car Reviews drove had a factory-looking sunroof and cloth seats. Then again, that one could've had its' seats replaced at some point.
The bilateral downforces from the wind inrush through the open sunroof counteract the negative antifriction slip factor of the leather's stiction coefficient. Or something.
@Joe My first car was a '74 Volvo 142, my second was a '77 264GL, my third was an '86 240GL and my fourth is a '90 740GL. As far as I know the first three are gone, but my '90 is in mint condition and going strong. Hard to beat Swedish design & engineering.
You know what's impressive? It was a DOHC, 16V, Turbocharged Inline 4 2.0 in the mid-'80s. It was basically Sports Car technology at the time, especially on the US market that was just going out of the Malaize Era. It was years ahead of its European competition and a solid DECADE ahead of pretty much everything Detroit made at the time. The OG 900 was a Fantastic car! It's sad that decades later poor management and GM's Idiotic decisions killed Saab as a car manufacturer. What's even sadder is that we probably will never see Saab as a car brand- Saab Group (the aeroplane manufacturer) refuses to allow the use of "Saab" name for Car production.
My parents had an 87 and an 88 900 4 door. Both were great cars. My mom's 87 plowed into the side of a 1 ton crewcab pickup that tried to cross a road right in front of her. The pickup spun around 360 and landed into the ditch on the opposite side of the road. My mom's car crumpled up like a soda can without penetrating the cabin. The engine went under the cabin just like it was designed to. She broke her hand and bent the steering wheel. She was able to walk away from it, albeit a might bit sore. Any lesser car might've meant the end of her. The 900 handled the road like a champ. You could really feel the g's in the turns, and the stock Pirelli tires gripped the road like glue.
I'm surprised that they didn't mention the bizarre transaxle that is found in that generation of SAAB 900. Everything is either backwards or sideways of where it usually is in most cars.
Yup, water pump, alternator, etc are up against the firewall. Engine sits North to South but is FWD. Transmission sits in front of the engine, flywheel is facing the front bumper/radiator. Its like they designed a RWD car, then flipped all the mechanicals backwards and made it FWD lol
The most comfy car I ever had. You could drive 1000 miles in it in one day without getting tired. But, the running costs were terrible. it was NOT reliable. My family owned two without turbo and one with turbo. They were all three extremely unreliable. The turbo even got two new engines under warranty.
Ronald de Rooij My 1981 900 Turbo had problems with just about everything. Bought it used in 1987 for $4500. By the time I sold it in 1989, I had put $5500 into it on repairs.
Interesting, our '93 has been pretty cheap to maintain. Apart from the elec windows znd once the gearkever got stuck. Perhaps they almost perfected it before the gm model
I've owned 6 Saabs, 1985 thru 2002, and loved them all. Had virtually zero problems with any of them, but they were all 5 speeds...stay away from the automatics. These were well built, unique, yet simple cars...I really miss them. GM totally fucked up Saab by trying to sell 500,000 per year by turning them into Chevys for mainstream America. They succeeded only in alienating the Saab loyalists and hence killing the brand.
I've got a 2001 9-5 2.3t with the older 4 gear automatic. Works fine and is said to be pretty bullet-proof. I think the mark I 9-5 had more SAAB design elements than the 9000 that preceded it and the 2.3 engine was still a SAAB developed one. My mechanic told me that the exhaust mounts and other small parts were taken from the GM parts shelf but that really doesn't matter to me as long as everything safety related and the key mechanical components are SAAB designed.
@@notroll1279 As a person that has owned both a 900 (1984 900 GL), two different 9000s (1991 9000 CD 2.3 16v and 1996 9000 Aero Hirsch level 3) and a first gen 9-5, I'd choose the 9000 over the 9-5 any day. While the interior in the 9-5 certainly evolved for the better from the 9000, the car in general lost a lot of that "Saab personality" along with most of the sportier handling and road feel. The 9-5 is still a great car, but the 9000 (and especially the 9000 Aero) was a far more fun car to drive, while still being docile enough for anyone to be able to drive it in a normal setting. The 9-5 was too docile and soft for my taste, and the gearing for the non-Aero manual 5-speed was too long. Plus that while the interior design was much better, the interior quality was quite a bit worse, with many buttons wearing off their legends, and displays giving out, which never happened in my 9000s, along with the seats wearing out quicker.
