Tag: My first Saab

How did you end up buying your first Saab, Sapan?

Another first Saab purchase story, sent in by Sapan, a Saab owner from the US…..

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I want to start out my story with the following:

I have been thinking about the word passion. Automotive passion that is; how so many people do not go after their passion on a daily basis? I am not sure if there is someone out there who feels the same way I do when I look at my car every morning as I am about to leave for work. It makes me smile, it physically makes me happy every time I hit the gas pedal, every time I downshift and hear my exhaust note echo off other cars that I am passing. Do you feel the same way when you are driving your car? Does it make you smile? If you are a true car buff then it should do all of the above and more. You should feel the same exact way you felt when you got the car on Day 1 of your ownership. If you do not, then maybe your path should lead to another vehicle or maybe you are not a car buff and cannot share this experience.

So here is my story it’s a pretty simple one but it is my story to tell. In 2009 I had my Scion tC that I used as my track car as well as daily driver (This is pretty much impossible!). Over time the abuse and wear and tear of the track took its toll on my Scion and it was time for me to get rid of the car. My main issue was, I like to work on cars when I can and I always have a itch for modifying a car no matter how it looks the first day I get my hands on it.

So when it came time to look for a new car I decided I didn’t want to mod the car and said I will get a car that has very little aftermarket support. A good friend suggested a TurboX due to its rareness and its specs which met my requirements (Manual with AWD). So I began shopping around and in Feb 09 I finally settled on the TurboX on my birthday (Best gift ever). I thought to myself, this car is great it’s a Saab so no one will have aftermarket parts for it and it looks spectacular! This will be my daily driver even though I commute thru downtown DC on a daily basis, I’ll drive a real manual until my knee won’t take it.

Fast forward three months I am enjoying my car driving it to my hearts content and then a raccoon decides it wants to inspect my FMIC.

So while in the shop being repaired, I decided I wanted the parts to be that Satin Black color like the GTR, I thought that it looked great and that’s where it all began. After that I looked into some other parts such as brake lines and getting Bluetooth working on the car etc. During this time also got to know International Saab my local dealership (www.imsaab.com)who hooked me up with a Hirsch Dash before Hirsch was even available in the US!

So now we are at different trim paint, stainless steel brake lines, and a Hirsch Dash. So much for finding a car that didn’t have any parts I could modify! After that I thought I needed to tinker with the exhaust to make it a bit louder so I decided to have a 3″ turbo back made at my local tuning shop. The result did yield a significant gain and the sound of the exhaust was a bit loud but superb. This past winter after a heavy snowstorm in the D.C. area I decided I want a dedicated winter set of wheels (TurboX wheels) and a dedicated high performance summer set (Something lightweight, but still stylish and could take a beating on the streets of D.C. as well as the occasional Autocross) so I went with some Forgestar F14 wheels after seeing them around on the internet.

While waiting for my wheels to be made I had gotten rear ended and decided it was time for some more upgrades. Tried to go the Hirsch route but unfortunately they were not available in the states yet so I went the MapTun route. Contacted Fredrik and ordered my carbon fiber diffuser as well as the front splitter/grille combo to replace my torn off one from the winter snow storm. Coupled with the wheels, my StopTech brake setup (Slotted 345mm) and 255/35/19 BFGoodrich KDW2’s my car is now ready again to have some fun over the summer!

I also did forget to mention that while I was shopping around for my TurboX in early 2009 I had a few other choices as well:

  • BMW M3 (E92)
  • Audi RS4
  • Mercedes C63 AMG

The issues with those were as listed below:

  • I wanted a proper gearbox (quoting Mr. Clarkson); some of the cars didn’t have them available at the time (or in general in the Mercedes case).
  • Did not want to take out 2 Jobs just to pay for the car.
  • Decided I wanted more All Wheel Drive instead of RWD.
  • Lastly, the most important factor: I have seen at least 5 of each car on a daily basis when you go to the posh parts of the D.C Area.

I love the Saab because it does represent individuality and stepping away from the norm. On a weekly basis I have about 5 people asking me about or just staring at my car to see if it’s still available for sale. I would love to say that I am a driving billboard because sooner or later the people who ask me about my car will work their way over to a dealership and go the Saab route.

This was my first Saab but certainly won’t be my last Saab (hopefully). Looking forward to meeting everyone in the community at one event or another!

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How did you end up buying your first Saab, Pierre?

This submission is a response to me sharing my story as to how I acquired my first Saab. It comes from Pierre B, who is not only a guy I consider to be a good friend, but is also the second hardest-working guy I know in the extended Saab family (after VM himself). Pierre is the Service Manager at Charles River Saab in Boston. If you know him, then you’ll know that what I say about his work ethic is true.

Many of you submitted your own stories in comments. If you’d like to share it here on the front page, please email me (insidesaabofficial-at-gmail.com) and send me your story, along with a few photos.

My thanks to Pierre for sending in the following….

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My wife, Sue, and I had worked at a Saab dealer since 1984, but didn’t purchase our first Saab until 1990. We had been content driving our Chevy’s and Hondas. At the time our first son was born in 1988 we had two Hondas, my wife’s CRX and my Civic Wagon. We swapped cars, and the wagon became the baby hauler. We had both worked with Saabs and liked them a lot, but they were always out of reach for us, and we were happy with our simple, fun and cheap Hondas.

By the time our second son was born a year later, safety became more or a priority than motoring on the cheap and easy, and much as I adored those Hondas they were cracker-boxes. A trade-in finally came our way which seemed a good Saab that we could afford. It was a 1984 900T 4-door 5-speed in Slate Blue, a tan cloth interior and 100,000 miles. It had a very dented door, which we had repaired, and required a bit of work to get it up to snuff (brakes, belts, ball joints, tires…) and other wise was really clean, solid and (in its day) fast.

Though today a six-year 100,000 mile Saab seems barely broken in to me, I was so concerned about damaging the car, especially the pinion bearing in the transmission, that I drove that car very gingerly in the early years. It was Sue’s car, though, so I only drove it on occasion. I do recall being in the car, as a passenger as we drove through Connecticut on I84, a road notorious for its speed traps, and noting that Sue was driving briskly, perhaps too much so. I glanced over and saw the speedometer at 80 mph. I commented that perhaps she was driving with excessive alacrity. “Saabs just don’t like to go 60 mph,” she replied.

Once we had that car, we were hooked. Our next Saab came in 1993, a 9000T, and I inherited the 900. Having realized that the 900 did not have to be treated like a China doll, it put in great service for me through ten years and 125,000 miles of ownership, at which point I sold it to another cellist who drove it another 20,000 miles or so. That was the only 4-door 900 I ever had, and the only 8-valve. It really did change the way we looked at cars. What started as a quest for safety became a passion, not only for me but also for Sue, and ultimately our kids.

I don’t have any digital images of the complete car at hand, but I did find this photo of the rear quarter, taken in 1990 with son Pascal playing in the trunk.

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