(first posted 12/12/2016) It wasn’t hard to notice this green machine in this dreary parking lot last Thursday. I’ve always found these to be one of the most elegant sedan shapes of its era and from twenty feet away, it looked to be in very good condition. Yes, this was truly an education in “the twenty footer” phenomenon. As I found out from its owner who walked up as I took my snapshots, it’s quite terminally ill: the right rear shock broke clear through the apparently rotten unibody just last week. Schade.
I’ve almost always had pleasant experiences when encountering cars’ owners as I take pictures for my articles: CC brings people together both online and in real life. This 9000 has benefitted from the attentive eye of its young owner, a lean red-head who singularly does all the work on his own car, named John. A starving artist in his early twenties, it was quickly apparent that he understands what keeps a car healthy as he named off all he’s done.
Among other efforts, he’s swapped in a 1991 ECU on this car to rid it of its crude, intrusive traction control (which made its debut in ’92); this also required a 1991 throttle body. He’s installed new front control arms with polyurethane bushings, along with other suspension hardware. Bypassing the faulty A/C meant removing the compressor but instead of putting a dead pulley in its place, he installed an accessory drive belt of a custom length and it fits perfectly. A manual boost limiter control allows him to easily tune the charge for optimal performance and a new boost gauge went along with it, because without any numerical readouts, the stock unit simply won’t cut it. Gregarious and soft spoken, he defies the stereotypes often assigned to gearheads. If my phone hadn’t died, I’d have take a picture of him with his pride and joy.
As Brendan Saur has already profiled the 9000 for CC once before, with an article on a post-facelift version, I was excited to have documented this top-of-the-line 1992. With the sweptback 1991-1992 front end, this is the most attractive incarnation of the 9000, lacking the first cars’ bluntness and the forcibly imposed curvature of later versions. The quarterlight and squared-off “decklid” combine to mark one of my favorite rear-end designs. Whatever can be said about the styling, these cars had a lot of cachet when new.
That classy reputation was simply a pre-requisite for an expensive car which bucked so many luxury sedan trends. It’s been forever since I’ve been in a Saab 9000, but John enthusiastically granted my request for a short ride around the block. One thing that’s apparent, even as a passenger, is how unsubtle the acceleration is. The Saab B-block is always smooth but, much as I need to do in my 2000 Civic, perhaps even more so, one needs to upshift quite late even in slow traffic to keep the engine on boil. Peering under the hood at the engine’s short, fat intake runners, it seems marketing couldn’t convince engineering to exorcise this characteristic. I would bet enlarging the engine to a big 2.3 liters in 1990 was more a matter of giving the non-turbo car decent shove.
In daily driving, upshifting above 3000 rpm in a big, pricey car with a second-rate manual transmission is simply tiring. Yes, torque was ultimately plentiful; yes, in-gear passing acceleration was devastating, but in mundane situations, old Saab turbos gave a false impression of weak performance. Not great test-drive material. A torque convertor would smooth out power delivery immensely; that’s probably why Volvo’s similarly appealing 850 Turbo came to the US solely with an excellent Aisin-Warner automatic.
When John says he’s on the lookout for a car to replace his shattered Saab, two cars immediately come to mind. Since he does all mechanical work himself, I could recommend any forced-induction late ’80s Audi without a sense of compunction and given the context, the fully-galvanized Audi seems especially attractive. The Alfa 164, another comprehensively galvanized car and platform-mate to the Saab, is a second excellent candidate.
Possibly the best case of diversity in platform sharing, the Type Four cars each had a unique personality. This meant the Type Four project was not nearly as profitable as it should’ve been but that’s of no concern to us enthusiasts.
The 9000 and Alfa 164, as different as they were, demonstrated textbook front-wheel drive handling in a most positive sense. The Alfa was tuned to load its rear wheels more, and with razor sharp throttle response, showed how fun a big front-wheel drive sedan could be. The Italian was a 5/4ths-scale hot hatch; the mature Swede tended toward stability to temper its testosterone-infused, high-speed rush.
