my first time ever driving a Saab was in the late 80's when I was a valet at a high rise condominium. My captain played a cruel trick on me my first day and handed me the keys to a Saab 900 Turbo and told me to park it. I was excited to drive such an exotic car "for the day". I got in the car and closed the door and started looking for the ignition and could not find it to save my life....lol
You can probably make an entire video on the quirks alone. Here are some quirks that I would have included in the video: 1. Show that this is the only car in the world that you can put a large pizza (including the box) on top of the dashboard and it will stay put while you drive. 2. Show that (often) when you are first in line at an intersection with a single traffic light, that you can't see the traffic light unless you put your head forward and look up. 3. Show that the operation of the Sunroof is neither by an electric motor, nor by a crank (typical of that era) 4. (not sure what year, they stopped this, but my 1981 had this feature) Show that the car has heated seats, but does not have any switches to turn them on or off.
Everyone says different years about the automatic heated seats. My friend had a 1989 900i and his were automatic. Maybe it was different for different markets, I lived in Sweden when he had that car.
Wow. This bring back memories. I had a black '83 900S 4-door. Loved that car until I was t-boned by a large delivery truck. The car was totalled, but I walked away.
Haha! Loved your Doug video. This was great. It's funny - many years ago early in Doug's youtube channel days, I sent him an email suggesting he review a 900 Turbo SPG. He me back chuckling saying "Of the course the guy from New England wants me to review a Saab." He did eventually review a late model 9-5 sedan. I am still waiting for him to review the classic 900. BTW, in addition to tons of other SAABs we had from every era of SAAB, we also had a gorgeous '86 1/2 two-door 900S notchback with the very smooth 16 valve engine. Great great car. My all time favorite was the '79 99 Turbo 5-door. Boy those early turbos were so much fun. Tons of turbo lag, but once you get it going and that turbo spools up, really fun. And the turbo whine was such a great sound.
I actually enjoyed this much more than most of Doug’s content. Not a criticism of Doug, but I just found this more informative and fair. Keep up the good work.
Two big thumbs up! One for imitating Doug Demuro, and the other for loving the saab 900 as much as i do. I just happened to buy the cheapest saab 900spd ever sold on bring a trailer. I am also a fan of Hoovies garage.
I had a 1985 900i two-door in white, it had 'minilite' style wheels and a black lip-spoiler on the boot lid (taken from the Turbo), also a red/green pinstripe down the swage line. The colour and spoiler somehow balanced the shape of the car to the point I thought it better than the (usually preferred) 3-door. It was a stripped-down version with no electric windows, seats or a bunch of other stuff often fitted, I believe was it was the lightest version of the 900 ever made. It wasn't under-powered by any stretch, easily holding 90-100 MPH on M-ways even up long gradients, and it just felt very grunty for a normally-aspirated 2-litre. Re. the tracking on long, fast curves was you mention - it was unmatched by any other car in my 40+ years of driving, completely unperturbed by bumps or camber (surface) changes, and that was no accident - Saab chose a (very well located) rear axle over an independent setup (along with the double wishbone front) for good reason.
Oh man, my parents got one of these in the 80’s on their boss’ recommendation. He had one in Germany, was driving it on the Autobahn and he ended up rolling it. The car was built really well, so the roof hadn’t caved because the chassis had essentially a roll cage inside of it. The engine was still running and it landed on its wheels, so he just drove it out of the field to the nearest service station completely unharmed. What fantastic cars.
They are incredibly durable. I love the old episode of top gear where they drop an old 900 and an old 3-Series on their roofs. The difference is startling.
I never seen one in person but seems like a cool car ....I just recently bought a used 97 Saab 9000 CSE turbo.....exterior has seen better days but this car is so much fun to drive ....love and hate relationship with it 👌👌
I had a 1992 9000 CSE Turbo myself back in the day. I crashed it driving way too fast. Me and the other two people in the car walked away. You might not realize it but your car is unbelievable safe, trust me lol
@@CarDietrich only down side I have with this car is the fact that I can't install an after market shift knob...having trouble figuring out what my options are for it
Ah the memories- my burgundy 1985 Saab 900 (non turbo) 5spd 3 door (hatchback) 285,000 on odometer-- traded in 1995 for a bright red 1995 Pontiac Grand Prix GT... had several vehicles since then - none as memorable as the tank (Saab) I had 🙁
4:20 - and owning a 1986 SPG made me feel unique, all that lowkey notchback bragging. God, it does look good though. Gives me those western European vibes... makes me want to listen to The Human League lol
On some euro cars the dots are there to indicate the max engine speed for each gear. I imagine 150 km/h is the max speed of 4th gear for example. You can find this kind of indication in old Mercedes as well.
Video made me miss my 900T. Wonderful car and in the snow I must brag I could do donuts in a few inches of snow and never loose tracking. No car Ive owned since gave me so much of a fun factor as the 89 16V turbo....To drive Saab is to partake in a truly unique automotive experience...
Thank you very much Andrei! I do lots of car reviews on my channel, but I don't purely copy DeMuro. He is certainly an influence on me but I gotta do my own thing too.
I’m getting too old to drive my 1984 red Saab turbo 900 hatchback -which has been the PERFECT beloved car! Considering selling but only to someone who will appreciate it for all those reasons you list in your good review. WHY did they ever stop making these?!!
