They (whoever they is) always say to buy the nicest vehicle you can find, it’s much cheaper than restoring a clunker with an inexpensive asking price. This 1986 Saab 900S may be the nicest one left, and the seller has it posted here on craigslist in the city with arguably the finest viticultural university (i.e., wine school, UC Davis) in the world in Davis, California. The seller is asking $7,800, here is the original listing, and thanks to Tony P. for sending in this tasty tip!
What a car, and the seller has taken fantastic photos of everything, other than the underside. With Davis’ climate, I wouldn’t be too concerned about rust, and the seller even says, “zero rust”, and I believe it. Check out the photos, they’re some of the best for a craigslist ad in a long time. Well done, seller!
Saab offered the 900 in two iterations over a couple of decades, from 1978 to 1998. The early “classic” version as seen here is hard to beat for vintage Saab enthusiasts. They were modern enough – especially compared to the Saab 99 – but still a little quirky. They were perfect for a college professor, which the seller says this car is, or was, and they’re the third owner. I prefer four-door Saabs from this era, for some reason. They were slightly updated the following year in 1987. The seller refers to this paint as Carerra White, but I don’t see that color in Saab brochures for 1986, only Cirrus White.
The exterior almost looks like it was nut-and-bolt restored for Concours duty – although it’s original – and the interior also looks fantastic. The “S” model was between the base 900 and the Turbo model, and it had no performance enhancements. But, it did have some niceties inside like power windows, a power antenna, power mirrors, a manual sunroof, deluxe velour upholstery, and more. The Persian Blue velour seats look great both front and rear, and you can see a five-speed manual poking out of the console area. The four-door sedan body style is my favorite and the accompanying trunk looks as clean as the rest of the car does.
The engine and engine compartment also look clean, and this is Saab’s 16-valve, DOHC 2.0-liter inline-four, which would have had 125 horsepower and 123 lb-ft of torque when new. The seller says that it has recently had $3,000 in maintenance and upgrades, everything works, and it runs and drives perfectly. Have any of you owned a Saab 900 from this era?
I have owned and worked on the classic 900 as a Saab tech. The 86 900S did have a performance enhancement over the base 900 model. This one has the 16V head to the base 900 8-valve mill with Bosch CIS injection. That makes the S model more desirable in my opinion. 86 models still had the emergency brake that acted on the front wheels. That would not change until 1988. The most important thing to check on this 86 is clutch and transaxle operation. Pinion bearings and reverse gears kept me gainfully employed and to the best of my knowledge parts are NLA unless someone stepped up to reproduce them.
I had a 900 Turbo convertible. You are correct about the transaxle. I babied mine and shifted slowly- out of gear-neutral- into the next gear. Never had a problem, although I felt like it could break easily. Unfortunately, I gave in to a young friend of mine begging me to sell him the car. So, we went on a long demonstration drive together. He was driving a Honda Civic 5 speed at the time. I warned him- no “speed shifting”. He called me the following morning- no first gear. I gave him the number of my SAAB/Volvo technician. Really sad- it was a great car.
So according to you and alphasud; one has to baby this transmission and pray it doesn’t break. But it will.
Hard Pass.
Hmmm… not my experience with the transaxle… Were there significant changes to the trans on cars later than ’86?… I had two 900s… an ’88 and a ’91. Both with the 5 speed. Put well over 150K mi on both. Never an issue with the clutch or tranny. …and I wasn’t especially kind.
My parents had a similar car only in red with an automatic trans. Very solid and safe car and it felt very premium for its era. I still love these to this day. Sad that Saab is no more.
Not the most exciting car in the world, for sure. But, for the serious Saab-ophile? This would be a find.
I have an 87 just like this with 50,000 miles absolutely no rust no cracks in dash or seats ….. just might be better
@Mike McFarland – When you are ready to let it go, let’s auction it right here on Barn Finds!
There’s another one out there. It belonged to a UC Berkeley professor from Berkeley…. Same exact car 900s 5spd but dark grey cloth & no sunroof.
The Swedish Benz.
It’s been said that you Saab when you buy one and you Saab when you sell one. Having said that, this one is very nice looking and I have to admit, I’m surprised to read about the transmission having thought all my life that Saabs were built like tanks. There is a convertible 3 cabins down from me in the mountains. It sits outside all year long, awaiting its owners to arrive in time for summer. Driven very little even then. Put away again in the driveway at the end of summer.
