SAAB 900 Convertible: The all season drop top

A test drive and overview of the iconic classic 900 turbo convertible

[@Big_Chunks]

I am test driving a pretty mint 140k km black 1984 convertible in about an hour. Thanks for the insight, now I am even more sure

[@blackpool321]

Always loved this shape saab convertible

[@stefansworld3351]

Iconic car used in many films and TV ads. Featured in a current Netflix drama "Deceit" and a film with John Cusack "High Fidelity" to name just a couple.

[@wungabunga]

Somehow made that a quite interesting 20 odd minutes, thanks!

[@andrewfitzmaurice7843]

What a fantastic car, you just don’t really see them anymore and as I’ve been finding, even fewer for sale!

[@SaycoPworrell]

This is like mine and inspired. Please show more

[@davyfella]

I have a white '85 5door 8v turbo manual and a green '93 convertible 2.1 NA auto. Neither have not a spot of rust on them. The joys of living in Australia where they dont cover the roads in salt

[@stefansworld3351]

Complete opposite to the UK.The 900 rots very badly here.

[@ricktovoice5099]

I purchased a 1993 white 900 turbo. Its having an engine & gearbox rebuild. only 86,000 on the clock very clean. I hope to have it back in a few weeks.

[@stefansworld3351]

Sounds promising! Low mileage, so the body must be pretty tidy.

[@SaycoPworrell]

Please make some videos. I have a White vert too turbo and like to see others like it out there! Mine doesnt run... But i do have a motor i need to rebuild and can't wait to get it on the road.

[@davyfella]

Always close the roof lock handles before fully opening. Otherwise the handles poking out can rip the liner as it folds past the rear headrests.

[@stefansworld3351]

Yeah, I always forget!

[@davyfella]

I'm in Australia and we got the 2.1litre engine. The NA slushmatic is still a bit gutless but the extra 100cc does give a bit more mid range punch.

[@stefansworld3351]

I've only ever driven one 2.1L. It was a LHD someone brought to the garage. Slightly more torque, but hardly worth the messing around with bore sizes, larger inlet ports, inlet manifold for such little gains. The auto box is woefully outdated, even back in the 80's. ZF units were way better, as used in the 9000 and other car brands.

[@davyfella]

@@stefansworld3351 my favourite piece of trivia about ZF gearboxes is this... ZF stands for Zeppelin Fabrik. Yes.. that's right. Those boys that make the gearboxes started off making the freaking Hindenburg.

[@stefansworld3351]

There's so many German corporations that have their roots back to the second world war interests. Dr. Oetker provided the German army with food, Siemens did the communication systems, Hugo Boss did the uniform designs, Adidas provided the boots, BMW some of the plane engines. It's logical, but in my mind, just a bit creepy, considering these companies still exist.

[@davyfella]

@@stefansworld3351 if you ever find yourself going up an escalator made by Schindler. That's him of the famous list.

[@wideopen125]

Great channel, thanks for the vid. I have a 1990 FTP convertible, manual converted. It's in NZ now, ex Hong Kong - no rust on it anywhere. 67,000 kms on it, so it's pretty tight all round. What mods did you make to get the engine on your black hardtop up to 200 bhp? Turbo upgrade? That thing looks quick...

[@stefansworld3351]

It's faster than many I've driven. Minimal turbo lag and it holds boost higher in the rev range. I've removed the cat, more free flowing silencers, higher flow stainless steel fine mesh air filter. It was an LPT, but it's now got the full blown turbo gearbox, longer geared, faster 0-60 time as you don't have to shift to 3rd to get to 60. No APC , but a bleed valve fitted along with many hours of fine tuning the actuator rod to get the perfect balance of high boost, no lag. I'm actually running less boost than I used to, as the gearboxes don't like repeat hard driving with high boost, so it's not as fast as it was. Nothing fancy. I estimate it at 200bhp. It must be, because it'll go straight off the clock. The speedo needle just presses against the trip reset button, so the top speed is around 155mph (249km/h). It does still pick up, but I always run out of road.

[@wideopen125]

@@stefansworld3351 That's impressive for an LPT. Nice fettling. Is it the same physical turbo unit as the HPT model?

[@stefansworld3351]

@wideopen125 Yes. It's the Mitsubishi unit found on 900 models, LPT and HPT fitted after 1990. Smaller physical size compared to the Garrett, but less lag, more reliable and seems to hold boost better.