My first car!

Reddingius · #1 (**permalink**) 30-12-2009, 22:00

I already spilled the beans yesterday, but I think this news requires its own thread!

You probably know what I'm on about; the fact that yesterday I purchased my very first car. It's a 1975 Saab 99 2.0 and it's a beauty. As most of you have probably dated some beauties in your lives, you will know that they can be a handfull. Mine is in the process of proving exactly that. When I went over to the guy who (for some reason) decided to sell his car, I went out on a testdrive. As soon as I slid the gearstick into second, the engine stalled. Disappointing, concerning, but for the most part emberrasing as the seller, a friend of mine and his dad were all there with me in the car. I tried again, but it kept stalling on me. At a certain point (200 yards down the street to be precise) the car wouldn't start anymore. We quickly found out that the problems were caused by a torn diaphragm in the carburettor. This was a quick and cheap fix and as I proceded with the testdrive, I found I got to like the car really quickly. It's not a racecar though. It should do 160 km/h (100mph) with blood sweat and tears, and you'll be terrified getting it up to that speed because it only has a 4-box and the engine already screams at (legal) highway speeds.
If it will actually get up to 100 mph is something I doubt though, the car just doesn't feel like all the 101 ponies that should be there are there. On the way home I also heard some loud thumps from the engine, maybe the timing is off or the mixture is too rich.
These little things aside, it is still an absolute thrill to drive. Having driven a Seat Leon and my parent's BMW E39 528i, the Saab is something else altogether. And I love it. From now on I'll be driving it everywhere!

Well... If it will drive that is. When I got home from buying it, I wanted to start her up for a drive around the block with my family, but she wouldn't. We got out some electronic gismos and found out that the battery was absolutely shot. With the engine off, you could just see the headlights fade out. So here I am, I have got the best looking car of the neighbourhood, but it won't go anywhere soon.
Now we're on the topic of what is wrong with it: The front brake rotors need replacing (slowing down upto a trafficlight is quite scary), the engine temperature gauge died yesterday (I guess the sensor just got disconnected while we were fiddling with the engine), the headlamp whipers don't work, the muffler rattles. Well I'll get it all fixed in one go when it will get its MOT. So there is quite a lot to be done and it probably won't be cheap, but the car itself was an absolute steal so I hope I've made the right decision!

If you've taken the time to read this all, you're probably anxious to see some pictures and I won't disappoint! I hope you like her. These are pictures from the advertisement by the way.