Hooniverse Weekend Edition – Our Official Saab Aficionado
Editors Note: This weekend, Hooniverse will be running a series of posts introducing you to some of the new writers who are now in our part of the Hooniverse. Welcome Dan Lee who was one of the contributors at CarGuyDad, and should fit in quite nicely. So let’s welcome Dan, and wish him well as he settles in here at Hooniverse.
I do not know where my interest for all things automotive originated. My folks didn’t have any stories or unique cars during my childhood that would infect a young lad with the lust for things that go fast and look cool, it just sort of happened. Necessity to maintain my daily driver was most likely my largest influence.
Born and raised in NE Pennsylvania, at the age of 16 I was “given” my first car. It was a 1995 Saab 900 SE (V6 5speed) and what a (problematic) car it was. It had been sitting in a friend’s garage for over a year due to some “electrical problems”, among other things. I took what I could get at the time and since then I have been an enthusiast for all things automotive.
After finding part cars on craigslist and the local you-pull-it yard, as well as a few new parts I have managed to keep this 180,000 mile Saab on the road. I don’t like to think about the thousands of dollars that have been put into this car since I took ownership or the countless problems I’ve had but it is my car and I have learned to appreciate all its strange characteristics. I am now 21 years old, in college and interning at the AACA Automotive Museum in Hershey, PA. I still drive that Saab and I have no problem keeping this car long after I graduate.
I did buy an 88’ 900 SPG at one point but sold it soon after to fund my education. The car was a mess that didn’t run. Over a summer I got it running and put it back to stock as best as I could. I was able to sell it to a Saab enthusiast who had the time, space, and money to restore it and even made some money on the deal.
Another passion of mine is recycled art. Piston cigar ashtrays, camshaft lamps, and engine block tables are all things I have constructed out of salvaged car parts. It gives me an excuse to frequent the local you-pull-it yards even if I’m not searching for Saab parts.
My writing experience was nonexistent before I found Kamil’s CarGuyDad website, my first article happen to be that of a local 900 SPG and I have been writing occasionally ever since. My true passion is photography, writing was another creative outlet to incorporate photography and I am continuing to learn more about both mediums everyday. Some of my work can be seen at www.dleefoto.com
Although I don’t contribute or comment on a regular basis, I do read Hooniverse daily. I would like to thank the contributors to this site for all of the unique and interesting articles that are put together by such a diverse group of knowledgeable people.
Related posts:
- Hooniverse Weekend Edition: That Distinctive SAAB Sound
- Hooniverse Weekend Edition: Someone Buy This Saab Sonnett!
- Question of the Weekend – Do you really think Saab can survive?
- SAAVe this SAAB! Rare Saab 99 EMS Needs Loving Hoon
- Hooniverse “Are These Cars Still Selling?” Weekend – The GM 360s (Trailblazer, Envoy, Saab 9-7X)
Way to start at the deep end of the pool. A Saab with problems, and my least favorite of their engines. I feel fortunate to have stated out working with some pretty simple American iron. You could pretty much look and see what was wrong, or listen, or smell. The problem with SAABs it that they are consistently more thoughtfully and subtly designed. They anticipate the repair or maintenance and provide for that to be handled gracefully. My first impulse is to see if a five pound sledge can't be adjustment enough. And that leads to an entertaining trip to the parts counter. But so satisfying when you can be sympatico, make the slick fix, and get back to the engaged dynamics of driving.
Provide for repair and maintenance to be handled gracefully? Ever been through bearings and syncros in a 96 4 speed? The sack of special tools alone weighs more than the gearbox, and the procedures are positively Byzantine. Never again, thank you.
Thankfully not. As it is, I'm still not reconciled with the slave cylinder on my 9000 being inaccessibly within the bell housing. And the bleeding requiring pressurization. Good thing I had the dealer do the work. Because when it failed within the next year, another dealer honored a warranty I hadn't known existed and redid the work for free. The cost gave me palpitations. But having, and honoring, that warranty impressed me.
But more to the matter at hand, welcome to the community, Dan. Im looking forward to hearing about your (mis)adventures with those most Swedish of automobiles.
Welcome to Hooniverse and I'm sorry for your loss (of Saab).
It's the same basic story that initiated my unfathomable attachment to Rover 800s.
I was given the car by my Grandfather. At that point I was grateful for the free car, but hade no great enthusiasm for it. Then pride set in, then I began to get enamoured by the cars size and apparent speed, and the fact that most of my friends had far smaller, more age-appropriate rides. Then I started to have to wrench on it. I did all my own servicing, all my own bodywork repairs. Sadly to little avail; the car gradually dissolved and led me to gaining the monicker I comment under on this here forum.
After I started driving company cars the Rover languished on the driveway. I kept it alive and insured, still started her up every now and again, but I knew in my heart that keeping her going was a losing battle. At that stage I had a free-to-use Z4 and I realised that, frankly, the chicks dug that more than they did a sixteen year old Rover. It had to go. It sold on eBay for £46, I cried when it was taken away.
When, six years later the opportunity came for history to repeat itself with another Rover 800, I jumped at the chance. This is the bit where I plead insanity.
Welcome aboard.
Welcome!!!! I'm a huge Saab fan as well!