1988 SAAB 900 T16 S AERO

Used car addict Keith looks back at his best – and worst – classic buys. This week, a Saab 900 T16 that saw him through thick and thin

WHY DID YOU WANT ONE?

I’ve always had a bit of thing for Saabs, and for many years, the 900 was an itch that I’d never quite managed to scratch. Then one kind of dropped into my lap. A work colleague of mine had a silver T16 S, which although looking a little down at heel, appeared to have plenty of potential. At the time I was running a black Saab 9000 Aero, so we used to compare notes on a regular basis – he liked how fast my tuned example was, while I liked the classless look of his. Then the inevitable happened. He asked if I’d consider a straight swap – my 900 for his 9000, as he had a growing family, and my five-door Saab would be lovely and roomy for him. I never regretted the deal, although I suspect that he might have.

WAS IT A NIGHTMARE OR A JOY TO LIVE WITH?

I loved that Saab, and – unusually for me – ended up keeping it for years. It proved to be reasonably reliable during the time it was in my care and was a dream to work on, with possibly the best underbonnet access of any turbocharged car I’d ever owned. It wasn’t perfect, though; the speedometer was laughably inaccurate, sometimes saying that I was doing 20mph when I was clearly doing nearer 70mph. The heater never worked (the vacuum control failed) and the tyres rubbed when I replaced the standard 15-inch wheels with 16-inch Aeros because I made the schoolboy error of not fitting narrower tyres. I never managed to trace an intermittent hot-starting problem, either, and although the bodywork looked good on the outside, it was a tad rusty underneath and needed annual attention around the jacking points and wheelarches. It certainly paid to know a good welder with this car.

WHAT’S YOUR ABIDING MEMORY OF IT?

Driving through the summer countryside, electric sunroof open, windows down, enjoying the panoramic view through that wraparound windscreen listening to its wonderful soundtrack (gear whine and turbo whistle mainly) was definitely one of my happy places. I took the car off the road in 2011 following an injury and it ended up out of action for a year. And yet, the damned thing fired up first time when I came back to it, and served out its time with me in the hands of my then-partner, who loved it to bits. Working on it wasn’t difficult – I managed to change the radiator in about 30 minutes and doing the plugs, oil and filter could be done in the time it’ll take you to read this page. As the cliché goes, I bitterly regret selling it – in fact, I shed a tear when it left. Then you have to consider what nice examples (and mine wasn’t all that bad, really) fetch these days…

WHAT ARE YOUR TOP TIPS FOR BUYING ONE TODAY?

Saab sold lots of 900 Turbos in the UK, and they ended up hanging around for years, serving their owners reliably. But as time has passed, attrition has started to bite, so now there’s a limited supply and values have risen in line with the cool factor. That’s good news for the remaining survivors because there’s a financial incentive to keep them nice. But don’t fall for a shiny example without checking it thoroughly underneath. Look for corrosion at the bottom of the doors, in the engine bay and around the suspension mounting points. More seriously, the driveshaft tunnels and floorpan can corrode, too, and can be a potential showstopper if not sorted properly. The gearbox is a weak point, too, so make sure that all ratios engage cleanly, and that reverse slots in without any undue noises. The rest, well, that’s easy to sort…