Saab 900 Cabriolet 1986 [Ocr]

8/20/2019 Saab 900 Cabriolet 1986 [Ocr]

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Sw ed ish S u m m e r C ock ta il:

1 S aa b 90 0 T urb o 16 tw o -do or sed a n1 e lec tri cal l y o p e ra t ed soft to p

2 30 p o u n d s o f rein fo rce m e n t p a ne l s Ca refu ll y re m ove s edan roof.

F it ne w w in d scre en an d st re ngt he n c h a ss is , b od yw or k, a nd doo rs .Ad d pow e r-op er a te d w in d ow l i t s an d leat h er s e ats

S e rv es 1 to 4

W ar nin gL im ited s u pp ly m ay c a u s e f ru s tra t io n and w ithd ra w al sy m p to m s.

B Y GEO RG K C HE R

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ighway I California-The most ex·citing Saab tl al money can buyoomesfrom Uusikaupunki,a placeatthe back of beyond in the FinnishLake District. Because of the Swed·ish company s notoriously inade ·quate production capaci\y. it liM toann out the assemblyof the convert·

ible to ell<Jand. where workers. al·ready put together cert.tin Saab 90and 900 models.

In the course of last summer, tlte

output of the ragtop900 steadily in·creased from tl>ree to a still prettyhopeless twelve units a day. Al·though the l ion's share of the pro·duction will be shipped straighi tothe States. RobertSinclair. presidentof Saab·Scania ofAmerica, expectsno more than 2000 to 2500 open·airmodels lor 1987.

"Some dealers have up to fifteenfirm orders but will only get three orlour cars," Mr. Sinclair tells us , sothe waiting~ s tdoes in certain p.artsof the oountry already stretch wayinto 1988.

The lovely 900 oonvertible wasfirst shown t the 1983 FrankfurtAuto Show. The response from deal·ers and tlte public was so encou:rag·ing that Sten Wennlo, head of theSaab car di,ision. soon after dec·dedto put this styling exercise into low·volume product ion. Theoombinedeffortor the threemen who had conceived. de·veloped, aod backed theprogram had finally beenrewarded . Bob Sinc lairlaunched the project be·cause he wanted Saab to

participate in the boomingUS. market for oonvert·ibles, which currently de·wands about 100.000 unitsper year. Heinz Prechter ,the German-born ownerand founder of the Ameri·can Sunroof Company (ASC. Inc.),supplied the know·bow and the hard ·ware lor the folding roof. And BjOrnEnvall. Saab's chief designer, cameup with a strikingly beautiful sruapethat impressed potential buyers aswe as the company s ovln market·ing experts.

The droptop 900 is based on thetwo·door notchback, firstrtltaseod in1984. This model looksverynice andelegant ~ i t hthe roof chopped oil.but since jOrn Envall insisted on aclassic conversion without roll barand with four fuUy retractable sidewindows , severe reinforcement su r·

gel)' was required. To ensure opli·mum stillness aod torsional rig)dity.the Saab engineersstrengtbeneodthesills. door beams, B·pillars, and eventhe windscreen frame. which was re·des igned and consists now of a mas ·sive ·w welded to lhe OoorpanOtherstab ili?,ation measures includea wide crossmember mounted belowUte rear seats. two secondary B·posts just ahead of the rear wheelopenings, and a big and •·cry solid

top oompartment.The well·insulated, power·operal ·ed top is made of three layers ofcloth with surprisinglyfew bowsandribs. The folding top mechanism it·sell is virtually identical to that ofthe Chl)'sler but instead of aflexible, damage·and ·wear ·proneplastic rear window, Heioz Prechteraod his team opted for a heated glassplate that automatically slides into awell·padded pocket as the roof islowertd. This sounds frAgile Andcomplicated. yet it works fine andwithout any susp icious scratch img or

grinding noises.T1>atSaab flew three groupsof Eu·ropeao mutteringratters to Americato let them test·drive the 900 oon·vertible up or d0\\11 Highway tellsyou two things. First, the S.•·edescertainlyknow how to pick the most

spectacular stretches of road on thisplanet. And second. they can affordthis choice, too, since Saab·Scania isby no meansa bunchof gullible trollsbut the fourth most profitable oldeworlde car 'manufacturer (after Mer·cedes, BMW. and Volvo). They prom·ised us "fun in the sun 1vith Saab,"and that's e.acUy what this week inJune was all about.

