When we think of the term “hot hatch” and from sometime in the 1980s, it’s inevitable we automatically assume it’s a Volkswagen GTI or a Dodge Omni GLH. But, truth be told, Saab got the party started many years earlier with its initial run of turbocharged hatchbacks and sedans which were quintessentially Swedish in design and execution and came with an extra dash of speed. If you wanted the hottest of the hot, you’d find a car like this one – a 1990 Saab 900 Turbo SPG, listed here on eBay with bids to $2,550 and the reserve unmet.
The Saab 900 is one of the cooler 80s/90s rides you can still buy for reasonable money. With the Aero-style wheels, front and rear spoilers, side skirts and wheel arch extensions, the SPG kit gave the 900 a serious shot in the arm styling-wise. But unlike a GM special edition with its fancy stickers and dash plaque, the rest of the chassis also got upgrades, including stiffer springs, shorter shocks, and beefy sway bars. Finally, performance got a bump as well, up to 175 horsepower in a 1990 SPG like this one.
Among the Saab faithful, an SPG is a valuable car in both parts form and as a mint-condition runner. This one falls somewhere in between: it’s not rusty, so it doesn’t make sense to part it out, but it’s also not exactly in pristine condition. The interior has the typical Saab faults, including a cracked dash and splits in the seats. The seller notes the gearbox also has the infamous second gear grind, and usually it’s just easier to find a good replacement transmission to swap in. There’s also a small oil leak from the distributor seal, and finding a Turbo-specific distributor in good condition is getting increasingly hard to track down.
The paint, which is referred to as Talladega Red, should come back with a proper buffing (I’m honestly a little curious why the seller hasn’t already attempted this.) It’s hard to assess these days where Saab 900 values are at: I sold a fairly decent 900 Turbo SE convertible in desirable Monte Carlo Yellow a few years back for a fair price, but it seems like that was a pandemic-era bump. These days, driver examples like this seem to rarely eclipse $10,000, and you can buy a more road-ready car for $15,000 or so. Still, if you have access to a good spare parts supply, this is an SPG worth saving.
One of my favorites
Hard to find in this condition
These were wonderful cars. There is enough support both stateside and in Europe to iron out all the bugs. Excellent winter and high altitude cars, I lived in Vail in the 80’s and the police force used these, albeit with 4 doors, Aspen did as well. GLWTS.
That’s a nice looking car. I really love Saabs in general. I passed on a black SPG that was on eBay a few months back that was in excellent condition with 87k miles as I recall. Some lucky person got it it for $7k. If I had my druthers I’d have bought it but the timing wasn’t right. I bought a used ’76 Wagonback that had belonged to a doctor in Denver in ’79 and took it to Baltimore when we moved, then we got a brand new ’87 Hatchback in white when we were living in MD. It was a base model but still a great car. I piled it into the side of an 80s Buick at that made a left in front of me in Mesa one night and totaled it out. The driver decided to stop instead of keeping going and had she done that I would’ve been able to get past her from behind but she left me nowhere to go and I was still doing about 45 when I hit her. That showed me just how safe these things are though.. the Saab wrinkled right up like it was designed to do and absorbed the impact like a champ and all I had was a bit of whiplash, and a lot of remorse that some idiot had just totalled out my wife’s beautiful 67k mile car that was in perfect condition. At any rate few years later I bought the last year of Saab made 900 Turbo convertibles and drove that all over the US. That car was an absolute blast to drive and one of these days I want to get another one.