I agree with you and feel your pain Dorothy. I sold this car about two months ago, the guy who bought it from me drove it 350 miles home without issue. Unfortunately this is probably part of the reason why they aren't built anymore, and why no car is built quite like this anymore. If one car buy a car, and then drive it for 35+ years, well that doesn't really bode well for repeat business does it? There are other reasons too. But basically the world as a whole, and the car business specifically, has moved past the point where a relatively small Swedish firm that cares deeply about what they build can make a go if it. Oh well. They were great cars and those that survived still are. If you're looking to sell your car to a Saab enthusiast I recommend posting it for sale on saabnet dot com. Anyone still looking at that website is a die hard.
I think Saab 900 gets a 10/10 cool factor as the official James Bond drove with Saab900 between 1981-1994 (I believe) in novels. My first and second cars in the 90s were Saab 900's.
My '89 16v 900i 4 door 'notch back' manual is currently having some work done - including a new clutch. My car has done 307,000 km on the original clutch, gearbox still great. Car drives very well, so well on winding roads that I can leave modern cars well behind. Driver's heated seat no longer works- but the passenger one does.
The notchbacks had none of the practicality of the 4-door OR the hatchback, BUT...they were the coolest looking of the 900s. I had one that I transplanted a turbo B engine into. It was a lot of fun.
The curved windshield was developed on the SAAB 99 to be the first to survive the moose test. The key between the seats came about because there was a study that showed many knee injuries caused by the ignition key.
The key in between the seats has a variety of explanations, including that's where they used to put the ignition switch on planes, the transmission lock made possible by the key in that location made it harder to steal the car, and the knee injury thing. Personally I think it's a lot easier to insert the key there than on the steering column. Maybe they just did it to be different.
Thank you for watching! I actually sold this car about a year ago, and as of a few months ago the guy I hold sold it to had it for sale I think on Hemmings, he had cleaned it up a little bit and added some period correct accessories and it looked pretty cool. Not sure if its still available but its still out there somewhere.
I drive a 1990 3-door 16v 900 and I really love your car! A buddy of mine has a dark grey 900 from 1985, also 2-door but its the most basic equipped Saab had for sale back then (no power steering, 4-speed manual, no odometer, 8v 2.0L, etc.). Love the vid and its way more accurate than Doug's review! Greetings from the Netherlands :)
I have a classic 900i convertible. I had a BMW mechanic come up to me and say how nice my 900 was and what great cars they are. He said you drive 5 hrs in a SAAB 900 and want to drive 5 more. I know I love to drive mine.
I worked at a BMW dealer for a while. I drove my 900 to work one day and one of the old sales guys came up to me and said "you know what Saab stands for? "Sure Ain't A Bimmer!" I nodded my head, turned around at looked at my car and said "well, it does have 335,000 miles on the original engine, so yeah I guess it sure ain't a Bimmer!" He sort of looked down and then nodded his head in approval lol
I love your 900. I owned a 1989 2 door turbo 5 speed. Wish I still had that car. So much fun. New York rust got the best of it. I've owned others. 1995 ng900S 5 speed, 1999 viggen, 2005 9-3 soft top, turbo 5 speed and currently own a 1996 ng900 soft top 5 speed turbo and a 1967 model 96 with a 1.7L V4, 4 speed on the collum.
There are still some Viggens out there. I owned the original 1999 lightning blue version. I think the best looking one and very low numbers that were brought into the states. Something like 400 for that year. I was a fun car while I owned it but I did get some speeding tickets with that land jet.
There are still some Viggens out there. I owned the original 1999 lightning blue version. I think the best looking one and very low numbers that were brought into the states. Something like 400 for that year. I was a fun car while I owned it but I did get some speeding tickets with that land jet.
Thank you so much for watching! I tried to be as fair as I could with the DougScore and rate it as I think Doug would have. If it were up to me I would have just been like "10, 10, 10...." etc etc etc
Ricardo Engineering, a British firm designed the first Saab 99 engine from Saab's design specifications. Saab couldn't afford to manufacture it at the time but Triumph could and they also needed an engine. So Triumph manufactured it for Saab for a couple of years before using it themselves. At this point Saab designed an entirely new engine with no shared parts and began manufacturing in house - this B engine shared some measurements but no parts with the Ricardo engine. When the Saab 900 came around Saab designed another new engine - the H engine which was even further removed from anything Triumph ever used. The Saab engine is legendarily well designed and built and therefore a million miles has been done on several without major surgery. The Ricardo engine that Triumph continued to use for many years was not reliable at all and very few examples survive in comparison. The fact that the Triumph myth is always told is so frustrating - Saab did not back down on engineering or materials quality apart from this one time and yet unfortunately it is the one thing everyone remembers... This is especially annoying when you release that a standard Saab 16 valve H engine will take north of 500 bhp without significant internal modification - one of, if not the best designed engine in the world!
I strongly encourage you to look at it, but if it's only got 50k on the clock I'd bet dollars to donuts that the odometer is broken. Even if this is the case, as long as the car is in good condition and has been well maintained and the service records are available, don't let the unknown miles scare you off.
