During the second half of the 20th Century car company failures were not unusual, and some great names would be consigned to the dusty pages of history books if it weren’t for organizations such as Barn Finds. Since the year 2000 these failures have been mercifully few, but one of the notable ones was Saab, who produced some quirky, interesting and quite rapid cars. Such a car is the 1990 Saab 900 that you will find listed for sale here on eBay. Located in Manakin-Sabot, Virginia, it is offered for sale with a clear title. Bidding on this car has reached $6,500 at the time of writing.
Black cars always tend to look nice, but the 900 had that ability to look good regardless of its color. This one appears to be in nice condition with the seller stating that it has always been garage kept. The paint and panels appear straight, but the paint match on the driver’s fender is off after that panel was replaced to address the only rust issue in the car. The grey plastic trim has held up well over the past 28 years. I like little touches like the rear window louver, which is great for keeping those harmful UV rays off the rear upholstery. The car also features tinted windows, and the red turn signals and clear side markers don’t look out of place.
The interior looks really nice, and those leather seats look awfully inviting. The only real flaws in the interior are four very small cracks in the dash pad. Personally, I’d probably try to source a mat to cover these unless you can locate a replacement pad (although these cracks can sometimes be repaired). Otherwise, the interior plastic trim and carpet have held up well, and the rear seat seems to look even better than the front.
These door trim inserts are a nice custom touch, and they suit the car really well. The standard inserts are nice, but it takes an enthusiast to replace them with custom ones that look this good. The car also features some nice creature comforts such as power seats, power windows, cruise control and air conditioning that blows ice cold.
Under the hood is where things get serious with a Saab. The company pioneered its own route with turbocharger technology when other main-stream manufacturers were avoiding them. This allowed Saab to develop these engines into quite potent performers which suited the niche market that they occupied. This engine is the two-liter turbo, which is backed by a 5-speed manual transmission. These engines produce 160 hp, which is still reasonably impressive by today’s standards. When the 900 first hit the market, this figure put it into some pretty exalted company. The drive-train on this car (turbo, clutch, and transmission) has recently undergone a thorough inspection and has a clean bill of health. The car also features new shocks, new fuel injectors and new tires on Super Aero wheels.
The Global Financial Crisis dealt a crippling blow to Saab, and it was a blow that it never recovered from. The manufacturer was forced to file for bankruptcy in 2012, and another great manufacturer was lost to us. Thankfully the parts and supply chain for the brand has remained intact, and spare parts are still fairly easy to obtain. This means that any prospective Saab buyer can have some confidence that parts will be available on an ongoing basis. Finding a 900 SPG Turbo for sale today is something of a rarity. They are one of those cars that people buy and tend to keep because they are a great performer with an air of comfort, style, and flair. The NADA guide price on one in this condition is around $9,300, but it will be interesting to see what this one achieves on eBay. This is one that even my wife wouldn’t mind me putting in our garage.
Sweet car!
Love these! I was very excited to spot an early, flat-nose (1985 or ’86) SPG yesterday, black like this one, and heartened to see that it was being driven by a very young woman, maybe even a high schooler. Keeping the enthusiasm—and the ability to drive a manual transmission—alive!
Damn hipsters 🧔 😎
Black flat nose = ‘85 – should also not have front fender signal indicators and a tan leather interior.
‘86’s were all Edwardian grey with buffalo grey interior and front fender signal indicators.
I grew up in a SAAB family, and my stepfather’s personal project car was an ’89 900 SPG very much like this one. It’s difficult not to think of him when looking at this (he passed away a few years back).
Driving his Saab was always interesting and a lot of fun, because SAAB definitely marched to the beat of its own drummer back in those pre-GM years. Anyone who wanted a boring, safe BMW or Mercedes would have been horrified by his car, with it’s torque steer, big turbo kick, vague and clunky shifter, and climate controls I never could quite figure out…even after driving the car hundreds of times. But it made great power and fun noises, was very practical, and surprised more than a few Mustang drivers at stoplights.
It was a member of the family. The drunk uncle, perhaps, but family all the same. Thanks for putting this one up!
(By the way, I’m pretty sure the SPG of this year had 175 hp, not 160)
I blame GM for mismanaging SAAB and running it into the ground. I had an ’87 900 Turbo 16 in college and that car was an absolute blast to drive and I can attest to the comfort of those seats on long drives.
Absolutely. GM didn’t have any idea what to do with SAAB, or what the company was about beyond “Hey! the key goes between the seats!”
You are totally right about the seats — they were excellent.