Our drive north started at MaryDavis's world·renowued PortolinoInn in Redondo Beach.

Since the red rubberball up in thesky was trying hard to tum us milk·faces into lobsters. I stopped t a

chemist en route aod bougM somezin oxide crtiun, which made m

look like Chief White Nose but itdid the job. The same goes lor oursilver Saab, which seemed to tunmore heads than the topless blondein her dune buggy who bligbtene4my dreams the following night. Dur·ing our journey to San Francisco. wereceived oountless honks aod nodsof approval, as well as headliglltap·plause and thumbs·up gestures . The

most persistent follower was a guyin an oncoming three·door 900 7urbowho turned around and trailedus lorabout twenty·five miles before mak·ing a second U-tum to continue inhis original direction.

But the Saab 900 Turbo 16 con·vertible is not only an attent icr n·get·ter par excellence; it is also a lot offun to drive. The turbocharged 160·bhp. si.lteen·valve, 2.0·titer lour isneither very quiet nor partic ularl y re ·sponsive but it does perfonn well aslong as you keep revs aod boostpressure up. Put your footdown. and

the 2920·pound cabrioletwill accel·erate in a rubber·burning 8 .7 sec·onds from 0 to 60 mph; top speed is areassuri ng 130 mph. While the 175·bhp Euro-spec turbo engine suffersfrom oonsiderable turbo lagand rath·er rough running cbarncteristics . the

desmogged U.S. versionfeels much smoother andmore civilized.

Wafting along Highway Iat 55 mph (which equals3000 rpm in fifth), the six·teen·valve unit felt rewed ,and yet it always m a N ~ g e d

to de li\,er the instant powerrequired lor overtaking ma·neuvers . Fuel consump ·lion? In the low thirties af.ter breakfas t . the mid·twenties alter lunch . . .

I was never very fond ofSaab'slazy three·speed Borg·Warnerautomatic transmission (after all itprovides the vel)' undesirablecombi·nation of turbo and gearbox lag). butin the oonvertible the general lack ofdriveline response does not matternearly s much as in the more chal·lengingsedan. I neverthelessdo pre·fer the five·speed maoual gearbox.which is precise and light if umder·synchroniud and rather slow.

Steering fight and subsequenttraction problems another sorepoint with turbocharged 900 and9000 models, are also less promi·nent in the open·top ear. which 'bene·

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6

S B 9 C BRIOLET

fils from its higher curb weight andbo r the somewhat more progress ive

su1ply of torque.The traffic was quite heavy all

Ute way to Santa Barbara, bu t assoon as we tumed inland. w e had ther o ; ~ \l l m Q ~t \ Q u r ~ e l v e ~ .Nex;t onUte schedule were a long photo ses·sion on a winding country lru ae abrief snack stop in Ute oh·so·Da nishtourist village of Solvang, an evenshorte r halt at the Madonna Inn, and

finaUy the last leg o f our trip, whichled us back to the coast n ~ toUte Inn at Morro Bay. Patrolled byherons, shags. cormorants , and oth·er sea birds, this establishment de·serves luli marks lor its breath·takutgly beaut iful scenery and theequally stunn ing loOO

At departure ti me on Day Two. thep.uking lot was s till engulfed in logas thick as cotton wool, so the to pstayed up and we even switche.l onUe heater. Back on H ighway 1. di·rection Big Sur. it did not take us

•·cry long to find out tha t the ca.nvasroof dots create some wind noiseproblems. With the top down, nose·rious draft bothers the passe gersbelow 35 mph in Ute back and 60mph in the fron t but with the roofpulled up. the tune played by the ele-ments is quite intense. and even irri·tating at speed. Another disadvan·tage that is only obvious when the

roof is closed concerns the rear ·quarter view, which is obstructed bywhat must be the fattes t C·posts t hisside of a Stutz Blackhawk.