@@CarDietrich I've had 8 SAABs and wanted a notch 900 when I joined the Army in 1984. I'd go for SAAB 90 too. The Viggen's been a decent car with all the Taliaferro upgrades including balance shaft delete (shifter was done when I got it,). And Quaife LSD of course. Makes all the difference in being able to drive it hard.
Great video very doug like. I think you way under rated it. I agree best car design ever. Can you imagine if they had continued to develop and mprove this design instead of rebaging Opels and Trailblazers?
2dr sedan was the least sold of all Saab 900, not very common! But i have had 6 of them :D BTW, the 2l engines has absolute nothing in common with the triumph 1,85 and 1,7 engines.
Listening to you talk about the ignition key in this car - my father had a Saab 900i a while back where the engine would stay on even if you removed the key entirely, when I believe it was supposed to auto-shutoff if you removed the key. I wonder if these cars had common ignition key issues.
You weren't supposed to be able to get the key out while the engine was running, but it wasn't smart enough to shut itself off if you took it out. This car had mechanical fuel injection lol. My dad worked his key on purpose on long drives so he could get it out while it was running so he could unlock the trunk without turning the engine off. Go figure.
I had a blue 1985 SAAB 900 S, my regret was the trade in for a Chevy Suburban. I would purchase another SAAB 900 S for myself today. Truthfully, it's the only car I had no problems with. My wife at the time wanted a car with more space.
30, 50, 70, 90, 110 were the restricted speed limits in Sweden in the day soooo Swedish car made in Trollhättan. Nowadays speed limits are 10, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 110 and 120kph in Sweden.
love it, man. still hoping we can get together with our Saabs after all this Covid stuff passes. Our cars are pretty dang similar (year, color, miles). are you part of the saab club of california on FB?
Naw I don't really do facebook, but yes lets get together when Covid is over! I've got a lot more time on my hands now that I've been laid off too lol.
Hey, love the video. I wouldn't consider myself a car guy but have always loved the 900 ever since my brother gave me his as my first car. I recently bought a 1985 notch-back 4-door 900 Turbo, 85k miles. Looks just like yours, cherry red, but without the chrome detailing on the windows, and a leather interior as opposed to cloth. I'm really grateful you mentioned the temperature issues, because I've found it hard to get a read on whether or not it's running too hot. I get nervous when the needle spikes since it gets uncomfortable close to the red. I've noticed it most after getting off of the highway and entering into a more urban area. I don't know if maybe my electric fan isn't triggering correctly but if I turn on the AC it will turn on the fan and it'll start to cool down. Not an ideal solution. Also one question. I recently had to switch out a defective battery and I think the shop gave me a replacement with the positive and negative posts inverted, but I'm unsure. I'm trying to determine which battery cable is positive but they're not marked nor are they red or black. The one on the left (assuming you're standing by the right-front wheel and facing the battery) is wrapped in a kind of braided fabric like cover and the one on the right in a blue rubber. I'm almost positive the cable on the right is the negative, and it looks like one of its two cables is a ground, but I'm just not sure and don't wanna risk damaging anything by reversing the cables and battery terminals. Any insight would be much appreciated!
First of all, you are doing exactly the right thing by turning on the AC to cool the engine. In these old 900's that kicks on the second cooling fan to cool down the engine. Swedish engineering: Hot Day = Air Conditioning = Need to Keep Engine Cooler. As far as the battery is concerned, the cable closest to the right front wheel is the positive battery cable. The cable closest to the front of the car is the negative (ground) battery cable. Hope that helps and thank you for watching!
@@CarDietrich Really appreciate your response. The temperature behavior has really causes me a lot of anxiety because I it climbs pretty high sometimes, even though it eventually normalizes to a bit above halfway. If I can ask another question, what are some good rules of thumb to discern whether or not the car is actually getting too hot? I imagine the obvious answer is that if it the needle actually hits the red but I'm curious if there's more nuance to it than that. Thank you for the cable tip, I had a feeling that was it but didn't want to make any assumptions, batteries make me nervous :)
Hey cool u viewed that beautiful red saab way better than if Doug could do. i like u. if I was u I start UA-cam channel viewing cars u are cool . Viva saab lol thanks
Ppl in Scandinavian countries are not impressed by SAAB hoods I should think. But drive any year of Jeep Cherokee there and jaws drop, phones rise, invites extended, and doors open.
No!!!! you can't repair those ignitions like that! You really should fix that issue so that it works properly again! Other than that, it's a great car!
Basic maintenance is pretty easy, the accessory drive is right up against the firewall so that stuff can be a little bit trickier, as far as replacing/rebuilding the engine or transmission, that's a huge job. You can't really separate them until they're out of the car, and that basically requires taking the whole front end apart.
5X Saab Owner about to get my 6th: Looking for a licensed non-profit to handle raffling my 2004 Saab 9-5 wagon. Will to give 20% of closed raffle for handling and possible promoting 165K. Large service history from Saab trained mechanic AC not working recharges don’t last too long in S Florida heat Also needs lots of niggling things to bring it up to spec, Radiator and turbo were replaced several years ago DIC less than 2K miles ago Please let me know if you know of a charity who would be interested
The real reason: Doug spent 4 days recording quirks and features before his brain melted... he's got Saab quirks and feature ptsd. It's ok, it happens to most.
