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Couldn't resist the Swedish temptress, my '88 Saab SPG
I had to get in here and post before f6hellcat posts his, that way he can be the copycat. (Which is accurate to how offline events played out.)
So with nothing but a finnicky, RWD, Italian car in my scuderia it was time for a winter car. After living with a true Saab fanatic (he owns 3 right now) for 2.5 years I finally was won over. My resistance was valiant but I'm now drinking the Jordgubbar-flavored Kool Aid. Looking for a cheap, reliable, interesting, and speedy winter car in the Northeast US... well the answer is always Saab.
I toyed with some NG900s but I wanted the Saabiest Saab of them all; the Classic 900 SPG (Aero in Europe). You know it's good because it has the word classic right in the name!
I turned to the ol' craigslist machine and with a few weeks of searching found a promising SPG 10 minutes away from my parent's house (I go to university about 3 hours away so this is quite fortuitous). With my Alfa bemoaning its existence more and more, I made a mid-week break for home. The final drive in the GTV6 was bittersweet and intoxicating but it needed some serious shop time and my university schedule just wasn't going to allow it. Plus, winter was coming.
It was a tight schedule and I drove 3 hours right to his house to look at the car. I was actually negotiating with the owner's father, who wanted nothing more than to have it out of his yard. He was a military vehicle fanatic and in addition to a slew of M37s and Willys he had a Studebaker manufactured tracked snow vehicle that he was restoring. I got the car for a damn good price and at 140,xxx miles it's still fresh. The next morning I was up early to get plates for it, then I spent about the next 24 hours getting it road ready as it had been sitting for about 3 years. With heroic help from my dad, we put on a Thrush Performance Autozone Special Performance Racing Exhaust on, half of a brake job, and generally freshening up. One break for Albany was halted by some shredded alternator belts.
Finally, with a clutch that slipped under boost and the second worst tires I've ever driven on, I limped the rig back home. For the last few months I've been slowly bringing back functionality, armed with electrical contact cleaner and a good torx set.
Driving impressions to come.
