Saab Down

Lower C of G, like any boxer lump, I suppose. Other than that, the
roadholding is more likely to be down to the permanent 4x4 IMHO.

So, basically, marketing crap, as you say.

 

In communiqué <1jayrz5.uwylzsp6ejnkN%>,

Indeed. 1962 IIRC. Free-wheel and 3 speed column change.

--
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Voxan Roadster Yamaha WR250Z/Supermoto "Old Gimmer's Hillclimber" |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 Morini 350 "Forgotten Error" |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

And more centralized mass as the engine is shorter than a straight four
and the gearbox is where a box should be instead of in front of the
front wheels.

 

Mine were both 1972. Free-wheel and 4 speed column change.

 

*ding*

--


Nige,

BMW K1200S
Honda Transalp XL600V
Yamaha R1
Range Rover Vogue

 

Hmm. Last time I looked nice ones seemed more than that, but wibble flip

Indeed. Sounds like a blast.

--
Catman MIB#14 SKoGA#6 TEAR#4 BOTAFOF#38 Apostle#21 COSOC#3
Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright (Remove rust to reply)
116 Giulietta 3.0l Sprint 1.7 GTV TS 156 V6 2.5 S2 GT 3.2 V6
Triumph Sprint ST 1050: It's blue, see.
www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk

 

Yes, good point.

 

So more of: "Since we got the weight distribution right, this car sticks
etc etc'

--
Catman MIB#14 SKoGA#6 TEAR#4 BOTAFOF#38 Apostle#21 COSOC#3
Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright (Remove rust to reply)
116 Giulietta 3.0l Sprint 1.7 GTV TS 156 V6 2.5 S2 GT 3.2 V6
Triumph Sprint ST 1050: It's blue, see.
www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk

 

I bought a '92 16v 5dr highish spec 900 earlier this year for £350 with
12 months MOT.

 

Non-turbo, though. You're right they're cheap.

OTOH, I paid £500 for my T16 2.5yrs ago. I'd guesstimate it's worth about
three times that now.

 

I bought one of them for my old man, from a mechanically minded mate.
It had been "tweaked", inasmuch as he'd "re-sprung" the wastegate. I
learned proper FWD left-foot braking in that car - entering a roundabout
trailing the brakes, with the throttle fairly well planted, watching the
boost gauge climb - then as the exit straightens up, lift the brake foot
and plant the throttle foot: staggering was a fair description, I'd say
.... on a dry, smooth road. Terrifying on a damp road and fucking
hysterical on a wet one.

I pissed past an A-M Vantage using that technique ;-)

The old man used to get nearly 40mpg out of it - his left foot never
went anywhere near the brake and he never asked about mine.

 

The lad who gave me a lift to work when I was in mechanical distress had
one of them. Lovely little car, quirky as you like: I'd never seen
three-speed wipers before, let alone a car with a freewheel and one that
you had to lock in gear. He took me to work a lot one winter when I was
running ... ummm ... a MKI Escort, I think [edit: no it wasn't, it was
my infamous 1965 Humber Sceptre, which I'd dropped a tweaked Holbay
motor out of a Hunter GLS into, that would never start in the cold
either] ... anyway, it would never start and he'd stop by every day just
in case. I gave up driving, tbh, 'cos his car was so much more
comfortable - Dralon seats and a heater that would boil the blood in yer
legs.

It was he that came to the rescue of our boss, who was stranded in the
office car park as the handbrake on his brand-new Morris Marina 1.8TC
had frozen on. We'd got it started 9by freeing off the frozen chike
mech) and prodded it a bit, but he wouldn't let us bladder the brakes
with hammers 'cos it was such a shiny car.

As most people had long gone home, there were only half a dozen cars
left, so we went for the bit of rope option. Attached to the SAAB (by,
in retrospect, quite a long bit of rope), Boss in his TC slid off,
dragging the still-locked back wheels. Following a slightly slithery
and notably nervous slalom around a couple of inopportunely-abandoned
cars, and they were off round the outside. A 180 at the end and back
they came, still dragging. By the third circuit, my mate was getting
bored, so hoisted second down the straight and let it run up a bit.