And I lost Doug Demuro when he reffered to the passenger side vanity mirror of the Lamborghini Jalpa as a coke mirror. I've had a problem with depression and substance abuse so to hell with that and that that kind of language.
Doug reviewed a e39 BMW M5, and said it has the worst cupholders. He obviously has not seen the saab 900 cupholders. Just open your glovebox and see for yourself.
Lol those aren't cupholders. I always pictured those are for holding beverages when you are pulled over off of a quiet Swedish highway having a picnic.
Saab made some great cars on paper. If they made them less difficult to look at i think they'd still be around. They all looked fairly terrible, especially by american car standards.
Doug DeMuro is one of the most annoying buffoons on the Tube so I don't know why any serious car enthusiast would Dougscore their car, but at least you are knowledgable about it.
There have been plenty of 900s over the years here in CT. Always thought they were ugly. I think my 9-5 is rather sexy. Really like the 9000. I would throw the 900 in with the 240 and just call them cool euro cars with a nostalgia tip.
I challenge you to own one, and not fall in love with it. It may be ugly, and not fast, but it is one of the most comfortable cars with great visibility and excellent quality. I’m on my sixth one. I buy one, enjoy it, get annoyed with it and sell it. A few months later I miss the unique attributes of the Saab.
One of the best Saab stories ever
my first time ever driving a Saab was in the late 80's when I was a valet at a high rise condominium. My captain played a cruel trick on me my first day and handed me the keys to a Saab 900 Turbo and told me to park it. I was excited to drive such an exotic car "for the day". I got in the car and closed the door and started looking for the ignition and could not find it to save my life....lol
@B. L. I never found it on my own, he had to come show me....
I realize I am kinda off topic but does anybody know a good site to stream newly released movies online?
@Nathanael Titus I would suggest Flixzone. Just search on google for it :)
@Jerome Kendall Yup, have been using Flixzone for years myself :D
@Jerome Kendall thank you, signed up and it seems like a nice service =) Appreciate it !
Great and fun review. My only addition would be the bonus space with the back seat folded down. Takes the amazing trunk space to a new level.
You're right about that. Thank you for watching!
SAAB is the best and always will be a 10/10
You can probably make an entire video on the quirks alone. Here are some quirks that I would have included in the video:
1. Show that this is the only car in the world that you can put a large pizza (including the box) on top of the dashboard and it will stay put while you drive.
2. Show that (often) when you are first in line at an intersection with a single traffic light, that you can't see the traffic light unless you put your head forward and look up.
3. Show that the operation of the Sunroof is neither by an electric motor, nor by a crank (typical of that era)
4. (not sure what year, they stopped this, but my 1981 had this feature) Show that the car has heated seats, but does not have any switches to turn them on or off.
Everyone says different years about the automatic heated seats. My friend had a 1989 900i and his were automatic. Maybe it was different for different markets, I lived in Sweden when he had that car.
I had an identical red '85 900S Notchback! I loved that car so much I drove it for 22 years.
Wow. This bring back memories. I had a black '83 900S 4-door. Loved that car until I was t-boned by a large delivery truck. The car was totalled, but I walked away.
Saabs save lives! I'm glad you walked away
You couldn't have picked a more appropriate back-drop, abandoned Sears parking lot.
Haha! Loved your Doug video. This was great. It's funny - many years ago early in Doug's youtube channel days, I sent him an email suggesting he review a 900 Turbo SPG. He me back chuckling saying "Of the course the guy from New England wants me to review a Saab." He did eventually review a late model 9-5 sedan. I am still waiting for him to review the classic 900. BTW, in addition to tons of other SAABs we had from every era of SAAB, we also had a gorgeous '86 1/2 two-door 900S notchback with the very smooth 16 valve engine. Great great car. My all time favorite was the '79 99 Turbo 5-door. Boy those early turbos were so much fun. Tons of turbo lag, but once you get it going and that turbo spools up, really fun. And the turbo whine was such a great sound.
🤣🤣🤣You did the review yourself. You're a great man like all of us who love saab.
Ciao dall'Italia🇮🇹
Grazie Mille Diego!
I actually enjoyed this much more than most of Doug’s content. Not a criticism of Doug, but I just found this more informative and fair. Keep up the good work.
Thank you so much!
Two big thumbs up! One for imitating Doug Demuro, and the other for loving the saab 900 as much as i do. I just happened to buy the cheapest saab 900spd ever sold on bring a trailer. I am also a fan of Hoovies garage.
Thank you Buster! Best of luck with your inexpensive 900, I hope it turns out to be a great car for you.
I had a 1985 900i two-door in white, it had 'minilite' style wheels and a black lip-spoiler on the boot lid (taken from the Turbo), also a red/green pinstripe down the swage line. The colour and spoiler somehow balanced the shape of the car to the point I thought it better than the (usually preferred) 3-door. It was a stripped-down version with no electric windows, seats or a bunch of other stuff often fitted, I believe was it was the lightest version of the 900 ever made. It wasn't under-powered by any stretch, easily holding 90-100 MPH on M-ways even up long gradients, and it just felt very grunty for a normally-aspirated 2-litre. Re. the tracking on long, fast curves was you mention - it was unmatched by any other car in my 40+ years of driving, completely unperturbed by bumps or camber (surface) changes, and that was no accident - Saab chose a (very well located) rear axle over an independent setup (along with the double wishbone front) for good reason.
