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I would love to spend a day at a police impound yard. I can only imagine some of the cars that come in, especially in areas like Los Angeles where the specimens are rust-free and as varied as the residents who live there. This 1968 Saab 96 here on eBay for $550 caught my eye, especially since I just saw one of these in a local junkyard over the weekend. That car had all the parts this one needs to be complete, including a very nice green interior – which would look handsome with what appears to be a deep moss or brown exterior. Sure, you’re buying someone else’s stalled project – but for $550, it seems like a worthy roll of the dice to me. Do any of our Saab experts have any thoughts on how difficult it will be to bring this one back?
Why would you want to bring it back? Let it die in peace.
The price keeps going down! It started at $600, went down to $550 when we featured it, and is now sitting at $500 with only 3 hours left.
Looks like it’s a lien sale though so add $295 onto that price. It will be interesting to see if they drop it even more before someone pulls the trigger.
Reading between the lines of the description, this has the German Ford V4 and not the two-stroke three. That’s good in a way — people sometimes forget to mix oil with gasoline — but makes it less interesting to me.
Once had a ride with Erik Carlsson in the Monte Carlo Rallye-winning 96 replica owned by Saab (what happened to their museum?) and drove it for a bit. Was a unique experience, and after that I can’t imagine owning a Saab with someone else’s motor in it….
The Ford V4 was the replacement for the 3 cylinder 2 stroke, I don’t know the year it changed but all later 96s had the German Ford V4. When Saab moved to the 99 model they initially bought engines from Triumph. Shortly afterwards Saab started making the Triumph designed engines themselves.
I had one this very model year. Huge fun, rorty engine sounds and a hoot to row that column shift 4 speed. As legendary as the strokers are, they’re quirky and more challenging to find parts for than the Cologne Ford V4 which had plenty of industrial applications. In short, tons of smiles for not much cash.
These are fabulous, fun cars. Great to drive, reasonably fast for what they are, and bulletproof reliable. The pre1967 two strokes three cylinder cars are my favorite, but the later Ford V4 powered ones are much more practical and less finicky, even if they are not quite as fast.
However, you can buy a very nice example for 3K to 5K, so why would you embark on a horrible brown repainted if a rusty floor restoration project, when you can get a turnkey presentable driver that you could be proud of for less than it would cost to paint and upholster this one.
I bought a gorgeous original green V4 with fresh paint, new upholstery and new tires for three grand. That would cost closer to six grand today, but you can’t finish this project for six grand today.
Only minutes left and it’s down to $400!
Didn’t sell, guess you’ll see the parts on eBay soon, shame with the spares car that was found it would have been an interesting project. I have too many myself or might have considered it.
A sad looking V-4 96. If gearbox is a good one, it would be worth at least the $295 fee. Hard to justify reviving this one as a nice driver. The V-4 is pretty darn bullet proof. Lots of odd things with this car, some strange holes in firewall, wiring and other things look messed up.