@@notroll1279 Yeah, the only place you can get them now is through the local Saab clubs. They're almost completely gone from the normal used car market.
My friends dad had the ‘86 900 turbo. Finally died at 320k miles on it. I rode in it a few times, pretty fast car for its time and also rode in early 90s Saab convertible.
Had one of these in high-school, it was an awesome car. After I got it, pretty much everyone wanted one. No, I didn't get it from my parents, bought it for 3k used.
I love how everyone thinks SPG means "Special Performance Group", when Saab actually said it's Sports PackaGe" But Saab aknowlaged SPG also being that because why not. I mean, better aero, taller gearbox, better suspension, fatter tyres, and 145mph speedo.
The leather on the seats looks more durable and expensive than most genuine leather couches I've seen. That burgandy/red color with the saddle interior is the bomb!
I almost got one before I got the car I have now. It was a 2006 I believe with 60,xxx miles. Light icy blue color with a black top I believe. Kinda wish I had gotten it now. 😕
What a strategy by good ole GM! Purchase an ever unique, but struggling car company with the guise of saving it, but instead ruin the car company further and put it out of business! “There, we got rid of that competitor!” I sure am glad Ford was smart enough to get out of the way of Aston-Martin and not put that company out of business!
I've sat inside one at the junkyard. Definitely not spacious inside (read small), I could easily reach for the pass door and could have a sandwich on the dash or just clean the entire windshield from the dr seat. But it had something I've never seen in another car. It felt like I was sitting with someone. Like it had an identity. The only other car that had a little bit of this was the original Miata
I worked as a mechanic at a Saab shop in the early 80ies here in Linkoping Sweden. I had a 79 8 valv turbo 900 it sure could move too. I saw the first model of the Saab 900 S and the 9000 too. After GM bought Saab it was downhill for sure and the final nail in the coffin was hammered in by a Swedish completely f..ed up politichian Maud Olosson. The freaking corona land came and took factories apart and shipped it home. Oh well they where good cars I had a few of them.
Saab was Scania (hence the Griffin) came with a turbocharger made with turbine jets from a Saab aircraft and an exposed intercooler mounted on the radiator, and should require an AWD as a rally sport coupe.
Still love this car saab one of my favorite if you have one it's a keeper thanks for sharing very important information giving blessed love to all knowledge is power hopefully everyone pays attention keep up the good work 🙏🙏🙏🇯🇲🇯🇲🇯🇲💪💪💪
Everyone loves a good MW Retro Review. But my, how times have changed when it comes to performance. The Saab's 9.3 second 0-60 run was considered brisk back then---nowadays, even econoboxes and pickup trucks are quicker than that.
I remember those days - anything around 9 seconds was pretty fast (0-60), and a lot of the bigger american cars still made 140-160 horsepower and had nothing above about 4000 rpm. My mother's '85 crown victoria rode like a squishy golf cart. You can drive it slowly or quickly - it goes the same speed no matter what. You can rev it higher than 4k if you want, but there's no extra power at higher rpm. My spouse drives a hyundai santa fe now (v6) that beats this thing 0-60 by more than two seconds. But somehow, these cars were more fun. Paid a used price in 2016 with 25k miles that was less than the sticker on the car in this review - 30 years prior.
Passing 40-55 mph in 3.1 seconds is still good today. 0-60 mph in 9.3.... not so much. Either you caught the turbo sleeping or you didn't. Must've been annoying to drive sometimes. Like an on/off switch. Old turbocharging...
I had a bluemetallic 1979 Saab 8 valve turbo, it could move too. The waistgate valve broke on it and man it got insane but I had to fix it or the motor would have exploded lol
This is the kind of advertisement I want for my car. Not any celebrity posing to sell the car. Even when it's much costlier in making that the advertisement here. I guess money is cheap now!
