Few cars are as emblematic of 90s yuppie wealth than the Saab 900 convertible. Paint it yellow and give it Aero blade-style wheels, and it becomes borderline iconic. This 1991 Saab 900 SE Turbo features a one-year-only color of Monte Carlo Yellow and comes with the preferred manual gearbox. Condition looks impressive, and you can find the Saab here on eBay with bidding over $13K and the reserve unmet.
The Saab features the preferred turbocharged 16-valve engine with the manual transmission. Records are extensive, going back to new when it was sold in Pennsylvania. The Saab now resides in New Jersey, and it seems like it never left the Northeast. Surprisingly, it remains in rust-free condition with no signs of body damage of any kind.
Mileage is recorded as 70,900, so the 900 has been used. It seems likely this was a summer-only or Sunday driver for the previous two owners, as the leather remains soft to the touch and other interior surfaces look mint. Finding a Saab 900 of this vintage is nearly impossible, and a convertible that hasn’t suffered from years being parked with the top down even more so.
The seller notes the Saab has a long-standing relationship with one factory trained technician since new, and extensive records are available. Recent maintenance includes new brake pads and rotors, plug wires and air filter, fuel pump and fuel filter, as well as a complete coolant flush and oil change. Saabs like this are hard to find, and this 900 looks like one of the best.
Just another Saab story
Same old Saab story ?
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Sorry but it had to be said
Cry me a river
Saabs are truly great automobiles. One of the best built cars in the world. Saab owners are some of the most loyal car people I know. Saab sheet metal is probably one of the most substantial car bodies ever built . It was a terrible thing to have lost the production of this car. Bidders on this car I am sure will be well aware of what they are after.
The biggest reason they are not around anymore is they refused to do anything to cut costs after GM bought them. GM tried to get them to do things to cut production costs and Saab being Saab refused to do anything hence no more Saab cars. I wish they were still around as well, the world needs some quirky cars that are different instead of all these cookie cutter styles that make cars look alike. Hell, Toyota and Lexus are the same company I know, but if you can’t tell the difference between a Toyota and a Lexus, why spend the extra money on the Lexus?
Yes, they had loyal fans.
My sister and bother in law drove only Saabs and loved them. The last one they owned, just recently sold by their son, was the Corvette-engined SUV during the Chevy ownership days.
Now, they drive Fords. Go figure.
That is one ugly color. The three spoke wheels didn’t age well either, but are easy to change. I wouldn’t care how nice this car is, I’d wait for one in a different color. At least it has a manual transmission.
Steve R
There is nothing on the planet that should be coated in this yellow. Or any yellow, in my opinion.
Nothing wrong with the color at all. Problem is, we all spent the first 10 years of our educational life waiting to be picked up by a large vehicle of the same two colors- so it brings back bad memories. We couldn’t wait to have our own vehicle of ANY other color!
Not here, I lived a few blocks from school and walked. I don’t have anything against yellow busses. Some cars even look good in certain shades of yellow, but not this car and not that shade.
Steve R
Time-capsule! Great car, great color, great wheels, great condition. I’d drive exactly as is.
Those look like 9000 Aero wheel versus the SPG wheels they came with. Buy, yeah, nice car :-)
Can’t speak to the color but I can speak somewhat to the model. My insurance man loves Saabs and has one if not exactly (other than color) is so close it makes your head spin. He loves the thing and it’s a summer car and drives it a fair amount of time.
I’ve seen it and like it for it’s uniqueness. Don’t know if I’d ever buy one myself but I’d at least consider it if I found the right one.
A dream-car of a good friend of mine, and she managed to get a carbon-copy! I didn’t know this was a one-year-only color.
The front seats when new were the best in the business. These cars driven hard were always prone to a longer service list of to dos’ & you’ve never seen a scuttle shake until you’ve driven this car with the top down.
Saabs [the TRUE Saabs, not the Chevy versions] are great vehicles, very solid, reliable. The cars have a huge fan following. It’s too bad that GM bought the brand, taking away it’s personality by turning it into just another boring, rebadged Chevrolet. RIP Saab
Was Saab making them any better in 1991 than they were in 1989 when I worked at a new car dealer that sold Saabs? We walked broad arcs around them on the showroom floor, lest we be blamed for the flaws they brought over on the boat. It wasn’t unusual to walk into our service building and see two unsold new Saabs with their interiors spread across the floor while techs traced wiring issues. The location that carried them also had Oldsmobiles and Hondas. The other two brands sold between twelve and twenty times as many cars a month, but our service bays were split right down the middle. Hondas and Oldsmobiles were on one side, Saabs on the other. They were the only brand where there was no posted employee purchase plan, because nobody who saw how they were made would buy one. Salesmen were loath to take them on test drives, as they often came back on a hook and it would take months to repair one’s relationship with the techs who had to try to make them work.
