I recently purchased my '91 900 Turbo Convertible after lusting after the 900's for 30+ years. A good friend of mine bought a 1979 900 Turbo Coupe brand new. We cruised in that car so much, we wore our own grooves on the main drag through town. Early one morning, my buddy was on his way home from working a double shift at the mine, fell asleep at the wheel and rolled that beautiful car four times into a cow pasture. It came to rest on it's wheels, badly dented up and with a cracked windscreen. He got out and took an accounting of his badly damaged baby. All the lights were lit, the engine had died, other than all the body panels being virtually destroyed, the car looked sound. Doug got back in the driver's seat, turned the key, and smiled as the still fairly new engine purred to life. He put it in 1st gear, got turned around and eased the Saab back onto the highway... And drove it 57 miles home. 2 months later he came by my house and his Saab was in the driveway... Good as new. Since that moment, I have always respected the marque and loved the familiar body lines passed down through the years.
My "new" Saab is in remarkable shape for its 20 years. Dashboards don't last as long in the states, as we have so many days of sunshine and heat, but that will be remedied soon. I'm in the process of tracking down and purchasing every trim piece, body panel, light, and badge I can find. Not that any of that is needed now... Rather as insurance against any future catastrophe. Weatherstripping is particularly hard to find... I've found some (mostly for the passenger side), and will eventually have enough to replace all of it, as it becomes necessary. I will be keeping this car long into my old age. I don't want to have to hunt parts for it when it's 30 or 40 years old...
I was (and still am) a member of SaabScene under the same ID. I look forward to chatting with many of you here as well.
Cheers,
Jim