Not that GM had brilliant plans for the company (beyond another badge-engineered subsidiary), but SAAB engineers were partly to blame for the downfall. They’d be given a development strategy from GM, and then go off and spend thousands of hours doing their own thing. GM would come back and smack them on the wrist, and they’d start over. They just burned through their resources.
Honestly, though, GM would have completely de-SAABed the company anyway.
I blame GM too. I’m a GM guy thru and thru (thus my tag BOP), but for me that applies to the 50’s, 60’s, and a few from the 70’s. GM didn’t allow Saab to be Saab, eventually turning into another line of rebadged Chevy’s. When GM was in trouble during the recession, there was an opportunity to let Saab survive, as a conglomerate of Chinese investors wanted to buy it and keep it alive. But GM was more concerned with the Chinese getting ahold of GM technology (like it’s the Manhattan Project technology or something!), than a desire to save Saab. A couple Swedish groups have tried to resurrect it too, but with no success.
I’ve never owned a Saab, but have driven a few. And having owned an early Volvo, I have much respect for the Swedish uniqueness. One question though…what is an SPG package?
Special Performance Group.
Used to think these were ugly but id rock it all day long!
I’ve always wanted one of these. This was a definite late 80s-early 90s favorite. Add an intercooler and you good to go.
It has an intercooler…every turbo Saab after 83 did
My college roommate had one of these in Maroon. I’ve never been a fan of FWD, but this car had enough quirky character to overcome that. I don’t care for the wheels (however original), but that’s easily remedied. Nice car!
In 90 or 91 I bought a silver ’86 turbo from the dealership I worked at. First year of the then current headlights, year before the then current rims but previous owner had upgraded them. Garage kept, looked brand new. I was just a high school kid driving what looked like a $30k car, but one I’d gotten for $1800.
Wobbly in the corners, the tires are kinda tucked in. But all the parts, and especially the doors, set the standards for quality. Definitely the sweetest car I’ve owned.
We bought one of these for my sons first car. We wanted him to drive a tank. Sure enough, he got into an accident and it saved his butt. He bought another and guess what ? Another crash. Great cars but pricey to fix.
Same for my son with a crash, not an accident. Ran off the road at 80 MPH +, tried to turn in the grass, wheel rims bit, car flipped up in the air landed on the A pillars and hood and skidded upside down for 200ft. Ran into muddy water and flipped back on it`s wheels. He was covered in mud and grass, climbed out, went home showered and went to bed! He would have died in a rice rocket of same vintage. We cut up the car, A pillars are DOUBLE sleeved, that`s why SAABs save lives.
Global Financial crises is not the reason for the demise of SAAB. The reason is General Motors turned the marque into a badge engineered shambles. Remmber that the SAAB name was even attached to GMs SUVs lineup, that once included the Chev Trailblazer, GMC, Jimmy, Oldsmobile Bravada and Buick Rainier. The company by itself probably would not have survived, being too small, but GM is the culprit here.
C900s are steadily climbing in desirability and price. The one in the link is in beautiful condition and the seller is obviously a Saab guy as opposed to someone who thought it might be cool to own one for a while…and then realized what they got themselves into (haha)
Sluggish off the line but once the turbo begins to spool up they’re pretty quick. Handling is more than adequate and in the winter there’s no better 2wd car. In fact they’re better than plenty of 4wd and awd vehicles.
They have their quirks – more than most – but they’re a joy to work on. Name another car that you can do a clutch replacement in-situ. And safety beyond compare. I have pictures of wrecked 900’s – even one of a vert rollover where the guy crawled out through the windshield and walked away. I was in a header as well in one and suffered no personal injury. The 9000 took Saab safety to a new level.
GM ownership was the final nail in their coffin but they did initially try to save the company, I will give them that. The sinking of the ship happened when they saw how much it cost to build a Saab and switched to a Saturn platform for the 9-5 and cheapened the 9-3 FWIW, Saab threw everything at the development of the 9000. It was their halo car. It took 80 man hours to build one and GM cut that to 30 hours when they switched to the 9-5
yup, 9thous got it, but these weren’t bad. “Ex” hada ’93 I easily maintained. Well designed, safe, peppy, tamed the curves @ speed, great in NE winters…
Shame w/the GM thing.
Twice now the Swedes have attempted a bring back. 3rd time’s a charm.
Always loved the sound these made coming down the hill in front of my house growing up, the turbo engine making that beautiful sound under engine braking. The only other car that turned my head doing that was a neighbors Ferrari 308 GTSi.