Question: if you had £8000 pounds to spend, were looking for some fun, fancy some style for the weekends, and, when you come to sell your investment, get most of it returned, what would you purchase? I think I've found the answer: a 1993 Saab 900 T16S Convertible.

In the first edition of SaabTrader, we invited private advertisers to contact us if they had a car for sale which we could road test.

Last month we received an e-mail from Ralph Mortimer offering us his 900 which he had just put up for sale on the SaabTrader website.

No problem we said, and headed off to Yatton, near Bristol.

If you are not familiar with the Saab 900 range, the Classic 900 Convertible was produced from 1987-1994. The Convertible was still being produced in 1994 even though the saloons ceased in 1993. This was due to the fact that the new 900 Convertible 1994-1998 was not ready for production.

Ralph's car is a black 900T16S, (which translates as a turbo 16 valve sports). The car comes very well equipped with full body kit, electrically adjusted leather seats, air conditioning, ABS and walnut facia.

This particular car is fitted with the optional automatic gearbox, and gives a very smooth ride, which seems free of most rattles you associate with a Convertible.

The hood works perfectly, and is free of any scages or tears, (replacement cost £1500 plus); the bodywork is in nice condition with just two small stone chips on the bonnet that could easily be rectified.

Driving a 900 Convertible, it is easy to see why it has become a motoring icon. For a car that can trace its roots back to 1977, it involves like no other. The exhaust note is superb; all the controls work, including the cruise control, which can give trouble.

Saab 900's will cope easily with high mileages, but you should check a few things when looking to buy:

	When starting from cold listen for timing chain noise, this may not be present when hot.
	Look for smoke (blue) on start up, and when idling hot, this could point to a worn turbo, or possibly headgasket problems (white).
	Steering racks suffer from morning sickness, (stiff steering that lightens after driving for a few miles).
	Windows that are slow to operate (motor seizing or rusty regulator).
	Listen for a whining noise when in higher gears, this may indicate the gearbox pinion bearings need replacing.