Two months ago today I flew into California to pick this car up after I won the auction for it, it's finally time to post about it.
I've wanted a 3 door turbo ever since I had a beater SPG in college that I never should have sold. And living in Ohio, I've always wanted to get a car out of one of the western states where rust isn't a thing. This car checked both those boxes. I'd been looking for a long time, and what really got me to bid on this particular example was the color combo, I love Rose Quartz over red.
It just so happened that the Saab owners convention was happening in Denver the weekend after I was picking up the car, so I decided I'd fly in and drive the car back to Ohio with a little stop at SOC along the way.
Here's the first picture I took of the car myself after the seller picked me up at the airport:
After chit chatting with the seller for a while it was time for me to get on the road, but I took his advice and found mountain road just a few minutes from his place before I got on the highway.
On I-15 headed out of LA, I probably made it about thirty miles before I pulled off the highway for the first time.
The car was having a hell of a time running in traffic. It seemed pretty OK, if a little down on power out on the open road, but when I got stuck in traffic I would get symptoms I would normally associate with a dying fuel pump, lack of power, lurching, etc. It never actually died though, and I was always able to get it to smooth out and keep going as long as I stayed out of the throttle.
I should've made it through Nevada and into Utah the first night, but instead I stopped in Vegas.
I spent the night in my hotel room, looking for local parts stores. I had realized the seller put Autolite plugs and Denso wires in this poor car and I knew I needed to fix that sooner than later. I found a Pep Boys right near the strip that had NGKs in stock, gladly overpaid for them and installed them in the parking lot. Feeling confident, I rolled out of Vegas back onto I-15.
I made it about two hours out of Vegas, to the tiny section of I-15 that crosses through Arizona. It was a very beautiful place, which is good, because I had a lot of time to take in the scenery.
There was road construction and the traffic was crawling, so I caved and called AAA. They towed me to the nearest town which was St George UT.
I've wanted a 3 door turbo ever since I had a beater SPG in college that I never should have sold. And living in Ohio, I've always wanted to get a car out of one of the western states where rust isn't a thing. This car checked both those boxes. I'd been looking for a long time, and what really got me to bid on this particular example was the color combo, I love Rose Quartz over red.
It just so happened that the Saab owners convention was happening in Denver the weekend after I was picking up the car, so I decided I'd fly in and drive the car back to Ohio with a little stop at SOC along the way.
Here's the first picture I took of the car myself after the seller picked me up at the airport:
After chit chatting with the seller for a while it was time for me to get on the road, but I took his advice and found mountain road just a few minutes from his place before I got on the highway.
On I-15 headed out of LA, I probably made it about thirty miles before I pulled off the highway for the first time.
The car was having a hell of a time running in traffic. It seemed pretty OK, if a little down on power out on the open road, but when I got stuck in traffic I would get symptoms I would normally associate with a dying fuel pump, lack of power, lurching, etc. It never actually died though, and I was always able to get it to smooth out and keep going as long as I stayed out of the throttle.
I should've made it through Nevada and into Utah the first night, but instead I stopped in Vegas.
I spent the night in my hotel room, looking for local parts stores. I had realized the seller put Autolite plugs and Denso wires in this poor car and I knew I needed to fix that sooner than later. I found a Pep Boys right near the strip that had NGKs in stock, gladly overpaid for them and installed them in the parking lot. Feeling confident, I rolled out of Vegas back onto I-15.
I made it about two hours out of Vegas, to the tiny section of I-15 that crosses through Arizona. It was a very beautiful place, which is good, because I had a lot of time to take in the scenery.
There was road construction and the traffic was crawling, so I caved and called AAA. They towed me to the nearest town which was St George UT.