Porsche & Saab owner similarities

[Steve 82SC]

I'm about 3 weeks away from unveiling before and after pictures of my 2 year project and at times, battle, of my 82sc. I have lurked on the board for many months and have found the information invaluable. During the few times I've posted questions, I've received numerous and timely reposnses. I got to wondering why I'm so comfortable perusing this site and have no trepidations creating posts and asking questions.

For many years, my daily transportation have been Saabs. The Saab enthusiast is a diehard group, a very, very left-of-center group as are the 911 diehards...and I mean this in the most complimentary of terms. There is a Saab website, www.saabnet.com that is the mirror image of the Pelicanparts website...a wealth of information and enthusiasts who are always willing to help another owner. In fact, this website receives the most number of daily hits for an automotive website.

I'll post my project pics as soon as I can, and again, thanks to all the sound advice and great attitude.
Steve

[Halm]

I agree if you are comparing 9-5 owners with 996 owners.

[mwbaum]

Porsche die-hards similar to Saab owners??......LOLOL Beyond both types really liking their respective cars, I fail to see many similarities. (I know several Saab owners and they aint like me or the other Porsche owners I know...)

[84porsche]

I am a former SAAB owner (totaled in November) and now a Porsche owner and working on a VW. SAABs of the past were awesome cars and they carried the tradition. I knew many people that loved their cars including myself but the new ones are not the same - the tradition is fading away and into a plastic (GM) car. SAAB was famous for designing the inside of their cars like a fighter jet (black panel) and with everything centralized for the driver. The SAAB 9-7x or something like it is a Subaru (SAABaru) with SAAB logos, and not even the centralized ignition but I love my Porsche so much more because it will and has carried a tradition for over 40 years.

[78sc]

Hi Steve,

I think you're right if you're talking about the pre-1994 Saab's. I have a Saab and a 911 and the uniqueness/engineering is what led me to both. I've only had the 911 since May of '03, but grew on me faster than the 900 did! After GM bought out Saab, their cars started to morph into looking like any other car on the road and the quality is on the way down...IMHO.

Look forward to seeing your pix of your project!

Phil

[Steve 82SC]

Let me clarify my earlier post. The Saabs that I'm referring to are earlier Saabs, the ones with the personalities, the earlier 900 and 9000. I still own these and they are daily drivers. I've owned aircooled BMW motorcycles since 1968, but decided to give a new, high-tech oilhead a try a couple of years ago...it did everything right, but I just couldn't warm up to it so I sold it last year and bought a '73 R75...much simpler and I'm much happier with it.

[bell]

this is quite the saab story.................



sorry couldn't resist

[djmcmath]

Originally posted by bell
this is quite the saab story.................

Ow, that was painful to read...

[einreb]

Poor Steve posts about how nice folks have been on this site and how he gets the same warm and fuzzy feeling from the SAAB community... and then people crap on him for putting SAAB in the same paragraph as Porsche.

Granted, they are different animals, but I can understand your analogy comparing the two. SAAB really stuck to its guns as a unique car up until the mid 90's. They also both have screwy locations for ignition keys.

[vash]

Originally posted by bell
this is quite the saab story.................



sorry couldn't resist

hey i like it! hahah

[john70t]

I recently rode in a Saab 93 convertable and actually was impressed by the initial sensation: heated seats, smooth powerband, and better operating top than the Mercedes 230's (I think they are the same price?).

As to the reliability, I couldn't care less. Saab sold so much broken-down cr$$$p in the 80's I put them in the same catagory as VW).

[fucherman]

similar-
1.both cars have front windshields that are uncomfortably close to the driver's face.
2. both have ignition switches that 19 yr old valet parkers can't find.

diff-
porsche drivers have bigger feet (if ya know what i mean)

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Saabnet is great: great people, great information, great advice. But the BBS is technologically in the stone age compared to Pelican. go visit and then send Wayne and Tom a thank you note for this great site and buy some parts here to keep it going.

Yes, there is a connection between the two makes. I loved both my Saabs (9000 and 900 Turbos) that went to 229K and 236K respectively, mostly because they are fast and can carry a ton of Porsche parts. Structurally, they are also indestructible. When my 900T was totalled by being hit in the rear by a Mitsubishi doing 35 (I was stationary), the entire, and I mean entire front end of his car was gone, just crushed into the passenger compartment. My car looked like it needed a new bumper. Motor did jump off mounts, but it still ran and drove around fine.

My 92 9000T just died (head gasket) the other day at 229,034 with original turbo. Deciding now how to get rid of it and move on.

[erikdean]

I don't know if i could live without my 93 saab 900t nor my 74 911....I get the same feeling as well with both boards, great people on both.

Erik

[joehahn]

not a postjack or anything but it always "seemed" like a big crossover between 911s and audis was (were...i believe that is proper english) present on this board. could be wrong.

joe 68 L

[ludovicbreger]

I have a 88 carrera and a saab 900T 86. Both great cars.

[c_fahlen]

I just couldn't resist writing something here....

We have a little other perspective on Saab's here in Sweden. I think that the average Saab owner in Sweden is similar to an average Buick owner in the US...

Don't get me wrong, I have owned several Saab's and I have loved them all, but no one in Sweden will ever draw the parallell between Saab owners and Porsche owners...

As somebody allready mentioned.... A Saab isn't what it used to be... GM has completly changed that....

/Christian

(Sorry for the poor english....)

[s2per]

As yet another former Saab owner ('91 900 Turrrbo ragtop), I appreciated (and laughed at) the windshield, key placement and feet analogies. The pre-'94 cars had great character, something that has certainly been diluted by GM cash infusions. And now Saab is being treated to another "badge-engineered" SUV, the 9-7/TrailBlazer/Bravada/Envoy/Ascender/Rainer.

But then there's JaguFord, as well.

My best friend, a 911 Cab-owning dentist, asked me what I thought about him buying a Cayenne. I told him to finish his beer and leave my house.

[azasadny]

"The Saab enthusiast is a diehard group, a very, very left-of-center group as are the 911 diehards...and I mean this in the most complimentary of terms."

Left of center?, not me!!!

[jyl]

I don't know about similarities between Porsche and Saab owners, but I'm glad this thread came up. I'm thinking about a convertible for my wife, and this discussion reminded me that I've always liked the Saab 900 convertibles. Gotta go see some in person.

I've got some questions about the Saabs, which I'll ask in the OT forum.