1979-1993 & 94 Conv [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
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My first Saab was a 1994 NG900 with a 2.3 NA and 5 speed. No leather. Stripped, basically. But it, at least, had a real Saab motor in it... granted I wish I could have afforded a Turbo model but oh well.
Later in that car's life I managed to transplant many of its components. I won't go into gory details but lets just say I turned it into the car I'd always wanted - it was just shy of being a Viggen. Don't ask about wiring. I still have nightmares. And REALLY don't ask about New York State. I really don't want to get into what happened to my title once they found out about the changes.
That car was my first taste of Saab. It impressed the hell out of me. Without a catalytic converter those little T25's really spool up quick. And the unholy noise that came out of the tailpipe was just out of this world. But I kept reading in car magazines about how the NG900 and the "old" 9-3's just didn't stack up to old Saabs. How could this be? My NG900, modified and changed down to everything that mattered, was something to behold. It would scare the piss out of Mustangs and Camaros and I even set a person top speed (146mph) in it.
What ended the life of that car was bureaucracy. But it also gave me chance to buy a C900. Oh what I had been missing!
I knew quite a bit about C900's because I'm an Auto Tech. I've worked on everything you can name, most likely. So I know how odd they were. The engine that is backwards and tilted liek it didn't have its V8 (little... joke there). The weird-ass suspension that no one in their right mind would have designed. The vinyl-coated brake lines that run INSIDE the car, ect ect ect.
But now that I DRIVE one everyday. I mean holy freaking CRAP.
My NG900 could never hope to handle like this thing. And the kicker is that my 1985 900 Turbo has 266 thousand miles on it. It rides infinitely better than the NG, corners better, accelerates like a bat out of hell (modified APC box), and my GOD does it have street cred.
Now granted it also has a number of issues. Wiring... oh for the love of all that is holy the wiring in this thing is shot beyond belief. And the vacuum lines are... well... they have a mind of their own right now.
Why doesn't Saab make cars like this anymore? With this amount of weirdness? Utterly cool and amazing weirdness? A double wishbone front end on a front wheel drive car!? The clutch at the FRONT? And dont' get me started on how many dead bodies fit in that hatch. I mean... luggage.
I know what all the old-school Saab guys are talking about now. And I realize how much has been lost at the hands of GM. There isn't a front wheel drive car out there today that handles as well as a C900. What happened to that brilliance?
posted by 70.101.1...
, Mon, 17 Sep 2007 15:09:17
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