1992 Saab 900 S Convertible: A Sunny Day Saab

Yes, you are not dreaming, this is two Saab 900s in a row. I suppose it must be either sheer coincidence or pure luck, but who am I to be complaining. Seeing two classic 900s street parked by chance in the same week is something I thought would never happen. 

This 900 here is a very nicely kept example. Being a 900 S, it has the naturally aspirated Saab B212 2.1L engine, an updated version of the B202 2.0L engine, which debuted in 1991. This car also has the three speed Borg Warner T-3 automatic transmission, a controversial topic among Saab enthusiasts, however that's a story for another time.

The Saab 900 convertible could be the most un-Saab of all time. In fact, the lineage of this car is closer to home than you might think. In the early 1980s, US sales of the Saab 900 began to decline, and the president of the Saab US division, Bob Sinclair, thought that a convertible variant of the 900 would help boost Saab's image in the US. He thought that having a convertible option available in Saab's lineup would move the company's image to a more luxurious, up scale market. 

Initially, the idea of a 900 convertible seemed skeptical to Saab executives, but when the prototypes were presented, it was loved by the executives. Furthermore, the 900 convertible proved to be an instant success when it debuted at the 1983 International Auto Show in Frankfurt, Germany. The car wouldn't be launched until 1987, but upon its initial release, it proved Bob Sinclair's idea right, as the new convertible helped restore Saab's sales in the US. 

Here are some close ups of the badging and "Saab Scania" emblem. Saab formed a merger with Swedish truck company Scania in 1969, which would prove to be an important step in Saab's history. We discussed this in an early entry, the article on the 1999 Saab 9-5 from August 2021.