Welcome back! It’s the second day of the week, and it’s already Wednesday! How cool is that? Every weekend should be a three-day weekend. If I ever run for office, that will be my platform… Anyway, we’ve got a couple of far more interesting cars today, after yesterday’s snooze-fest. Let’s see how the vote turned out.
So that means Rowdy won? He was in the Ford, right? I know it wasn’t the Dread Pirate Roberts, he shows up later in the movie. (I had to make sure I got in a Days Of Thunder reference, after missing the opportunity yesterday.)
Now. It has become a rallying cry among enthusiasts: “Save the manuals!” And believe me, I’m right there with you all; I’m wearing a T-shirt that says “Two Pedals Are For Bicycles” as I write this. (Not kidding.) So it’s encouraging when someone goes to great lengths to keep a manual-gearbox car on the road, and an opportunity to keep the worldwide fleet average up when a manual car shows up that needs to be revived.
Today, we’ve got one of each: a Saab that’s been to the moon, and a Fiat that’s a bit of a fallen star. This could get interesting: we’ve featured two Fiats and two Saabs before, and they’ve both won both times. Someone’s undefeated record is about to fall. Let’s see whose.
1981 Fiat Spider 2000 – $1,600
Engine/drivetrain: 2.0 liter inline 4, 5 speed manual, RWD
Location: Garden Grove, CA
Odometer reading: unknown
Runs/drives? yep, but has been off the road for a while
Last time we looked at a Fiat Spider, it was a basket case. This time, it’s at least all in one piece, and even runs! It does look like it’s been sitting a while, and possibly with the top down. The interior is nasty. It’s all there, at least, even the amusingly tiny back seat. They call this a 2+2, but the back shelf-with-seatbelts is completely useless to anyone who doesn’t represent the Lollipop Guild. Might be a nice place for your dog to ride, though.
By 1981, the Spider’s Aurelio Lampredi-designed twincam four had grown to 2 liters and gained Bosch fuel injection, so at least there’s no carb tuning to worry about. You’ll have to smog it, though, if you live in a state that requires it. And as always, “runs and drives” doesn’t mean you can hop in it and head straight for a run up PCH; depending on how long it has been sitting, there might be all sorts of soft bits that ought to be replaced. And you absolutely, positively must replace the timing belt immediately, if not sooner.
It looks like it’s worth saving, though; I don’t see any obvious rust, and while the interior is ugly, all that is fixable. Or gut it and go for the race car look. The outside is faded, but more or less straight; I’m pretty sure it used to be sage green, but it’s hard to tell. That lovely Pininfarina coachwork deserves to shine again.
1990 Saab 900S sedan – $2,200
Engine/drivetrain: 2.0 liter inline 4, 5 speed manual, FWD
Location: Sacramento, CA
Odometer reading: at least 240,000 miles
Runs/drives? Yep
Ah yes, our old friend the Saab 900, the sport sedan market’s weird uncle. This is sadly not a hatchback, nor is it a turbo, but all the Saab greatest-hits-of-oddities are present and accounted for: the backwards-facing engine, the ignition switch in the center console, the gearshift that has to be in reverse before you can take the key out, the massive ’50s style wraparound windshield. But there too is that sure-footedness and that rock-solid feel.
The seller says they saved this car from the crusher in non-running condition, got it going again, and then the transmission “kersploded,” to use the seller’s term. After that, both engine and transmission were replaced with lower-mileage used units, along with a new clutch and a bunch of refreshed seals. It’s said to run and drive very well now.
Inside, things aren’t quite as rosy: the seats look like they had a date with Jack The Ripper, and the airbag is disconnected. But a thirty-year-old airbag is a little suspect anyway, and seats can be reupholstered. You could even throw some cheap covers on them and ignore the tears, if you want. Outside, it looks just fine; I swear, Saab 900s don’t age. They all seem to look about fifteen years old, no matter how they’ve been treated.
Ignore the “Turbo” badge on the hood, by the way; the seller says the hood has been replaced.
