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Re: 1985 900S 2-door COUPE Posted by DougM [Email]  (#211)  [Profile/Gallery]
(more from DougM) on Sat, 28 Apr 2007 07:53:35
In Reply to: 1985 900S 2-door COUPE, j.l.stone, Fri, 27 Apr 2007 13:22:31 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
Bob Sinclair had been kicking around the idea of Saab making a convertible as early as 1980, as there was large void in the market since most automakers were abandoning the open top design. He had made sketches using the 3dr model, and the design just didn't work. Two years later, Sinclair found himself in Trollhatten at a product conference, which also included Saab executives from every foreign market as well. The reason for the conference was that Saab was considering adding a new "value for money" model, which just happened to be a 2dr with a trunk. Saab had planned to introduce this car for the scandinavian-european markets, which would be a stripped down version with little amenities..."carbureted engine, 4spd transmission, no 5spd, no automatic trans, no power steering, no sunroof, no tinted glass, no electric windows, with cheap cloth upholstery and steel wheels - renunciation of every kind of luxury." Sinclair told Saab that he did not want this model in the US, as they were trying to go upscale, instead of in the opposie direction.
A few months later Sinclair was called for a production meeting for the 84-86 model years. Saab was having a hard time meeting the production capacity to deliver all the units the US required for those years, so they offered Sinclair 1000 2dr notchbacks to fill the void for those years. He said he would take the 1000 units if he could have them with turbo engines, 5spd gearboxes, automatic transmissions, sliding sunroofs, tinted glass, cruise control, central locking, electric windows, air conditioning, and aluminum wheels. The US did not get the 2dr notch in 1984, but other markets got them as early as 1983 < and those other markets got them well into the late 80's, early 90's.
400 convertibles were supposedly shipped to the US in 1986, so I would assume the US got 1000 2dr's in 1985, and another 600 to balance out the order for 1986. I could be wrong on those numbers, but it's all the info I could find about the 2dr notchback.
The Lance Cole book shows that almost 38,000 2dr models were built between 1979 and 1993.
posted by 76.189.134...
, Sat, 28 Apr 2007 07:53:35 <-- Viewing This Message
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