10k: Behind The Scenes: 1972 SAAB 99 SSE FI 5-spd
For a change of pace today we are going to roll back the curtain a bit and show some of the behind the scenes banter that accompanies the discussions regarding potential DT cars. The features you see on these pages are not simply the latest stuff to hit the tips in-box or the most watched cars on ebay –au contraire, they are heavily vetted examples of only the finest fun cars, cheap daily drivers, vintage classics and custom junk on the road. That isn’t entirely true, because sometimes when my kids have stomach flu or Hunsbloger has gone on another bender and needs to be bailed out of a Tijuana jail cell, the posts are chosen at random and belched out like a game of rapid fire Volvo themed mad libs. That only happens about once a week, so 6 out of 7 days the potential candidates are carefully considered like Charlie Sheen picking a bride to be – and today it is our pleasure to share some of that dialog, this time associated with this crap brown 1972 SAAB 99 with SSE FI 5-spd swap offered for $8,000 in Whittier, CA via craigslist.
It all starts out innocently enough with yours truly sending a note to the extended DT family. It rapidly degenerates to name calling…just read it yourself.
EIC Vince:
Tempting for the Saab fanatic. Later model fuel injected engine in a classic body?
Kaibeezy:
caca brown, and is that a little g-string of a vinyl roof? eww – wrong
wheels and tires too big – no engine photos after all that work
Editor CFlo:
I kind of dig it because it’s so ugly. An uncool version of an “uncool” car (in the public eye). Does that make me a meta-hipster?
Kaibeezy:
As the guy who inexplicably drives a Roadmaster wagon and isn’t interested
in a new 911, I’d say there’s uncool and there’s just plain ugly. My car
is uncool, but good looking enough to change minds. That Saab is as
about as ugly as it gets without overt efforts designed specifically to
*make* it ugly.And this from the same guy, me, who has a short list for
“fun cars under $5000 (including repair fund) I might actually buy 1) Saab 99 EMS; 2) E28 535i; 3) wild card (that Alfa for $1700 and dropping, for instance).I believe that brown Lada is still available. Ugly out of the box.
Makes you a twisted hipster, I dunno 😉
Editor CFlo:
Re: Alfa–Tempting. Beware of this statement: “Sitting in garage for years.”
EIC Vince:
The 80s Alfas still had horrible Italian build quality from years past
but added smog equipment complexity and front-wheel-drive. Styling is
also meh. If I am going to drive something fwd it will be a first gen
GTi or Acura Integra GSR. What they lack in the Italian’s hipster bait
capacity, they make up for it in sheer mechanical robustness.
There you have it. This SAAB 99 with a 2 liter B-block SSE fuel injected swap made the cut not because it was a car that we needed to have, but because it generated a significant and lively discussion. Want to join the discussion? Comments below or send us a note: tips@dailyturismo.com
I would like to apologize to the DT readers for taking a very well deserved vacation, I could have perhaps lent some thoughtful insights that would have better prepared them for this morning. I love early 99's because they transitioned Saab into the mainstream consciousness here in the US.
While the Beetle started the US market for VW and the Karmann Ghia put a nicer body, Saab did the same thing in smaller scale with the Sonnet(s). While VW tried to bring the Beetle upscale with the Fastback, Notchback and Squareback by following the same mechanical format but in a more potent package, Saab actually succeeded with the 99. I'm of that age group (I'm typing directly to a finnish friend PWW) that was thrilled by the new direction that was represented by the 99's.
Talk about a huge leap forward in all categories, it brought them from a quirky little (Monte Carlo Winning) bomber to a legitimate family car with great utility, while also upping the ante with some major safety improvements. Those improvements did NOT include the Pep Boys wheel covers, the Saad attempt to dress up the roofline with some kind of alien trimming. Unfortunately, the metallic diaper brown paint was Saab's doing and ruined every chance they ever had at the huge numbers that VW ultimately!
And..this dear readers is why they generally stop reading most of my emails on the first line.
PS.. The owner clearly neglected to mention, there is $5,800 in the trunk of this thing!
Along with what's left of the diff and cover.. Probably has something to do with whatever they did to "rework" the clutch?..
All of the above proving Otto von Bismarck's famous maxim: You're better off not knowing how blogs and sausages are made.
I think that Capt. Ernst Lindemann's last words are equally appropriate: "Does it seem damp in here?"
It'll all be worth it when A&E calls with an offer for the DT Show to replace Duck Dynasty.
Or, as Bismarck's contemporary Abraham Lincoln blogged: Better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and prove it.
Or this one. “The problem with quotes on the Internet is that it is often difficult to verify their authenticity.” —Abraham Lincoln
+1 on the A&E DT show since the initials can stay the same.
But please consider the fact I have flapped my gums apparently voluntarily doesn't preclude some kind of Stockholm syndrome action… Just sayin'.
Its like a window into genius.
Thats alot of FUGLY for 8k…. no can do.
Hard to believe that car actually sold when it was new.