‘Born from Jets’ is a very compelling line for a car brand, and one which had led the brand advertising for years until its untimely demise a few years ago. And this heritage is nowhere more clear than the classic logo which adorns our car today, a 1964 Saab 96 in Crystal Lake, Illinois. However, our model today is a bit far removed from its jet-inspired past as it will need a bit of work to get it to reach anywhere close to the Mach speeds of those planes. If this takes your fancy, the car is available here on Craigslist for $5,500. Thanks to Gunter Kramer for this tip!
The Saab 96 was built to replace the aging 93, and was introduced in 1960. These were built all the way up until the 1980s and were rally legends, winning many races right from the start. This is thanks to its tiny 841cc Saab 2-stroke engine giving the car 38PS of power which helped it to win the famous Monte Carlo Rally in the early 1960s. Unbelievably, the Saab 96 holds the world land speed record at Bonneville for the fastest 750cc car with a stock body, with a top speed of 110.113mph. Unfortunately our Saab 96 today looks a few months away from achieving that.
However the looks are deceiving, whilst the hood is rusty, the seller states this is a clean car, and is not rotten at all. They have replaced a number of worn items, including the seats, the tires, and the shocks. The good news is that the engine still turns over, but will need a proper going over to make sure it’s tip-top for driving again. The gas tank has been removed and looks clean, but the next owner will need to complete a full restoration of this to get it roadworthy. You could even leave the patinated look and drive around in a rat-rod style Saab.
Whilst these cars are not especially rare, it’s unusual to see an original one in great condition like this, ready for restoration. If you are not a fan of the two-stroke engine then an engine or EV swap might be in place – you could even take it to vintage rally events given its pedigree. So how would you revive this car to be worthy of the ‘Born from Jets’ moniker?
With such a clean body it does make it compelling to dive in and get this car back on the road. I know the transaxle would go pop but it would be fun to fit a modern snowmobile engine under the hood.
Yeah, turn it into an EV. Make it really undesirable.
I’m interested in purchasing this car. Need a lot more information, pictures. I’m from Appleton, WI he’s about 3 hours south of me. To little info for the expected drive, bat, price.
All you need to do is click on the “here on Craigslist” it will take you to the original posting where you can reply to the ad. Good luck!
If you want to see a nice deal on an old SAAB check this out in Rhode Island. He has a ton of spares which honestly in someway put me off as it is more to deal with. Please buy so I stop looking at the advertisement and going Hmmmm https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/923297448465941/?ref=saved&referral_code=null
really like the wagons in rally livery or some late models (viggen, 9000). Subie was “the 4WD co”, SAAB was “the turbo co” both for awhile in the 80s or 90s.