Lowering the top-which is whatwe di d when the sun came out to lickup the clouds s the easiest trick inlhe book. After releasing the twolatches o n top of the 1vinds.creenframe. aU you have to do is engagethe hand brake (to make sure t b e carhas come to a s top), start the e ugine

(to support the ba ttery). and push abutto n between t he front seats . In nomore than seven seconds, the roofwilt whir into its recess behind Uterear bench.

Coming i n 81 Saab h s creotteda k>ww sleck et nose for 1900s

That's the go00 news. The badnews comes in the shape of threebalkY PVC segments. which are de-signed to act a s the folding top·,s cov·er. Unfortunately. the allegedly easyclip-on installation is a time· and fin·

gemail·oonsuming affair. And thefact that these items furthe r ;-ed ucethe modest trunk space (o\\ing to theintruding top compartment) s soonas the roof is closed d oes not exa ctlyenhance thei r appeal eiUter. Couldsomeone please think of a more pro·.lessional solution?

Alter some grumblingover lunch,we continued Ute easy and relaxedJ93 ·mile drive to Monterey. South o fBig Sur, Hghway I was o ~ \\Oth

oonstntction

sites

and with "f}anger

Landslide Area " signs. but th.e Saabcoped rema rkably we lt with theworst ripples and undulations. fo ·gether w ith the modifiedsuspens ion.the extra weight contributes to awell balanced and surprisingly sup ·pie ride. The build quality and thecar's stmctura l rigidity are also be·yond reproach. Even 1viUt one wheelparked on the sidewalk and the otherthree o n the pavement, the doors.the trunk lid. and the hood will shutwith a reassuring clonk. "Comparedto Utesedan. the convertible features

ove r 300 uprated or rei nforcedparts , says project engineer LeiHautala. adding, This c.u is oow assolid as a rock."'

From onterey to Fishe rman s

Whari in San Francisco-via theNapa Valley-was Ute route laid outfor Day Three. We got up early.knowing that Ute first 175 miles to



the Auberge du Soleil at Rutherfordwould be larded with heavy traffic.construction work, and congestion.Sure enough, we encountered thefirst tailback a few miles south or I ·ZBO But in this bumper·to·bumperrush ·hour jam, the Saab convertibleprovideda kind of splendid isolation.You see, standard equipment in·eludes sumptuousleather scats , airconditioning, electrically operatedwindows, power s ~ r i n g central

locking. remote-control heated doormirrors, a burglar alarm, 19S/60HR·IS tires on alloy wheels. and much.much more.

Like its fixed·hcad stablemates.the topless Saab 900 has its distioc·live assets and idiosyncrasies.I likethe big, wide-opening doors, the sol·id locks. the comprehensive instru ·mentation, the idiot·proof ergonom·ics. the exceUentheating and ventil·ation system, the sturdy bumpers,and the scrupulousfit and finish. Butat the same time I dislike the lowheadrests, the lack of oddments

space, Ule tugb Ioadmg bp,U1e

insul·ficiently powerful brakes, and thefloor-mounted ignition lock, whichrequires reverse to be engaged be·fore you can withdraw the key.

After lunch, the time had come toapply one last layerof zinc oxide warpaint Theo it was ninety-one moremiles to San Francisco. two·and·a·half more hours of "fun io the sun.The B· and C·roads back to 1·80 wereour last chances to let the c t fly.Strong roadholding, plenty of grip,unerring stability, some body roU.The handling? Clean and crisp and

unambiguous. Understecr beginsearly, yet there is a long way to thelimit. plenty of warning and no pen·alty for feathering the throttle ort011Ching the brakes. This ear . tal ,predictable and stiU inspiring.

AI the busy Sheraton at Fisher·man s Wharf. there was not muchtime to say goodbye. As soon as wehad unloaded our baggage. a drivercame and took the ear away. I wassony to see the silver convertible go,and I was also disappointed that thismemorab l e 650 -mile drive hadpassed so quickly. But maybe I shallcome back. Maybe I shaU even dothis trip again in a Saab. AnotherSaab? Well , this convertible and thesignificant changes made to aU 1987models of the 900 range show quiteclearly tha t there is a lot more lifeleft iu the old lady than somesources would bave us believe. ~

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Saab 900 Cabriolet 1986 [Ocr]