Saab 900 Turbo SPG | Buying My Dream Car - A SAAB Story

Please help this channel grow by supporting us on Patreon!   / honjazzz  

"The 900 came and went during what was arguably Saab’s finest decade: the 1980s. Following the 99 Turbo, a car that pioneered the mass production of a car with both fuel injection and turbocharging, Saab introduced the 900 for 1979. Production continued into the early 1990s, at which time GM became a half-owner of Saab’s car division. In the US, Saab’s largest market, sales peaked in the mid-80s as the company’s offerings enjoyed a rare position as countercultural status symbols. Artists and yuppies alike adopted Saabs as their own. The cars represented an antithesis to the shortsighted fashions and conspicuous consumption of he 1980s. Pugnaciously individual, Saabs stood for long-term quality, engineering innovation, and relative affordability. This was the everyperson’s car, par excellence—a car that most could attain but that only the informed sought.While Saab primarily produced affordable family cars for global buyers, the brand’s cachet in the US prompted the American arm of the firm to push upmarket during the 1980s. Partially as a result of this, Saab began offering a Special Performance Group, or SPG, version of the Saab 900 Turbo to US buyers beginning in 1985. While Saab offered a similarly equipped model in other countries, the 900 SPG is the name that Americans remember. The model continued through 1991. This 1990 example, in Saab’s iconic black paint, illustrates the signature SPG features of flush-fitting, thee-spoke alloy wheels, and aerodynamic lower body addenda in dark grey. SPG features changed slightly from year to year. The 2.0-liter, 16-valve, turbocharged slant 4 remained constant, with later models receiving an upgraded ECU for more power. This engine, as in all 900s, sat backwards in the chassis atop the transmission. All SPGs came with a 5-speed manual, which, due to the unusual engine arrangement, ran off a clutch and flywheel assembly at the front of the car that sent power down through a set of chains to the input shaft. Saab also offered upgraded suspensions for the cars, with this 1990 SPG at stock ride height sitting significantly lower than a standard 900 Turbo.The unique and compact engine arrangement of the 900 enabled the fitment of double-wishbone suspension and equal-length driveshafts, both features highly unusual in front-wheel drive cars. And this brings me to one of the best parts about a Saab 900 SPG: how it drives.The SPG has fairly light steering and a delicate, long-throw shifter. The car also has substantial body roll compared with modern cars. Turbo lag is a given, and driving smoothly can be a challenge between the nonlinear power delivery and balky driveline. Somehow, though, none of this interferes with the SPG’s sense of being a consummate driver’s car. The panoramic view forward through the tall, curved windshield provides the sightlines of a road-bound Cessna. Steering feel is excellent with virtually no torque steer thanks to the equal-length driveshafts. The shifter, though recalcitrant when rushed, is rewarding when handled gently, and offers gearing well-suited to the engine’s dynamic powerband. Driving around the turbo’s lag takes little practice, and driving the car smoothly and quickly provides an engaging delight unlike anything a new car can offer. A good heater, superb winter traction, and the ability to haul an upright kitchen table with the rear seats folded are all improbable extras on an improbably well-rounded package.It’s hard to imagine what a revelation this car was to buyers in the 1980s. The SPG represented the final evolution of a steadfastly idiosyncratic line of cars. It had matured into a package imbued with self-confidence and sophistication, but with an antiestablishment rhetoric and sense of automotive iconoclasm still intact. It’s no coincidence, then, that my SPG was manufactured in the same year that saw the release of Lou Reed’s mid-life masterpiece, the New York album. I like to think that the original owner of this car spent some quality time listening to that cassette tape while ambling along empty back roads near his house on a Saturday morning, immersed in the pleasant thought rush of recent caffeination and reveling in the cohesion and conviction that define this car’s modus operandi. The Saab 900 SPG might have grey hair, but it still looks damn good in a black leather jacket."



Written and presented by Evan Acuña



Special thanks to @CynicalCyclist for gaffing stylized scenes of the car's interior and interview segment.



Business or professional inquiries: HonJazzz.YT@gmail.com


Follow us on Instagram:   / ​​  



Check out the brand new channel merch!



Thanks for watching!