Oh man, my parents got one of these in the 80’s on their boss’ recommendation. He had one in Germany, was driving it on the Autobahn and he ended up rolling it. The car was built really well, so the roof hadn’t caved because the chassis had essentially a roll cage inside of it. The engine was still running and it landed on its wheels, so he just drove it out of the field to the nearest service station completely unharmed. What fantastic cars.
They are incredibly durable. I love the old episode of top gear where they drop an old 900 and an old 3-Series on their roofs. The difference is startling.
Love the odd looks of this car. And love the visibility, something which is sadly lacking in modern cars. Awesome video!
Thank you so much for watching!
you forgot the old style oppenable rear windows! thats a BIG qurk!
@340bärgarN never seen them that big tho. But yeah you might be right
The alternate Doug! Fantastic job imitating his style.
Thank you very much! I can assure you it's not as easy as Doug makes it look that takes a lot of time
Good job Boi,
Exactly as I expected 😊
Great video! I love these old Saabs!
Thank you for watching Todd!
Great video!
It is highlighting 50km/h. That was back then and to day the speedlimit in the city.
And its true about the key. It was for safety.
I always wanted that exact model.. I owned 3 Saabs.. A 88 SPG.. a 83 turbo.. and a 88 900s... I miss them.
I have a red 1984 Saab turbo hatchback to sell. I have been its sole owner since buying it new in 84
I never seen one in person but seems like a cool car ....I just recently bought a used 97 Saab 9000 CSE turbo.....exterior has seen better days but this car is so much fun to drive ....love and hate relationship with it 👌👌
I had a 1992 9000 CSE Turbo myself back in the day. I crashed it driving way too fast. Me and the other two people in the car walked away. You might not realize it but your car is unbelievable safe, trust me lol
@@CarDietrich only down side I have with this car is the fact that I can't install an after market shift knob...having trouble figuring out what my options are for it
Ah the memories- my burgundy 1985 Saab 900 (non turbo) 5spd 3 door (hatchback) 285,000 on odometer-- traded in 1995 for a bright red 1995 Pontiac Grand Prix GT... had several vehicles since then - none as memorable as the tank (Saab) I had 🙁
4:20 - and owning a 1986 SPG made me feel unique, all that lowkey notchback bragging.
God, it does look good though. Gives me those western European vibes... makes me want to listen to The Human League lol
Hmmm, no Ellen, yet? Alright, I'll come back later then... Great video!
On some euro cars the dots are there to indicate the max engine speed for each gear. I imagine 150 km/h is the max speed of 4th gear for example. You can find this kind of indication in old Mercedes as well.
I don't think it's that on this car, in theory that car could do 110 mph in 4th gear.
Video made me miss my 900T. Wonderful car and in the snow I must brag I could do donuts in a few inches of snow and never loose tracking. No car Ive owned since gave me so much of a fun factor as the 89 16V turbo....To drive Saab is to partake in a truly unique automotive experience...
I recently came into a 1989 900 Turbo Convertible with a five speed. I've been dragging in making a video on it but I plan to next month.
Makes me miss my old 1985 900S hatchback. The 2-door notchback 900 and 99 always looked weird to me. ;)
A much more pleasant voice and flow vs imitated party. Please do more :)!
Thank you very much Andrei! I do lots of car reviews on my channel, but I don't purely copy DeMuro. He is certainly an influence on me but I gotta do my own thing too.
@@CarDietrich I was not referring to "copying" Dough more haha! Anyway, it was a pleasure to watch!
I’m getting too old to drive my 1984 red Saab turbo 900 hatchback -which has been the PERFECT beloved car! Considering selling but only to someone who will appreciate it for all those reasons you list in your good review. WHY did they ever stop making these?!!
I agree with you and feel your pain Dorothy. I sold this car about two months ago, the guy who bought it from me drove it 350 miles home without issue. Unfortunately this is probably part of the reason why they aren't built anymore, and why no car is built quite like this anymore. If one car buy a car, and then drive it for 35+ years, well that doesn't really bode well for repeat business does it? There are other reasons too. But basically the world as a whole, and the car business specifically, has moved past the point where a relatively small Swedish firm that cares deeply about what they build can make a go if it. Oh well. They were great cars and those that survived still are. If you're looking to sell your car to a Saab enthusiast I recommend posting it for sale on saabnet dot com. Anyone still looking at that website is a die hard.
I think Saab 900 gets a 10/10 cool factor as the official James Bond drove with Saab900 between 1981-1994 (I believe) in novels. My first and second cars in the 90s were Saab 900's.
In my heart I would agree with you but I was trying to be fair and score it how Doug would.
My '89 16v 900i 4 door 'notch back' manual is currently having some work done - including a new clutch. My car has done 307,000 km on the original clutch, gearbox still great. Car drives very well, so well on winding roads that I can leave modern cars well behind. Driver's heated seat no longer works- but the passenger one does.
The notchbacks had none of the practicality of the 4-door OR the hatchback, BUT...they were the coolest looking of the 900s. I had one that I transplanted a turbo B engine into. It was a lot of fun.
