By Antti Kautonen
I first became aware of this very car in 2007-ish, when I was working in the central Helsinki webdesign agency situated on the same street. The yellow 2000 Saab 9-3 cabriolet was a familiar sight on my commute, parked around the neighbourhood, slowly getting more knocks on its bumpers and especially on the front plate.
It’s nice to see it’s still with the same owner most likely, and since the weather is improving it’s a good summertime cruiser. The cobblestones on the Helsinki streets do most likely reveal the chassis’ shortcomings, though.
I’d like to see the Saab on three-spoke Aero wheels, as the five-spokes on it are a bit slight and plain. This one has the 154hp 2.0 turbo, and it wouldn’t hurt to have the pokier 185hp engine.
It’s just not the camera shots that display the yellow paint as a bit washed-out, as the Saab could well use a good polish to really bring out the yellow. The top was luckily unripped.
I do believe I’ll see the Saab parked on the street whenever I return to that part of Helsinki. I’d like one just like this, and the yellow is a nice colour choice.
[Images: Copyright 2013 Hooniverse/Antti Kautonen]
That's some Swedey Motion!
Sing it with me!
Sweeeeeed-y Mooooooootion!
The turbo does the work of a mere 0.3 litres of displacement, here, as my naturally aspirated NG900's 2.3 puts out ~150 horses. One wonders what could be accomplished by turning up the boost, but one assumes the transaxle would be most displeased.
It's probably the way they did the 185hp version.
Lovely condition, and I agree about the wheels needing to be beefier. But although the color is bold and far from bad, I think many of the other paint colors show the cars form to better advantage. We got these with the 225 hp engine as a op option. Finding one without a black or gray leather interior is a true rarity.
I have a sage green NG900 9-3 with the 185hp engine in the stable right now. It makes me consider getting rid of my other beater, a 96 subaru outback, which feels agricultural in comparison. Both ride and handling on the Saab are very pleasing, and it returns 30mpg on the highway and 26 in mixed driving, not too shabby. There were lots of nice little touches in the design of these (for instance, back seat climate control includes vents ducted through the b-pillars), and a well-kept one makes an entertaining and easily-maintained daily driver. Flexible, too, with a huge amount of space under the hatch.
Hopefully by flexible you don't mean that the chassis can flex.
It's a four seat convertible, they don't need any more power.