Obviously an E34 5-series had superior dynamics baked in, with a creamy ride to boot, and any competing Mercedes naturally had a more impressive dynamic repertoire than the 9000 could’ve hoped for. But the big Saab wasn’t humiliated. It didn’t “suffer” the single-minded unflappability of a competing W124 and, complete its torque steer and kickback bugbears, offered a more tactile helm than either of the Germans. There’s never been a large front-driver quite like it.
I feel quite sad that our featured car needs major surgery to stay alive. Its very talented owner has the deftness of touch needed to undertake the welding necessary to keep his Saab together, but finding and applying the necessary funding is, of course, not worth the trouble.
He has another Saab in the form of a 2001 9-5 (which in his words, is “shit”), but it can’t replace the spunky 9000. I named off two potential suitors, but I’d like to turn it over to CC’s deep well of knowledge: what car do you, dear readers, feel is a fitting replacement?
Can’t knock the W124. Just got ‘Mercy’ through the government mandated annual test last week with flying colours. Needed a couple of hundred dollars of bits and pieces and this car was so well built in 1994 that I cannot see any other car of it’s age to replace it with. The bodywork does not look so good as this photo taken nearly eight years ago, but the oily bits are what I concentrate on now and everything on it can be fixed at home. It’s purchase price, divided by the nine years I’ve owned it, works out at about 380 U$ a year.
He should find a replacement rust free 9000 on the West Coast, if he used his current one as a parts car this could be very economical. They’re available for $1200-3000 pretty frequently.
Love these cars
agree completely. another 9000 turbo.
Yes, and make sure it’s a turbo, as non-turbos are slow as molasses. My ’93 9000 was dubbed “The Brick”, as it was a sunbaked shade of pinkish-red and sluggish as hell.
These are not cheap cars to keep up. I had mine a few years before Saab bit the dust, and parts were incredibly expensive. The 9000s are not particularly collectible, so the ones left are largely used and abused.
The Brick had 145k when I passed it on to a high schooler who was thrilled to get it as a first car. The headliner was shredded, the dash was cracked in half, the cruise control pump was held in with a rag. Carfax showed that it was totaled within a year of the sale.
This assumes that there is enough time to do the work.
The rear shock tower rust-through problem is common on these cars and can be repaired by welding in a patch. I’ve even heard of people bolting a replacement piece of metal up in there to attach the shock. Of course there could be much worse rust lurking under that car after 25 years!
I agree that these are attractive cars. A guy in my neighborhood used to sell them and is still at the dealership (which now sells Subaru). A 9000 (with these wheels) came in on trade and he snapped it up for a song.
I’m with LW. With a little patience, he ought to be able to find a nice 9000 from the west or south.
Getting a better look at this car on a decent monitor makes me wonder if this might be the same car from my neighborhood. Dark green? It could be one of his kids, or perhaps he sold it to someone. A dark green 9000 with those wheels is still cool as cool gets to me, at least for something European from the early 90s.
Great piece.
It’s interesting finding recommendations for someone who clearly is accustomed to forking out cash for parts. Hell, there’s any number of cars I could recommend if he’s willing to keep shelling out money over time. Why not a Sterling? A Peugeot 505 turbo? An Alfa 164 would be a treasure. A Merkur XR4ti or Scorpio would satisfy his Euro tastes. Or, to go a little bit more mainstream while still keeping the European feel, an Eagle Premier.
Ooof. So many appealing choices!
I vote for people buying parts for all those cars. Seeing them still around will make many an enthusiast day.
The Saab 9000 was a great car. In the USA at the time, it was the only way the combine a modern full size Euro lux interior with a small efficient four cylinder engine. Most people only recall the Aeros with their high output engine. These were hobbled by torque steer more and more as the output rose. In the early years there were normally aspirated versions of the four offered. These were just too slow, and made the owner feel like he was paying a penalty for picking a four.