I had a 1985 (I think) 900 Turbo. I got it for my daughters after the 1970 96 (named “Sadie” by the girls) started to show her age.
It was a great car. Plenty of torque when the turbo spooled up. The transmission did fine with two inexperienced teenagers driving it.
The car (“Loki”) met its end late one night. The crankcase was pressurized by the turbo, and it appears that the O-ring on the dipstick didn’t seal properly. We are guessing that the dipstick popped out, spraying hot oil onto the exhaust manifold. The car burned down to the rims.
A few years later, I got a 1999 Saab SE convertible. 205 BHP gave plenty of acceleration, and the handling was crisp. I loved the car, but it had to make way for my present ride, a 997 Porsche.
As you might be able to tell, I like Saabs.
I had a similar experience with an older fire apparatus on a Ford C-8000 COE chassis. During a three hour pump certification test, the PTO mounted on the Allison transmission pressurized the transmission, ejecting the dipstick enough to spew ATF on to the exhaust. My technician had gone to the restroom, and I was facing away from the apparatus, staring into space. You can imagine my heart attack when I turned around and saw flames coming up between the cab and body, and on the ground underneath the vehicle. Stupidly, I had no chemical extinguisher, but I had a 2-1/2″ water discharge flowing back into the underground test pit. Pulling it out of the pit and drowning the entire scene, I disproved that you can’t put out a petroleum-based fire with only water (or maybe I put it out with my adrenaline…). With the fire out, and everything shut down, my technician came back from the bathroom and asked, “How’s it going?”
Okay, you win BF for today with that story!
“…owned a Saab 900…”
yes, the ex did (also a ‘perfeser’) while I used the Wolwo waggys. I maintained it for her (inc body wrk when she pressed it into th chain link parking) and must say, what a nice rig! Subie, back then, known as the awd & these known as the turbos – she had 1.
I’d go for this one now but need dark upholstry. Real shame cheb could not assist or keep them going to this day.
I’ve had three Saabs, the first was a ’76 99GL Wagon Back.. it was a good car but I sold it to a young doctor in MD in ’80 and bought a Toyota 4×4 pickup. My next one was an ’85 900S two door that I bought my wife, but I drove it most of the time. That was a great car until I broadsided a Buick when I woman made a left turn in front of me and I hit her at 50mph and totaled it out. Fortunately other than having whiplash I wasn’t hurt at all. My last one was a ’94 Turbo convertible, another great car that I drove all over the US, and it was a lot of fun. One summer night in Louisiana I was running with a trucker caravan at nearly 100mph down the interstate on a trip back from FL, but I found out you did have to be careful doing that with the top down because they start wanting to take off. =:-0
These cars have always been known for safety and I can personally attest to that. I fell asleep driving a 79 900S on an interstate highway. The 4 doors were locked but the hatchback was not. The car went off the road, flipped end over end then barrel rolled on the highway seemingly forever. Ended up upside down, engine running, all windows intact except the back hatch glass (unlocked hatch opened). I reached and turned the car off, unbelted, and climbed out without a scratch. Car was totalled
I have five Classic 900s, including an ’86 900S coupe. These cars are not exactly quick off of the line, but they do have a lot of torque. The gearing is very tall, which means that, once you get the car up to speed, it stays there. These cars are incredibly comfortable on long trips…..I’ve taken many road trips in my ’88 SPG, my ’90 Turbo coupe and my ’90 Turbo ‘vert. I have never had any issues with the gearboxes in any of my Classics (however, the Viggen is off road because of a bad reverse synchro……go figure), which all have five speeds. Actually, I’ve had more issues with the five speed in my ’95 NewGen 900; bad reverse gear, crunchy third gear syncho and the pinion shaft snapped at 95K. Saab fixed every issue under warranty, and when the box grenaded, they bought a new gearbox for the car. I had to wait a month for it to swim over from Germany, but at least I had a loaner vehicle from the dealer.
This is a great looking car…….slow, but sturdy. I hope whoever is the next caretaker gives it a good home with the love and care that it deserves!!