There must have been a few good ones made, as I’ve seen them with the sort of miles you’d expect from a Honda. This one is almost certainly one of the average ones, where the mileage is low because you’d need a Formula 1 team to keep it running long enough to do 14,000 miles a year.
“Borderline iconic.” I wonder what the iconic spectrum looks like. And if there are percentages of iconicism.
Speaking as an expert on the “Iconic spectrum” I will say this. “I knew the Iconic Spectrum, and you sir are no Iconic Spectrum SAAB” .
Thanks for chiming in, Ike. I wondered what you thought. People apply your name to everything these days and it must get tiresome.
The only thing worse than being talked about, is not being talked about.
Back in the day, there was one in my hometown with the license plate “SNAAB”.
Going out on a limb and saying that this wouldn’t be my first choice to pull off a bank heist.
We owned three late 90’s 900 sedans and they were bullet proof and well made pre GM. Never did anything but routine maintenance. Lot’s of turbo lag tho! If you didn’t own one you really shouldn’t be speaking on the subject.
GM bought Saab in 1990. The Saab 900s made from model year 1995 were rebadged Opels(GM Germany). Be thankful. Bulletproof wasn’t a term for Saabs made before the GM buyout. The US distributor, Bob Sinclair, used to drive around the country with a spare engine in the trunk when they made their own engines, such was their disposable nature. Those were reverse-engineered DKW two-strokes. They were replaced with Ford V4s, which were replaced with Triumph I4s. All the mourning people do for the loss of Saab, a company which produced two complete car designs and one family of engines independently-ish. Why do people hate competence so much?
A 97 model just popped up on the stl craigslist for 1200 bux.
They never made a 97 model. The models were 93 , 95, 96, 99, 900, 9000
They did make a Model 97. It was the Sonett. The Sonett II was made from 1966 to 1970. The Sonett III was made from 1970 to 1974. Also there was a Model 92 and a Model 94. The Model 94 was a Sonett I.
No, a 97 model SAAB 900SE.
They made lots of 97 models.
I knew a family by the same name. Funny, he sold Buicks.
This illustrates a problem with their late model names — 9-3, 9-5, 9-2x, 9-4x, 9-7x — way to make your brand-new models sound like used/holdover models from the ’90s. 🙄
I fell in love with these as a teenager when I saw Jerry Seinfeld’s Saab 900 turbo convertible on tv. Classy looking and quirky too. I have extended family that owned a bakers dozen Saab’s over the years and swore by them.
I had one it was an ’87 with manual no turbo. I bought it for $1000. It needed a new clutch. It was one of the easiest clutch job I’ve ever done! The engine and trans was like a one piece design-engine on top trans at he bottom. I believe it share engine oil & trans. fluid. I didn’t have any problem with it. Had to sell it due to very expensive replacement parts! Too bad it went out of business.
The only personal experience that I have with Saab vehicles is that the doctor who delivered my now 30 year old son drove one. I don’t have a clue what year or model it was, but, the fact that it got him to the hospital in time to perform the emergency C-section, which saved my sons life, makes them ok in my book! Would I want one myself? No. Do I think they’re good looking cars? Definitely not! However, one of them helped give me a son with 10 fingers and 10 toes, so, I respect them for that!
I’m late to the game – first Saab purchased the year they went under – 2012.
I’m on my second 9-3 after the first succumbed to rust – it was 14 years old and in the rust belt, the second was 15 years old and had only 85K on it when I bought it. I drive it 60 miles – at least – every day. It’s as good a car as any. I paid $2500 for it.
Wife’s car is a 2006 Sportcombi Aero. We love it! I took back everything bad I said about GM / Saab. I paid $4500 for it. For $4500, it’s hands down the best car I’ve ever owned. No more maintenance issues / costs than any other 13 year old car with 150K . And, it has a unique look that can’t be found anywhere today.
Say what you want, I think they are the best value on the market.
Most are unjustifiably scared of them. But that’s good for me!
If only I could afford a Tech II – or there was one closer than 120 miles.