Later, 1993, Saab released their light pressure turbo. Here was the perfect engine for the chassis. The boost was low so economy remained high but the extra torque was enough to turn the car into a great highway machine. It also lacked the oversized stiff riding tires of the Aero. What it did have was the great orthopedic seats to help you cover the miles. The off brand also allowed a travelling sales man to remain low key.
There were faults. The electrics were far more troublesome than a domestic or Japanese offering. The automatic had a direct drive fourth gear that was too short on the highway. The rear beam axle smelled of cost cutting even if it worked well. The resale value was atrocious, this made it hard for Saab to be a player in leasing. For cash customers, it was often possible to find Saabs deeply discounted, circa 20%, this mitigated the resale issue. No doubt an advantage of GM ownership.
I can see why some would go for a GM 3800 car or a Maxima with it’s great V6, but here was a car that brought something different to the market.
it was the only way the combine a modern full size Euro lux interior with a small efficient four cylinder engine.
The Volvo 740 Turbo did all of that. And no torque steer. 🙂
Last year 92 on 740 so before LPT 9000, but related 940 turbo made it to 95 auto only. The Volvo 2.3 had higher boost though so did not match the economy.
The big reason the Volvo did not match economy wise was the transmission – 940 turbos never came with a manual trans, and the automatic – while overdrive equipped – lacked the lock up torque converter. N/A 940’s got these near the end.
Great find! I probably see only several 9000s per year now if I’m lucky, and it’s been forever since I’ve spotted a pre-facelift version in the open. This one looks particularly fetching in its dark green with three-spoke turbo wheels and spoiler.
My suggestion would be an E39 5 Series. Non-M5 versions can be found pretty cheap, and they’ve been known to run over 200,000 miles with regular maintenance. Any electrical bugs are easier than expected to work out too.
My father had three of these, the gearbox broke several times but besides that it was an extraordinary car for it’s time. Things like power windows in the front and back, leather and woodgrain interior( A thing only mercedes and bmw had at that time) made it very special. And then there was that turbo engine, came close to 140 mph on the german autobahn…..
Awesome article Perry, really takes me back! I have only two disagreements, and I think they are the result of measuring 25 year old cars a bit by current standards.
I would disagree slightly with your assessment of the 9000 Turbo was a comparatively challenging drive because of the need to upshift above 3000 rpm. In my experience, when the 9000 came out, and even up to the 1992 model year, many expensive, european luxury cars required upshifting above 3000 rpm. Especially in the 1980’s, BMW’s inline six (at least the M30 version in my dad’s 1984 533i and my later 1983 633csi) had a bit of a split character, docile below 3000 rpms, and then energetic above 3000 rpms, with a satisfying rush toward the redline. I can imagine the 5 series (E34) BMW’s of 1988-1990 with the M20 engine shared similar characteristics. I think I remember the 1993 or 1994 525i that my father had with the M50 engine being an improvement in this category, but still rewarding revs with significantly more power.
I never drove a 1985-1992 MB 300E, but the 1986 260E and the 1992 190E 2.6 that my father owned shared similar traits of requiring rpms to perform. My 1993 300E is a less effective comparison as it was the first year of the 24-valve 3.2 and was significantly more powerful, but it also liked to rev in order to perform. Even my later 2003 Porsche 911 Cabriolet was a little weak below 3000 rpms.
I would argue that the powerful thrust of low end torque in a european sedan is a fairly modern development, and that at the time, the SAAB Turbo thrust in 9000 was quite comparatively remarkable, and significantly less annoying than many turbos like Paul’s example 1983 Thunderbird Turbo.
Finally I have to also disagree about the transmission. I found the manual in my friend’s mother’s 1986 9000 Turbo to be very nice to drive, and I believe the car magazines reported it to be a significant improvement over the manual in the 900 which was much maligned, but still enjoyable in my book. Comparing to the manuals in my father’s 1984 BMW 533i, and 1987 MB 190 2.3, and my mother’s 1984 Volvo 740 GLE Wagon, and plenty of others, I found the 9000 transmission better than the Volvo’s, the equal of the MB, and maybe a touch behind the BMW, but not as much as may have been reported.
