Rusty But Trusty

In the world of affordable and unusual sports cars, it doesn’t get much more unusual than the Saab Sonett. Based, as many of its competitors were, on a more pedestrian sibling, the Sonett featured the same 65hp Ford-based V4. (Wait a minute, did he just call a Saab pedestrian??) By the angular 1970 redesign, the rear glass had sprouted hinges (replacing the rear flap found on the Sonett II), the clamshell front end had been reduced to a rather small hood with very limited access, and the car got a floor shifter and optional air conditioning. And thanks to clean air rules, power went down until the end of production in 1974. Nonetheless, the Sonett III was the most popular of all Sonetts, with roughly 5 times the number of Sonett IIs produced. And so they are most likely to show up here, where, aout halfway down the page, you can find this 1974 Saab Sonett III for sale for $3300 in Snohomish, WA.

For a one-picture, one-liner ad, the seller manages to squeeze in a surprising amount of detail. The body is said to be in good shape, although the paint is faded, and it features new brakes and clutch, as well as a Weber carburetor. It has also had a spring tune-up (what does *spring* tune-up mean? exchanging the Christmas tree air freshener for a tulip-shaped one?), and is said to have received a replacement used engine (with 70,000 miles on it) back in 1998. Essentially, you’ll want to approach the engine with the same level of caution you’d approach any car with limited records. The picture is a good quality, high resolution image showing a faded, chipped red body (really, the only way red paint is cool), with equally faded soccer ball alloys and some not-so-nett rubber impact bumpers.

If that’s not enough, the listing just below this car, while lacking pictures, contains an enticing offering for a 1972 example needing some attention (tires, battery, head gasket, and likely full fluid/hose replacement) but with a full collection of Sonett III spares included. If you’re the industrious sort, you could buy both, return them to full health with the parts, and sell the ’72 to pay off the resurrection of both. Of course, you’ll have to do that in the fantasy world where restoring old Saabs is a profitable enterprise.

Tags: Feature, saab, sonett, sports car, swedish

This entry was posted on March 10, 2014 at 4:26 pm and is filed under Feature. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.