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Dan M is dedicated to a particular Swedish brand and has collected just about every significant model they ever built. Obviously guessing where Dan’s brand loyalties lie won’t be too difficult, but guessing each car’s year and model could be a bit more challenging, seeing as this company went for long periods of time without making major changes to their product lineup. Our thanks goes to Dan for lining up his cars to snap these pictures for us!
Fabulous collection, but he still needs a Bull Nose!
Nice I’ll take it all the Saabs the barn the whole deal. I’m guessing with a collection of very fine Saabs the silver one must be a Viggen.
Nope, the silver one is not a Viggen. That would be circa 1999-2002. Dan’s collection stops at the Original Generation 900 (or OG900 in Saab circles) which ended production in 1993 for cars with a metal roof, and 1994 for the convertible. The 900 and 9000 were the last of the Saab designed cars before GM got their fingers into it. So Dan really needs a 9000 to complete his collection. Maybe that is his daily driver.
So the silver car is a 900 convertible with what I believe is a rare factory trim package called the Aero.
John
It’s a shame what GM did to Saab. GM never understood.
Ah yes John I forgot that , yes an aero.
& Mike GM never understands.
These are great looking cars. I’ve never been a Saab fan, the 70’s, if I recall did not play to well with them.
I’m sure, yawning, they are great cars.
If you never owned one or drove one you wouldn’t understand.
The 1982 SAAB 900 Turbo, Darth Vader Black that I bought new, was one of the best cars I’ve owned. And I have had over 200 cars.(Ferraris, Jaguar, Lotus, Maserati, Corvette, AUDI, Acura, Abarth, Mercedes, and many more)
i would love to own/drive any of these cars. it would be hard to deside which one to drive frist. thanks for sharing. and what kind of car is that hidding in the backgroung behind the tree?
Digging on the red Sonet.
Love the barn!
Modern windows need to be painted to reduce their profile ( :) )
A 900 is on my list of WILLGETS. Beautiful collection
SAAB innovated thus small changes in model run(s).
Man. That lime green one is my favorite… the nose looks like a 99, but as for LE, EMS, Turbo, etc. I wouldn’t know. A 99 Turbo is my current dream car, and I’d be super excited to have one in this color, that or orange.
I think the blue one to the left is a 1969 Sonett, and the light green one is a 1976 Saab 99 in Spring Green. Thats all I have.
I really like the barn-garage too, but I wonder whether that big central sliding door has some way of excluding small critters, which need to be kept out for the safety of the cars’ wiring and hoses, not to mention unwanted nests, ‘deposits’, and so on.
I would be curious to know from Dan whether there’s a special seal on the central door that does that.
Beautiful collection. I’ve had almost all of them over the years, except a convertible, but never at the same time. Currently restoring a 69 Sonett. Can only dream what parts might bein that barn.
Gorgeous collection Dan – hope you can find a nice 9000 SPG or 9000 CD to complete your collection of original SAABs. I too agree, GM doomed that company from the get go.
I’ve never seen various Saabs lined up like this. Surprised to see that earlier cars had more slope to the windshield.
Is the soup green one a very rare ’66 Saab Special, or a standard two-stroke 96? Resloution’s not quite good enough for me to see the air holes in the wheels. Round ones = Special, with the disc brakes and Monte Carlo engine!
I believe that I know this red headed Dan of WA. state . They are looking great !!!!
The 99 (prob an LE) in Spring Green (also known as Opal Green) is a nice score. He needs to get a 900 SPG (1985-1991) in order to have a near complete collection. A 9000 turbo would be a welcome addition as well.
My collection stands at 2 – 1991 900 SPG and 2001 Viggen convertible.
This must be an older picture, the dark green 69 99 in the center, is now in my garage. It sits next to a orange 74 Sonett which Dan has helped me with bumpers for.
And the GM/Saabs were not all bad – we had a ’93 900 with the GM sourced V6, stick, and it was a great car. 230,000 miles never did anything but routine maintenance and water pumps (3), but at 230,000 still went 5000 miles on a quart of oil (changed at 7500), but front spring went, cat went, and clutch was just about done, car worth $500. Was a great handling and very responsive car, wife did not have one she liked as well till our 2014 Audi with V6 and turbo.
That’s the Garage Mahal in Gig Harbor, been there many times. Sadly, Dan has decided to sell the house and downsize; his new, smaller garage and significantly smaller house are going up right now. About the only cars in that picture still owned by Dan are the blue ’69 Sonett and the 99s.
OK guys, I’ll share some info on my collection and try to answer some of the questions. Yes the picture is dated and only 4 in the photo still remain in my collection. It is true that I have downsized the collection and will be moving this fall. The blue 1969 Sonett, the 1972 95 wagon, the blue 1975 99 and the spring green 1976 99 remain.
The green 1969 99 with metal bumpers was likely the rarest of the group. 69 99s had many unique features.
The green 1967 96 was a standard 2 stroke. The C900 convertible had the airflow kit, which consisted of molded front and rear bumpers and lower body side cladding.
The “barn” is fully insulated, including the doors, and never have had any sort of a problem with mice. It is heated by an antique pot belly wood stove and doors shut tight. I did however accidentally shut a squirrel inside one night and he damn near chewed and clawed his way out. He picked a corner of the door and spent the night digging away at it. And yes the barn and log home will be for sale soon, located 20 minutes from Tacoma, WA.
A seriously nice collection, sorry it had to be broken up. I learned to drive on a 1986 SAAB 900S 5 speed manual. It was white with blue interior. It had heated seats and a manual sunroof.
The best thing about the 900S was its absolute stability at any speed and in any weather. My Dad loved that car.
I also had the pleasure to drive my brother’s friend’s 1984 900 Turbo. What a fun car that was!
Finally – as a high school sophomore project, I wrote a letter to SAAB regarding their upcoming 9000 series. The north American president of sales answered me back with a polite letter and a book on the engineering specs, design principles and philosophy of the entire 9000 series. The 9000 series was a handsome car, and was rather well engineered. Unfortunately SAAB’s brand identity was swallowed up by the German marques and then further destroyed by GM and so, here we are.
Had a 76 99 in that same shade of green. It was the 5 door version.
Had a later B motor in it, Bilstein shocks, Those oddball size wheels, that only fit 200 each Avons. When it ran, it ran good. When it didn’t, well……
Spent a bunch a money and time fixing rust. Clutch quit at 221000. Gave up on it at that point.