And for a replacement, I would make an out of the box recommendation: Buick Park Avenue Ultra (i.e. supercharged!).
With Saabs having no value, might go back in time to a 1980ish 5 door 900 turbo. Slower and lighter but roomy and it offered the space age velour interior. Good enough for Gardner’s James Bond.
Perry,
You should have recommended to John a mid-’90s Volvo 850R/T-5R. They are fabulous cars.
The 1995 model which was the pure version of the 850R T5 is nearly impossible to find. And if you found one in good condition it would be a little expensive.
I use to have one of these as a ’91 version, same colour. Was my favorite car. Tight steering, accelerator and brakes. Completely the opposite of what one find in an American car such as Ford where everything was over assisted. Lacked headroom though, and wished I kept the passenger seat to turn it into a office chair. Had it until this Einstein signaled right and then turn left all down the driver’s side of the door. Car was totaled.
This iteration is as close as any Saab every got to looking brutish or tough and I mean that in a good way. The SPG-derived wheels never get old, the color is great, and the ride height is perfect. As Matt mentioned, above 3000rpm is where all the action is on many if not most 80’s and even 90’s machinery, it’s no great hindrance, just requires an adjustment if one is used to modern motors.
Replacement? I’ll always vote for the 92-94 Audi S4 (as pictured) or the 95-97 S6 (includes a number of Canadian imports in that end of the country). If something more familiar is desired, then the successor Saab 9-5, perhaps in wagon form. No W124 or E39, fine cars as they are, will give the same turbo rush that is hard to wean oneself away from once used to. Or perhaps a Volvo 850R as a dark horse candidate from Goteborg…
Funny you should mention the SPG. I found an example last month and am in the process or writing up a CC on it. The 3-spoke wheels are, in my opinion, the best looking wheel of any ’80s or ’90s car… very well suited to the car’s character.
Nice, looking forward to that! I agree on the SPG wheels, curiously I also hold that the Saab Aztek wheel is also one of the most attractive designs even though it is the complete antithesis of the SPG as regards their place on the “Fussiness” spectrum. It amazes me that both worked so well on what was the same basic car design.
I drove a 1992 9000 Turbo once when it was nearly new, and it was a memorable experience. At the time, I considered it to be the pinnacle of sedan performance, and I can’t think of any sedan I’ve driven since that’s bested it.
My recollections are that it didn’t feel like a 4-cyl. car at all — there was plenty of low-end torque. In that regard it was quite unlike any other turbo from its era. To drive it aggressively, one did need to keep that revs up, but for daily driving needs, it was plenty powerful in normal rpm ranges.
Now, as for that power — one thing I remember is the dramatic torque steer when I would accelerate fast. I assume it’s something that a driver would get used to quickly, but for me it was quite an eye-opener. However, once that was dealt with, acceleration was rocket-like, especially for its day.
Also, this car was amazingly comfortable and amazingly big. It could carry four people and luggage in absolute (and quick) comfort. I really admired that car, and remember it clearly 20+ years later. The only downside is that replacing it would almost certainly be a step down in one facet or another, and I guess that’s what John is struggling with now!
As a former 9000 owner, I can only recommend one car as a replacement if the owner really likes his current ride: Another Saab 9000.
Mine’s been gone since 2004, and I still miss it. These were amazing cars with great handling, light-footedness, amazing comfort and versatility that is unmatched without stepping into a clunky SUV. If I could find a rust-free example with good maintenance history I’d snap it up in a heartbeat. Unfortunately they were rather high-maintenance cars, and most of the ones still around either have a spotty history or are owned by enthusiasts who know what they have and price them accordingly.
There’s a 91 model 9000S on CL from The Dalles or Hood River for $950. Being an Oregon car means it shouldn’t have rust issues and it has heated leather seats.
I’m going to nominate this for Most Versatile Car Ever. Great looking, roomy, comfortable, fast, good handling, fun to drive, economical, luxurious (for its day), and unique. Few cars have so successfully packaged a hatch in such a dignified shape. How many other cars have checked all these boxes?