So there they are: one manual that needs saving, and one that’s well on its way to being saved. Both are worthy of some attention, and either one would make a cool runabout with some elbow grease. Which one will it be?
I want to say “both,” but the scars on my knuckles from replacing accessories on Saabs say Fiat.
So I’m voting for the Saab. What’s wrong with me?!?
I’ve never been interested in either Saabs or Fiats, but this time I’ll take the Fiat because tiny little roadsters are fun (though I’m probably too big for it) but Saabs are just unnecessarily weird.
I’m obligated to vote Fiat.
I’ve owned both. All in on the Saab without a moment of hesitation.
That was hard. The Fiats interior is just too gross for me to handle. As much as I love watching those interior restoration video’s I don’t fancy doing that myself. The Saab on the other hand is lovely. Plus anyone who uses kersploded as a verb is alright by me!
This Shitbox showdown Autopian-tastic. A quick scan of the comments leads me to believe about two thirds of the commentariat owned on or the other, and half of those had both.
So I think Jason and David have hit their target demographic of people who spend a lot more time than money on cars.
I have to take the Fiat. Roached interior or not, you don’t see any around for less than five grand that isn’t half rust, or paint over Bondo and rust, that is an amazingly clean body.
I was once the proud owner of an ’85 Saab 900. It was a great car and I still wish I had it around from time to time. I’m pretty sure it is still out there somewhere getting someone from point A to point B–the Saab 900 rivals its Swedish cousin, the Volvo 240, for longevity.
The 900S that’s for sale is just about broken in at 240K(?) miles. The mechanical refresh makes it the hands-down winner. A trip to a junkyard for some better seats and a going-over with Windex and Armorall will have the interior habitable in no time. I figure the airbag is definitely fixable, though it may cost more than what the entire car is worth.
I just finished bleeding the clutch on my 1991 SAAB 900 SE, so the SAAB it has to be for me. I’ve never owned a 124 Spider, but I did have an 850 Spider back in the day. Replaced the floors with plywood on that one since the steel (or whatever they used) ones were gone and the car wasn’t worth a proper repair. This propensity for turning into pile of rust and the school bus steering wheel angle are enough to put me off the FIAT.
This was one of the toughest vehicles to choose. I am a vert fan, but the Saab has a newer engine and trans, so that is what swayed my vote.
When it comes to the interior, both require a lot of work. I happen to be a fan of the autoleatherdye#com products (no, I do not work for them) and have a guy to replace seat cover panels and foam as needed (he replaces panels, I color match). It doesn’t take much to restore an interior as it used to, if you have something solid to work with.
This is a tough one. I have a soft spot for both. I had an ’87 900 hatchback that I bought off a lady for $300. Total DT experience. The car was originally $700. It was her son’s car and when he moved out he left it behind. After a year he finally told her to sell it. $700 was steal as is. I got in the drivers seat and pushed in the clutch and it felt mushy. Got the car out of gear and into neutral but it wouldn’t go into any other gear afterwards. Clutch just felt like stepping on a sponge. I get out of the car and she says “$300 and it’s yours” Sold! Got a U-Haul trailer, towed it home and quickly figured out the clutch slave cylinder had given up the ghost. Think I spent a couple hundred bucks on an entirely new clutch kit. Bonus – being a Saab, the clutch and all related parts sit at the front of the car and no transmission dropping required. I drove that car for years. When I bought a new car I gave it to a friend who drove it for a few more years before handing it off to someone else when she was done with it.
So I guess I have to pick the Fiat.
SAAB. The 2.0 NA isn’t exactly under-powered by its contemporary standards, but is a bit deliberate. I drove an ’88 900S and still miss it. The transmission pinion bearings will probably go (again) and/or it will start popping out of gear under load, but driving it will be satisfying until then. At least this one post-dates the automatic seat belt era. I like the sedans, too. They’re even weirder than the 3-dr.
I like Fiat Spiders, but I have bad associations with the majority of people who drove them when they were more common. It was an near even split between clueless folks who just wanted a 2-seater convertible and complained about winter driving or the mesh driving glove dudes.