At that point we all recalled a bit of early Physics a bit late.

The Pendulum Effect.

Take a ton of Morris and attach it to the rear of an object travelling
at ~30mph and then let the object reverse its course in a curve to the
left. Observe the Morris following a path dictated by the length of the
attaching rope, also in a curve, but a wider curve ... sideways in the
snow. Observe the expression on Boss's face (this is quite easy, as his
face will be pressed quite firmly against the glass of the side window,
by another bit of early Physics) with particular reference to the whites
of the eyes and the movements of the mouth.

By the next lap, the SAAB was all but invisible in the cloud of snow
coming off the front wheels - but the Morris was clear, apart from a bit
of condensation and dribbles of spit and snot on the front offside
window.

Third gear and ~45mph freed the brakes of the Morris a treat: of course
the SAAB pilot was in full-on Mission Mode by this point: flat cap on
backwards, teeth clenched around a stub of a Marlboro, knuckles shiny in
his Juan Manuel Fnagio (copy) leatheralike stringbacked racing gloves on
the wheel at ten-to-two, eyes fixed on the apexes of the oval circuit he
was intently creating in the increasingly shiny, hard-packed snow.

So shiny it was that even though the Boss had his right foot firmly
planted on the brakes on the straights by then, he was merely a (very)
rear-seat passenger and the tiny amount of increased drag only caused
the mighty SAAB to dig a bit deeper and go a bit quicker, if anything.

The Boss was sounding his horn by now, the agreed signal for casting off
- but against the bellow of the mighty SAAB exhaust, the frozen reeds of
the TC's horns raised barely a robin's fart. By the time he managed, by
a mighty effort of will, to free a finger from his Grip Of Death[tm] on
the rim of his faux-leather wheel, and flash his lights at the rear of
the SAAB, he was on Circuit Six and to us it looked like they were up to
about the double nickel.

It was more difficult to tell by then, as the whole area was hazed by
the chuffings of the SAAB and the fine, sparkly mist of ice crystals
hanging in the air. That, and we had all retreated to the probably
illusory safety and cover afforded by the corner of the AA prefab on the
corner of the car park.

Fortunately, the ever-more frantic flashings from the rear came to the
attention of the SAAB pilot, and he slipped to a smooth stop on the
straight. The Morris stopped too - resting its tired bumper on the
SAAB's in a gesture of relief. The Boss was apparently relieved too: he
appeared to want to rest his head on his faux-leather wheel for a while
longer and would probably want to have a moment to himself to clean his
face from the effects of his efforts - he was liberally smeared with
spit and Hamlet shreds ... and we'd best not mention the colour change
apparent in the Dralon seat either.

So we cut the towrope and went to the pub in the SAAB, leaving him to
contemplate ... well, whatever it is one contemplates following a near-
death experience (as he would later describe it, in minute detail, every
time anybody mentioned SAABs, or that evening's pilot, or ropes ...) in
solitary serenity. A good job, well done.

 

Jack-a-fucking-nory is back and I, for one, am glad.

 

Marvellous.

I think I have already related the story of driving mine back from
Glenmorangie land with only 2nd and top gear operational (gear linkage
semi-broken) and a FOAD blow in the silencer. A bit of a bugger moving
off, but it could be kept singing well once I reached the A74. It then
seemed best to get home ASAP and the two-stroke triple wailed loudly
down the M6 in fine style. Luckily they were possible jetted a bit rich
as standard, so despite exhibiting the "going so well it must be about
to seize" effect it survived the experience. I did treat it to just a
smidgen more oil than standard at re-fuelling stops though.



--
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Voxan Roadster Yamaha WR250Z/Supermoto "Old Gimmer's Hillclimber" |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 Morini 350 "Forgotten Error" |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique,

This whole thread has been more than worthwhile.

 

<Snip another marvellous Pip tale)

Genuine LOL here.

 

Except architects.

Fraser