+1. I owned a 9000S for 8 years and it really was one of the most thoughtfully designed, versatile cars ever made. Unfortunately it also checked the “flaky European electrics” box and eventually that killed mine.
Hatchbacks in this segment were still quite common in the early nineties. In the Old World, that is.
Saab 9000, Fiat Croma, Ford Scorpio, Renault 25 (and its successor, the Safrane) and -oh “dignified shape”- the Citroën XM (below). Even more versatile were the wagon versions of some of these models.
Good corrections to my American-centric worldview. However, the Croma pretty much IS the 9000. The basic Renault package was almost identical to the Saab, but not as visually sophisticated. The Citroen was toooo sophisticated, for Americans at least, though typical by French standards. The Scorpio is one of my favorites, but I’ve never driven one.
Most of these cars advertise their hatchbackiness a little too much, at least to my eyes. On the Saab, the hatch is almost incidental, yet integrated. Not to mention that the Saab has, well, that Saabness that infected some of us at an impressionable age. 🙂
Yes, I see -and understand- what you mean.
Meanwhile, the mainstream-brand executive car (E-segment) has become a part of history. Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar, Volvo, Lexus, Infiniti and Maserati. That’s all these days.
Regarding the hatch being “almost incidental, yet integrated”. I posted a picture of a Skoda Superb wagon the other day, but the hatchback (or is it a liftback ?) hides its hatchbackiness really well ! This Skoda is not in the E-segment though, yet it’s a fairly big car to our eyes.
A good deal larger than a Saab 9000 too, if I’m not mistaken
4.86 m for the current Skoda Superb hatchback, 4.78 m for the Saab 9000 CD.
I had the 92, but but I traded it in for my current 97 900se.
I understand why he might not like the later 9-5s, but they did sort out the engines and transmissions out.
Took me a very long time to realize the very long 2nd gear on my car, for instance, is designed for city driving. I rarely shift out of it, goes from 10 to 50 very easily.
Electrics were a problem on my 9000. Alarm, lights, AC. Trade in was terrible. I remember taking it around while the book was around 18K and getting offers for 7K, this was back in maybe 95.
I’d agree the body style is nicer than the later 9-5.
The “executive car” (same segment as the Saab 9000) I liked in the nineties was the sedan that looked like an Alfa Romeo 164, but wasn’t. The Peugeot 605, which was also available with a 4-cylinder 2.0 liter turbo engine.
And I’ve always been a fan of big Opels with a fuel injected inline-6, but they (Opel Omega A and Senator B) were all gone after 1993. Well, not entirely, because the 1994 Omega B was also offered with an inline-6 BMW diesel.
And which one do you still see very frequently, being used as a daily driver ? The MB-W124 of course.
Did Peugeot get any resistance in Europe for going front drive? Volvo seemed to, don’t think the S80 was as highly regarded as the bricks. You also had the 605 replacing both the 505 and 604. When one car replaces two, it does not smell like success.
No. In this segment Renault, Citroën and Audi already were FWD. Volvo had its FWD 1991 850-model. The Type Four cars (Fiat Croma, Lancia Thema, Saab 9000, Alfa Romeo 164 ) were all FWD.
But the writing was already on the wall for the mainstream brands Ford, Opel, Renault, Fiat, Peugeot, Nissan, Toyota, Mitsubishi and also for Citroën, Alfa Romeo, Saab, Volvo and Lancia: there’s no E-segment future for you anymore, see also my comment further above.
However, Volvo is making a comeback with its current -marvelous- S90 and V90.
But all in all: ze Germans pretty much own the E-segment now. Plus the F-segment (flagships) and -to a somewhat lesser extent- the D-segment.
I seriously considered a 9000 in 1985 when I was shopping (and ended up with the 300E). Another guy at the tv station had just bought one, and I got to ride in it and drive it a bit. Yes, it was hot, for the times, the turbo being rather explosive, and it was a ball, but as you say, one really needed to keep it on the boil. Well, at least to make it scoot. That reminded me a bit too much of my ’83 TBird TC, and frankly, I was a bit fatigued by that, especially in LA traffic, where it that becomes tedious. It’s great fun for a run in the canyons, but not so much on jammed freeways or in stop and go traffic.
