At $9,900, Is This 1974 Saab Sonett III An Ode To Great Value?
Pretty much everything about today’s Nice Price or No Dice Saab is weird, from its V4 engine to its good-looking but still oddly proportioned body shape. Let’s see what such weirdness might just be worth.
Jalopinions | Monte Carlo SS
Before we do that, however, let’s wrap up the 2011 Jaguar XFR we looked at yesterday. If there was one takeaway from that brutish Brit, it was that almost all of you really hated its wheels. Offending alloys seemed to be the car’s only major malfeasance, though, and at $12,500, it seemingly was a bargain as well. That price tag earned the Jag an overwhelming 75 percent Nice Price win.
So we started out the week with a Saab, and while I don’t want you all to get the idea that we’re going all-Saab all the time here, I think it’s OK to end the week with one as well. After all, this 1974 Saab Sonett III is quite different from Monday’s 9-3 and looks to be just as neat.
Neat is just what the Sonett is supposed to be. According to lore, the name is derived from the Swedish phrase “Så nätt den är,” or “That’s so neat.” That apparently was what was exclaimed by Saab engineer Rolf Mellde upon seeing the original Sonett I, hence giving the car its name.
The initial model was designed as a racer but, due to extenuating factors, it never made it to homologation, much less production. The Sonett II did make it to production, beginning in 1966, again with the intention to take Saab racing. The model’s third iteration arrived in 1970 with redesigned endcaps and a recently acquired V4 engine and four-speed manual from the Ford Taunus. A fun fact, the original Mustang I —the mid-engine show car—used an earlier version of the V4 but placed it behind the seats.
High gas prices and a disadvantaged dollar during the mid-1970s took a toll on Sonett sales, leaving Saab to pull the plug after the 1974 model year. That makes this one of the last of the 8,368 Sonett IIIs built, and as such, it has the larger 1700 cc engine offering 65 horsepower and giving the uber-light car a top speed of a tad over 100 miles per hour.
These cars all came in bright colors, as evidenced here by the electric orange paint this car’s fiberglass body wears. It’s also wearing period-correct factory soccer ball wheels, adding to the all-original look. The same can be said for the cabin, which looks both all original—or at least reupholstered in original materials—and to be in great condition. This is an incredibly small car, something perhaps not evident in the pictures, so space is at a premium.
There are 14,420 miles on the clock, and the car comes with a clean title and, according to the seller, “needing nothing.” It’s a driver, but strangely, the seller offers to include a “heavy duty car dolly” along with the sale. That means getting the whole package will require something with a tow hook and trailer plug. Before we get into the logistics of that, though, we need to consider the Saab’s $9,900 price.
What’s your opinion on this classic Swedish sports car and that $9,900 asking? Does that seem like a good deal, even if you have to take the dolly as well? Or is that a not-so-neat price?
You decide!
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H/T to RevUnlimiter for the hookup!
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