I won't lie it could use a turbo. I haven't even considered a swap for mine though because the original motor runs so well
@@CarDietrich Even the NA motors were really nice and smooth. The turbo really opened it up though. Keep it original...until you can't.
I am actually dying at how good you did at copying Doug lolololol
Thank you for watching. It's actually a lot harder than Doug makes it look!
Love it! 88 4-door notchback here.
The curved windshield was developed on the SAAB 99 to be the first to survive the moose test. The key between the seats came about because there was a study that showed many knee injuries caused by the ignition key.
The key in between the seats has a variety of explanations, including that's where they used to put the ignition switch on planes, the transmission lock made possible by the key in that location made it harder to steal the car, and the knee injury thing. Personally I think it's a lot easier to insert the key there than on the steering column. Maybe they just did it to be different.
Love it!!! My dream car coming out of high school 1986. Now I'm in the market 👌🏿
Thank you for watching! I actually sold this car about a year ago, and as of a few months ago the guy I hold sold it to had it for sale I think on Hemmings, he had cleaned it up a little bit and added some period correct accessories and it looked pretty cool. Not sure if its still available but its still out there somewhere.
I drive a 1990 3-door 16v 900 and I really love your car! A buddy of mine has a dark grey 900 from 1985, also 2-door but its the most basic equipped Saab had for sale back then (no power steering, 4-speed manual, no odometer, 8v 2.0L, etc.). Love the vid and its way more accurate than Doug's review! Greetings from the Netherlands :)
Thank you so much for watching!
Hey you forgot that you can make the boot even bigger by flipping the backrest of the backseat!
great car, lovely video! I have also a '85 900i, but a 4 door saloon... love these machines
Thank you for watching! Love mine too :)
fabulous film thank you
You're welcome thank you for watching. #longlivesaab
I have a classic 900i convertible. I had a BMW mechanic come up to me and say how nice my 900 was and what great cars they are. He said you drive 5 hrs in a SAAB 900 and want to drive 5 more. I know I love to drive mine.
I worked at a BMW dealer for a while. I drove my 900 to work one day and one of the old sales guys came up to me and said "you know what Saab stands for? "Sure Ain't A Bimmer!" I nodded my head, turned around at looked at my car and said "well, it does have 335,000 miles on the original engine, so yeah I guess it sure ain't a Bimmer!" He sort of looked down and then nodded his head in approval lol
Awesome awesome video. I just purchased a 1985 900s as this video was perfect
Congrats on your new old Saab! Enjoy it!
That video was freaking awesome!! You're better than Doug DeMissed-out-on-this-SAAB.
And DANG over 340,000 miles! Nice!! Keep on SAABin'
Thank you so much for watching, glad you enjoyed it! And I will keep SAABin'
This actually feels like a real Doug Demuro review lol
I love your 900. I owned a 1989 2 door turbo 5 speed. Wish I still had that car. So much fun. New York rust got the best of it. I've owned others. 1995 ng900S 5 speed, 1999 viggen, 2005 9-3 soft top, turbo 5 speed and currently own a 1996 ng900 soft top 5 speed turbo and a 1967 model 96 with a 1.7L V4, 4 speed on the collum.
Thank you for watching! I would love to have a 9-3 Viggen someday
There are still some Viggens out there. I owned the original 1999 lightning blue version. I think the best looking one and very low numbers that were brought into the states. Something like 400 for that year. I was a fun car while I owned it but I did get some speeding tickets with that land jet.
There are still some Viggens out there. I owned the original 1999 lightning blue version. I think the best looking one and very low numbers that were brought into the states. Something like 400 for that year. I was a fun car while I owned it but I did get some speeding tickets with that land jet.
GREAT VIDEO! Honest evaluation and "Doug Score;" but WAY under rated in my opinion! As you allude, there is much more to these cars! - D- '86 900T 3dr
Thank you so much for watching! I tried to be as fair as I could with the DougScore and rate it as I think Doug would have. If it were up to me I would have just been like "10, 10, 10...." etc etc etc
Ricardo Engineering, a British firm designed the first Saab 99 engine from Saab's design specifications. Saab couldn't afford to manufacture it at the time but Triumph could and they also needed an engine. So Triumph manufactured it for Saab for a couple of years before using it themselves. At this point Saab designed an entirely new engine with no shared parts and began manufacturing in house - this B engine shared some measurements but no parts with the Ricardo engine. When the Saab 900 came around Saab designed another new engine - the H engine which was even further removed from anything Triumph ever used. The Saab engine is legendarily well designed and built and therefore a million miles has been done on several without major surgery. The Ricardo engine that Triumph continued to use for many years was not reliable at all and very few examples survive in comparison. The fact that the Triumph myth is always told is so frustrating - Saab did not back down on engineering or materials quality apart from this one time and yet unfortunately it is the one thing everyone remembers... This is especially annoying when you release that a standard Saab 16 valve H engine will take north of 500 bhp without significant internal modification - one of, if not the best designed engine in the world!
You might have convinced me to look at one that’s up for sale with only 50k on the clock
I strongly encourage you to look at it, but if it's only got 50k on the clock I'd bet dollars to donuts that the odometer is broken. Even if this is the case, as long as the car is in good condition and has been well maintained and the service records are available, don't let the unknown miles scare you off.