I’m wondering what the owner is addicted to more, the turbo, vintage sport sedan aspect, powerful FWD or manual transmission. If all four an early 90s Audi Turbo should satisfy but those are hard to find. If the last three a mid-90s Legend or Maxima 5-speed would be a good choice. Cars that claw, with either FWD or AWD, can be a bit of a drug.
If it doesn’t have to be FWD the Volvo 700 / 900 series is tough to beat and those aren’t too bad with an A/T. He could have fun playing with the boost. Very difficult to find one in great shape but the ones that need work are plentiful. They don’t suffer structural rust as badly as apparently these Saabs do and would be less of a kick in the nuts to sink money into.
I do remember the in-gear pulling power of the Saab 9000 Turbo. It was addictive but the car was a pain to drive when you just wanted to relax. I also remember sitting slightly high without the enveloping feeling of some of the others but that’s a Saab thing. The Volvo 850 felt similar, and a bit hollow.
As for the styling the original version with the upright front end was the most attractive to me. I hated when manufacturers put sloped or rounded fronts on cars that were designed in the 80s, to look less boxy in the 90s. Volvo and GM products suffered from this too.
Nice trip down memory lane, thanks Perry!
The Yellow sticker on the front air dam is from the National Speleological Society by the way. I am surprised it is still being driven with suspension failure.
The rear end weight is held by the spring, which sits in a different position than the damper. As per the OP, it was the shocker mount what failed. So while the weight is still being held, the car does not have damping anymore. I guess it also makes some loud knocking noise
Not optimal, roadworthy, but…
I just sold my ’95 9000 Aero after almost 9 years and 140K miles of an exhilarating/excruciating love/hate relationship. It had 295K miles on it when I let it go. It was both the best and worst car I’ve ever owned, with a combination of performance, hauling capabilities, and fuel economy that I couldn’t find in a modern car. But maintenance was becoming impossible, even the local Saab specialist didn’t want to deal with the electronics any longer. I finally replaced it with a ’05 Infiniti G35 6-spd sedan, which has proven rock solid reliable yet doesn’t have half the character of the Saab. If there was such a thing as a 9000 Aero with the reliability and maintainability of an Asian car, I’d buy it and keep it forever.
I’ll be honest, I was never one to have an affection toward SAAB. It was one of those things that I just never, “got”. All the unique and weird touches seemed less like a company doing it’s own thing, and more like someone just being quirky and weird for the sake of being quirky and weird, which is something I don’t necessarily hold a positive view towards. There cars never looked attractive to me either, they’re reputation for needing special mechanics to work on was never a great prospect to me, and the less I say about some of the hardcore Saabophiles telling me that I’m an ignorant pleb for not seeing “the genius” in it, the better.
But, but. I will admit, dismissive and apathetic of the brand as I am. I do have a soft spot in my cold black heart for the 9000. I don’t know if I were to own one, but there’s something about it I do like. Maybe it’s the styling, which I think is very good, probably the best looking car Saab ever made.
So yeah, I actually have a Saab I genuinely like, there you go.
Will John read our suggestions?
This is definitely where the looks of the 9000 went from like to love. It’s just *right*. Those wheels, that color, it all just works _so well_ together. It’s a real shame he’s decided that the suspension failure isn’t worth fixing–hopefully someone will, as it would be a real shame for this beauty to end up in the boneyard. Or maybe it’s a lot worse underneath than it looks from the shiny side.
As to replacement, I’d definitely say he should look for a C4 S4/S6 (or a C3 200q/V8 if a good one should appear) or a Volvo 850R/T-5R. Definitely in the same vein. The 164 is of course a natural contender. Or, going a little newer (and probably no less rare), Volvo V70R? Lexus IS300 Sportcross?
