I agree with your observations on early Saabs, but one thing you didn't mention is that they have build quality similar to that of a Volvo of the same era.

I had a 64 GT 850 that had had the original 3 carb oil-injected engine replaced with a low compression 850 single carb "mixer" engine from a 65. It still had the taller gearing and front disc brakes of the GT, both of which are big improvements over the standard equipment.

Due largely to the gears, I could get close to 30 on the highway. I never got to take advantage of it, but another quirk of the 2 stroke is that, having no oil in the crankcase to turn into molasses, it fires up just as easily at 20-30 below zero as it does at freezing.

The taller gears also made 3rd into a useful passing gear (it could go about 55 in 3rd) but only if you were going downhill. Overall, the performance was pretty comparable to that of a Mercedes 240D, but with less power at highway speeds. Steering response and cornering were nothing short of amazing, particularly on dirt roads or in the snow. By far the most enjoyable FWD car I've ever driven in that regard.

Mine was the last year of the early short-nose version, which scores points both for being infinitely cuter than the 65 and up models, (but also more serious-looking at the same time--this is the car that won the Monte Carlo Rally twice in a row) and for being one of the only cars in the world with an overhead fanshaft. Yes, you read that right. On the short nose cars, the radiator was mounted behind the engine, and there was a shaft, with ball bearings at each end, a pulley on the front, and the fan on the back.

Sadly, though the bodies are tough, these cars are somewhat mechanically fragile, and if you forget to add oil JUST ONCE, you will get about 10 miles down the road before the engine seizes solid. My 64 was moderately rusty, but what killed it was the cracks in the unibody where the lower control arms mounted, due to excessive jumping. Yes, inspired by old photos of Eric Carlson gettin a couple feet of air during various rallies, we, being teenagers (and therefore immortal) had to try it out for ourselves. Broke various car parts at times, but, thankfully, no one ever got hurt. And we got some major air, too, at one point looking DOWN out the window at the tops of the fenceposts along the road. There was this hill on a back road, and we would hit it at about 65 (where maybe 30 would be normal) Had to stop after 4-5 runs when a motor mount broke. We wore dirt bike helmets and had our seat belts on.

Back to the original topic of the thread: Why do a B230? Seems to me a Saab 900 (real one, 79-93) would be THE vehicle to do such a conversion on. It is descended in linear evoultion from the old 96---the suspension layout is almost identical, only larger and stronger.