You can unlock the trunk with the central locking system. You just need to program that feature with the drivers side door lock.
That was very cool, great content.
Thank you Stoney!
The convertibles started life as a notchback!
Thank you, excellent review
Any 900 notchback is incredibly rare. I'd trade my 01 Viggen convertible for a good one in a minute.
Dang I wish I knew that when I sold it back in January we would have had us a deal! I've always loved the Viggens that might have to be my next Saab
@@CarDietrich I've had 8 SAABs and wanted a notch 900 when I joined the Army in 1984. I'd go for SAAB 90 too.
The Viggen's been a decent car with all the Taliaferro upgrades including balance shaft delete (shifter was done when I got it,). And Quaife LSD of course. Makes all the difference in being able to drive it hard.
Sounds like a fun car! Someday I'll have one...
This was a great video. I think I'll go looking to buy one now!
You should! They are great cars!
Great video very doug like. I think you way under rated it. I agree best car design ever. Can you imagine if they had continued to develop and mprove this design instead of rebaging Opels and Trailblazers?
I wish. Unfortunately the car industry changed in ways that made it impossible for a smaller player like Saab to survive.
Really cool video and a really cool car. But please never get technical again.
saab is such a legendary company still building airplanes for the swedish airforce
2dr sedan was the least sold of all Saab 900, not very common!
But i have had 6 of them :D
BTW, the 2l engines has absolute nothing in common with the triumph 1,85 and 1,7 engines.
Good job on your Vid...
Thanks for the view!
Listening to you talk about the ignition key in this car - my father had a Saab 900i a while back where the engine would stay on even if you removed the key entirely, when I believe it was supposed to auto-shutoff if you removed the key.
I wonder if these cars had common ignition key issues.
You weren't supposed to be able to get the key out while the engine was running, but it wasn't smart enough to shut itself off if you took it out. This car had mechanical fuel injection lol. My dad worked his key on purpose on long drives so he could get it out while it was running so he could unlock the trunk without turning the engine off. Go figure.
@@CarDietrich Ah, that makes sense. Fascinating stuff.
Yeah they do heat up in town, and they also are built to blow heat from the engine back in into the cabin, they were aimed for cold climate driving
Spot on "Doug DeMuro's" review even it isn't..
Thank you for watching!
I had a blue 1985 SAAB 900 S, my regret was the trade in for a Chevy Suburban. I would purchase another SAAB 900 S for myself today. Truthfully, it's the only car I had no problems with. My wife at the time wanted a car with more space.
30, 50, 70, 90, 110 were the restricted speed limits in Sweden in the day soooo Swedish car made in Trollhättan. Nowadays speed limits are 10, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 110 and 120kph in Sweden.
Great job, thanks. Doug’s was good too’
Glad you enjoyed it! Has Doug done a classic 900 though?
Well... the key and reverse is just to have the car not to roll if not deploying the handbrake... common man
love it, man. still hoping we can get together with our Saabs after all this Covid stuff passes. Our cars are pretty dang similar (year, color, miles). are you part of the saab club of california on FB?
Naw I don't really do facebook, but yes lets get together when Covid is over! I've got a lot more time on my hands now that I've been laid off too lol.
I never drove nothing like the Saab 900 especially of its time it was the best
Hey, love the video. I wouldn't consider myself a car guy but have always loved the 900 ever since my brother gave me his as my first car. I recently bought a 1985 notch-back 4-door 900 Turbo, 85k miles. Looks just like yours, cherry red, but without the chrome detailing on the windows, and a leather interior as opposed to cloth.
I'm really grateful you mentioned the temperature issues, because I've found it hard to get a read on whether or not it's running too hot. I get nervous when the needle spikes since it gets uncomfortable close to the red. I've noticed it most after getting off of the highway and entering into a more urban area. I don't know if maybe my electric fan isn't triggering correctly but if I turn on the AC it will turn on the fan and it'll start to cool down. Not an ideal solution.
Also one question. I recently had to switch out a defective battery and I think the shop gave me a replacement with the positive and negative posts inverted, but I'm unsure. I'm trying to determine which battery cable is positive but they're not marked nor are they red or black. The one on the left (assuming you're standing by the right-front wheel and facing the battery) is wrapped in a kind of braided fabric like cover and the one on the right in a blue rubber. I'm almost positive the cable on the right is the negative, and it looks like one of its two cables is a ground, but I'm just not sure and don't wanna risk damaging anything by reversing the cables and battery terminals.
Any insight would be much appreciated!
First of all, you are doing exactly the right thing by turning on the AC to cool the engine. In these old 900's that kicks on the second cooling fan to cool down the engine. Swedish engineering: Hot Day = Air Conditioning = Need to Keep Engine Cooler.
As far as the battery is concerned, the cable closest to the right front wheel is the positive battery cable. The cable closest to the front of the car is the negative (ground) battery cable.
Hope that helps and thank you for watching!
@@CarDietrich Really appreciate your response. The temperature behavior has really causes me a lot of anxiety because I it climbs pretty high sometimes, even though it eventually normalizes to a bit above halfway. If I can ask another question, what are some good rules of thumb to discern whether or not the car is actually getting too hot? I imagine the obvious answer is that if it the needle actually hits the red but I'm curious if there's more nuance to it than that.
