In January I telephoned Sonja Moore about a 99T that was for sale. It had belonged to her late father, who had owned it from new. I understood that it had a very low mileage. First I consulted with Julian to find out what I should look out for. I was told to be vigilant for a cracked inlet manifold, blown turbo seal, but most important…..RUST!

When I arrived to see the car it was in a garage under a dustsheet. On removal of the cover my breath was taken away. Before me stood an almost new 99t in metallic green. I have become fairly familiar with the rust traps on 99s, I learned the hard way, and I set about inspecting all the usual grot spots. After a short while I gave up trying to find what clearly was not to be found. I was not familiar with the under-bonnet details of turbo or injection Saabs, but the sight that met my eyes was clear enough. This car was in a similar condition to the 99 I already owned, but as it was eighteen years before, when I bought it! The test drive was a very gentle affair for a number of reasons. Firstly this was January and the roads were icy. Secondly despite eighteen years behind the wheel of a 99, the driving position in this left-hand drive car seemed very strange, particularly the positioning of the throttle pedal. Lastly, although the car had been driven back from Sweden, after two years of inactivity I thought gentle treatment was sensible until all fluids had been replaced. It drove like a two-year old car, no creaks, groans or rattles and it was so quiet.

Sonja had a firm idea of how much she wanted for the car, and she was not about to give it away. I tried to offer less than the asking price without success. We even drove away to have a meal and think about it. I was surprised by Rosemary's reaction. My wife could not be described as a Saab fan; none of my children are either. In fact they prefer to travel in the 2CV, which some might find hard to believe, unless, that is, they have one. Rosemary thought we ought to buy it. What chance did I have? On returning home I called Sonja to offer the asking price. On reflection, although it was a lot for a twenty-two year old car, it was still less than I paid for a similar condition 99GL in 1983. And the mileage? It had covered only 25000 miles, 5000 less than my GL when I bought it.

I returned to collect the car a month later. This was a car that deserved a roof over its head. A consequence of this new purchase was the sale of my two-stroke 96, which went very quickly, in both senses of the word. Driving the car home four features caught my attention. The first was a disappointment: the steering rack was not the same as the EMS one that I had become accustomed to. My spare one would be no good as it is RHD. The second was more pleasant, although I was driving gently, we came to this long steep hill, well it looked like the road was climbing steeply but this funny little needle swung into the orange sector on the gauge and the hill ceased to exist as far as the car was concerned, most impressive. The third observation was also a nice surprise. We were on the motorway and I had the chance to look around at the new car, I was startled by the sight of the springs on the wiper arms, they were so shiny. This car had not had much experience of rain. The fourth novelty became apparent as we turned off onto a small B-road and I became aware of a rather nice whistling noise as my foot played with the throttle, I found that strangely satisfying, after all this was a Turbo and I was glad that there was something to highlight the fact.

On the journey I also found a fault. As the winter darkness descended before we were home it became clear that the instrument illumination was not working. This was a little unsettling, the car was so much quieter than my GL and that affected my judgement of speed. Fortunately my brain can cope with converting KPH to MPH, but it relies on being able to read the speedometer.

No car is faultless, so what needed doing? I knew about the headlining, and I had already recovered a spare. The instrument illumination problem led me to study the wiring diagram, almost identical to the UK Turbo diagram in my Haynes. Just as well really, as the handbook version was in Swedish, as was the rest of the handbook of course. I decided to replace the bulbs anyway, but found the culprit to be the rheostat. I decided to bypass this rather unnecessary, in my opinion, device. While cleaning under the bonnet, what sad lives we lead, I noticed that the two halves of an electrical connector were not joined as they seemed they should be. I pushed them together but the next time I switched on the ignition one of the headlamp wipers started. So apart they came and mental note to investigate at a later date. I changed the coolant and the oil and filter, both very easy jobs on the GL, but requiring greater ingenuity, dexterity and above all smaller hands on the turbo. Changing the air and fuel filters seemed to require more dismantling than I had anticipated. Even changing the plugs was surprisingly inconvenient, forgetting that I had a suitable socket adapter, I found I had to remove the battery tray. Clearly my GL had been too easy and my skills not sufficiently developed. I hope they improve. The brakes were brilliant, but I checked the linings and discs, no problems, and changed the fluid, just in time assuming that Swedish fluid should be the same colour as ours. The wastegate seemed to be working perfectly, despite gloomy predictions about little-used turbos.

The next thing was to try it out. I experienced the thrill of full-boost acceleration, a novel feeling: quite breathtaking really. It is very different from my other 99. Now you probably know that the words 'acceleration' and '99GL' are not often found in close proximity, but my GL is not really a GL anymore, since replacing the asthmatic Zenith single carburettor with a pair of DCOEs. My other 99 does accelerate quite well and it responds instantly with both sound and motion in a very satisfying way. The turbo is an altogether different experience, delivering an iron fist wrapped in a velvet glove. My boys were very impressed. What impressed them most was the way that the front passenger seat could be reclined, I didn't like to point out that the GL has the same seats.

Are you ready for the confessions? I bought the book, which is a collection of road-test reports of 99 and 900 turbos. These articles were very enthusiastic about the 'supercar performance' from this family saloon. Reading more about my car than actually driving it was bizarre. My first proper outing was to 'Steam and Spares'. A few years ago a similar event was called 'Splash and Spares'. Now you may be wincing, particularly if you had a stall yourself, and I apologise for reminding you, but imagine my horror at getting my car wet. I am not sure it had ever been driven in the rain before. The drive to Nottingham was enjoyable, particularly overtaking a new Saab 93 on full turbo boost. The handling and roadholding were quite a disappointment though. I have already mentioned that I have become accustomed to the EMS steering, which is a pig when parking, but a sheer delight on the move. The Bilsteins on my GL were considerably stiffer and I have also become used to the anti-roll bars. A friend once described my car as having go-kart handling, I suppose my family has not enjoyed the go-kart ride. It was starting to become clear to me that although the 99T is a quiet, refined, comfortable, fast and good-looking saloon, it is not a sports car. I was also realising what I had been putting my family through for the sake of my selfish driving pleasure: "What do you mean, it's not bumpy!" "Dad, can't you get a car with suspension?" or "Why does it smell of oil?" etc.,

Alan Courtney

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