Simply a wonderful car. The Swiss Army Knife of autos, in fact. No other vehicle has given me as fine a balance of utility, luxury, safety, economy and speed.
Reluctantly, I ended my 9000 years over issues of unreliability. A small plastic gear had failed deep in the transmission, killing my speedometer and odometer. Repair would have cost over two grand, with the transmission removal and disassembly and the clutch replaced in the process. It didn’t help me feelings that when the instruments failed, I was driving home from the repair shop after a thousand-dollar exhaust replacement.
Also, after eight years with two 9000s, I’d come to realize that the driving position would never feel right to me. The steering wheel was in my lap, about three inches too low even with the seat lowered all the way.
God, how tall ARE you?
What a shame this beautiful 9000 is in the death row. That´s my favourite 9000: a CC with the restyling front end and the gorgeous 16″ Aero alloys.
I owned a 9000 Aero for seven years, and it had its faults (the chassis setup is nothing to write home about), but I miss those overtakings, and, overall, that marvellous relaxing feeling it brought to his driver and occupants.
The best replacement, as a lot of people said before, is another 9000, although a Volvo 850 Turbo wagon could be rather adecuate. Now I own a 850 R, I like it a bit more than the 9000.
The only good replacement is an Alfa Romeo 164S (of 1991-1993 model years) or the later 164LS (of 1994-1995 model years). Unfortunately, the parts supply for these wonderful Alfa 164 sedans is fast drying up. I have owned two of them and the are wonderful cars, and probably the most reliable Alfas I have ever owned. The Bosch electrical systems are well made, and the Alfas share more parts with the Saab 9000’s than you would imagine.
> the right rear shock broke clear through the apparently rotten unibody
That’s exactly how my Mercury Tracer died. Drove it for a week like that, right rear wheel held in place solely by the axle, and the top of the tire tilted inward.
I agree that 1992 was peak Saab 9000 (except that they’d discontinued the nice red interior shown in the see-thru diagram by then). My older brother had a 91 9000 Turbo hatchback, and that year the turbo hatchbacks were only available (in the US) as sporty models with ultra-low-profile tires, ground-effects moldings, and a very limited selection of “sporty” colors inside and out. For 92 the sporty pretense was dropped (soon to be relegated to a distinct Aero model iirc) so you could get a 9000 turbo hatchback in any of the current colors, softer suspension, and typically sized wheels. The sloped front end treatment seen here (which didn’t involve any new sheetmetal) looked nice but added about 2 inches to the front overhang. Cars so equipped though were the first sold in the US with headlamp washers and wipers; previously only Euro market and rest-of-world cars had the wipers. I recall 92 was the last year before the back of the hatchbacks was restyled to make them look less like hatchbacks, with a wide C pillar without a window. These seemed to have worsened rearward visibility, but again got some compensation with a new rear wiper, something the 92 and earlier models strangely lacked. This also corresponded to new front styling that I thought looked too squinty and also eliminated the front cornering lights (but not the rearward-facing side backup lamps that were now almost hidden).
These were good cars that were very versatile, practical, and luxurious. And with the turbo 2.3L, fast for its time (the engine was also quite smooth even at high revs, although there was some turbo lag though less than earlier 2.0L Saab turbos). Saab purists seem to prefer the original 900 to these, but in many ways the 9000 was peak Saab.
Agreed, one of the most versatile and fun cars ever. We’ve had 8 SAABS, and among them were an ’87 9000 and ’93 9000 Aero. They were classified as full-size cars by EPA due to exceptional space efficiency. Also in some years the 9000 was rated the safest car by the European insurance safety agency (forget the name). The ’87 saved my daughter’s life when T-boned in the driver door at high speed in Baltimore City while she was in Med school. We later had an ’01 9-5 Aero, and we still have an ’04 9-5 in the family. The ’01 had all the power of the ‘9, plus amazing low-end grunt, it was supposedly one of the fastest cars available from 30 to 90mph, and it was perfect and fun for passing! It helps to be proficient in electrical repair to own a SAAB, but the effort is well worth it! I’d love another 9000!