Thank you for the cable tip, I had a feeling that was it but didn't want to make any assumptions, batteries make me nervous :)
Love the vid!
Never had a problem with the odometer
Hey cool u viewed that beautiful red saab way better than if Doug could do. i like u. if I was u I start UA-cam channel viewing cars u are cool . Viva saab lol thanks
Ppl in Scandinavian countries are not impressed by SAAB hoods I should think. But drive any year of Jeep Cherokee there and jaws drop, phones rise, invites extended, and doors open.
i love you
No!!!! you can't repair those ignitions like that! You really should fix that issue so that it works properly again! Other than that, it's a great car!
I bought the car like that and sold it like that, I haven’t had that car since 2021
Thought the 2-door sedan was not in North America (just the 4-door and the 3-door "combi" only).
1985 and 1986 only in North America, and they were only the 900 S models, no base or turbo.
Nice car. How hard is the engine to work on
Basic maintenance is pretty easy, the accessory drive is right up against the firewall so that stuff can be a little bit trickier, as far as replacing/rebuilding the engine or transmission, that's a huge job. You can't really separate them until they're out of the car, and that basically requires taking the whole front end apart.
Whats the mileage of these older cars?
This one did low twenties in town and high twenties on the Highway, but it probably did a bit better than that when it was new
Great video! We've had many Saabs. I have a 1989 900s sedan. So, why doesn't your 1985 have side blinkers? 110 MPH? What highway is that?
The side blinkers didn't come until the 1986 models, and I don't know what highway that is either lol. Thank you for watching!
@@CarDietrich Pretty sure I recognize that highway from down in Mexico. I commended your commitment to drive across the border to make this video! ;)
Arnsten hingy guflut kahingen altstuul!
1984 was the first year for the 16 valve turbo, not 1985.
In the US Market (where I am) the 16 valve turbo didn't debut until 1985, it was '84 in Europe though you're right
This can’t be a triumph engine, cause this one works, and a triumph engine doesn’t😂
Based on a Triumph design. Built by Saab. Hence why its still running lol
@@CarDietrich
True🤣
5X Saab Owner about to get my 6th: Looking for a licensed non-profit to handle raffling my 2004 Saab 9-5 wagon. Will to give 20% of closed raffle for handling and possible promoting
165K. Large service history from Saab trained mechanic
AC not working recharges don’t last too long in S Florida heat
Also needs lots of niggling things to bring it up to spec,
Radiator and turbo were replaced several years ago
DIC less than 2K miles ago
Please let me know if you know of a charity who would be interested
Unfortunately I don't know any reputable charities to handle car sales, just the ones I've heard on the radio and I have no idea if they're any good
@@CarDietrich I just saw a commercial talking about a Homeless Vet charity. As a vet, this is close to my heart. I will investigate
you need to be more animated and wave your arms more to impersonate Doug
The real reason: Doug spent 4 days recording quirks and features before his brain melted... he's got Saab quirks and feature ptsd.
It's ok, it happens to most.
Hilarious!
Also you seem to have problems reading speedometers
How so?
And I lost Doug Demuro when he reffered to the passenger side vanity mirror of the Lamborghini Jalpa as a coke mirror. I've had a problem with depression and substance abuse so to hell with that and that that kind of language.
Doug reviewed a e39 BMW M5, and said it has the worst cupholders. He obviously has not seen the saab 900 cupholders. Just open your glovebox and see for yourself.
Lol those aren't cupholders. I always pictured those are for holding beverages when you are pulled over off of a quiet Swedish highway having a picnic.
@@CarDietrich well thats kinda true, they really do not work anyhow like a cupholder. Would be interesting to hear why they are there😂
My 2006 Honda Civic has 508000 miles and it’s 21 years newer 😂
Came to this video because I heard the Saab 900 has some kind of ‘auto clutch manual transmission’
Jeez, do you ever turn that Honda off?? The "Sensonic" clutch was on the later 900 models, from the mid-late '90s. I've never driven one of those
Ah ah ah,that´s the SAAB developed H-Engine,it has nothing in common with the Triumph engine.The H was developed from the Scania V-8 truck engine.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saab_H_engine
Saab made some great cars on paper. If they made them less difficult to look at i think they'd still be around. They all looked fairly terrible, especially by american car standards.
Doug DeMuro is one of the most annoying buffoons on the Tube so I don't know why any serious car enthusiast would Dougscore their car, but at least you are knowledgable about it.
A Doug demuro ripoff
Yeah pretty much, but I tried to do a good job with it and I gave the guy the credit too.
Saabs is the ugliest car ever made.
Sir the 2009 Acura TL would like to have a word with you.
@B. L. there are to many ugly cars out in the market today. That always amazes me.
There have been plenty of 900s over the years here in CT. Always thought they were ugly. I think my 9-5 is rather sexy. Really like the 9000. I would throw the 900 in with the 240 and just call them cool euro cars with a nostalgia tip.
I challenge you to own one, and not fall in love with it. It may be ugly, and not fast, but it is one of the most comfortable cars with great visibility and excellent quality. I’m on my sixth one. I buy one, enjoy it, get annoyed with it and sell it. A few months later I miss the unique attributes of the Saab.
Christopher B I broke up with my girlfriend after she bought a convertible Saab.
i love you