Teh Car Blogz

When thinking about a sleeper performance car, I am honest enough to admit that most people don’t immediately have a mid-ninties FWD Pontiac come to mind.  Color me weird, but there is something tempting about paying a small amount of money for a comfortable car with a supercharged V6, great response to modifications, and enough torque to accidentally pan-fry Pirellis.  Sure, it’s not the classiest car ever made, but you have to give the GTP some respect: It can show Mustang GT’s what’s what.

(more…)

in a continuation of the last “Uncommon Q-ship” article, we now move our geographic concentration from Sweden to the good old US of A. Or well, sort of. A bit of Japan, too.

(more…)

This is the beginning of another new series called Uncommon Q-Ships. It’s meant to highlight some of the performance cars that are mostly forgotten now, cars that are surprisingly quick but mainly anonymous. These were the cars that the smart sports-car buyers got back in the day to fly under the radar. It’s a favorite genre of mine and hopefully this series will jog your collective memories.

My first nomination would be the Aero version of the old Saab 9000. The 9000 was Saab’s first effort at a full-on Luxury car, and it was co-developed along with three other cars to keep costs down: The Alfa Romeo 164, Fiat Croma, and Lancia Thema. This is why unlike all other modern-era Saabs, the 9000 had the key where it normally goes. Beyond that, though, it was all Saab: a 5 door full-size hatchback/sedan that came with turbo power. The original engine was Saab’s 2.0L 16v Turbo straight-four, with 175 horsepower. This is a first-generation 9000 with a nice set of wheels. Classy shape.

(more…)