Dedicated fans of Sweden’s quirky compact are certainly raising a quizzical eyebrow at my title, because this clearly does not look like a ’70 model. Well, it is. The seller has outfitted it with the trim from a ’67 Saab (good choice – that’s my favorite grille) and installed a rebuilt and leak-free V4. In addition to that, you’ll also get a two-stroke from an earlier car, which includes new pistons, rods, bearings, and a spare transmission. What we have here is a project that the current owner lost interest in, and Barn Finds reader Chuck Foster found it on craigslist in East Nashville, Tennessee, for the unfinished project price of $5,000.
One may wonder why the seller is unloading this car when it’s so close to the finish line; after all, the hard work is done. New floors and have been welded in and coated in epoxy primer and the exterior has been painted in a satin single-stage urethane. In the seller’s words, he’s “breaking up” with it. Well, we’ve all had our hearts broken by a car before, or maybe the two of them just grew apart. The car world is certainly littered with many sad tales of owners who lost interest in their project as the finish line approached.
The seller gives an honest appraisal about what’s been done and what hasn’t. Once again, the interior needs finishing, but a new headliner comes with the car (and maybe I’m misreading it, but it’s implied that the whole interior is included). It also needs to have the wiring harness installed. The brakes have been completely rebuilt with new wheel cylinders, master cylinder, calipers for the front discs, and all hard and soft lines.
The advertisement takes pains to mention that this is a running and driving car; you can “drive it onto the trailer or drive it home.” It is equally adamant that the buyer has to take all the parts that come with the car, and the seller can “direct you to the scrap yard” nearby if there’s anything that said buyer does not want to keep. Yes, this seems like a painful breakup, but the list of engine work alone that’s been done to the car, in addition to the horde of Saab parts that comes with it, makes it seem like a good deal. The seller has driven it hundreds of miles and says that it runs and drives great. Are you ready to start a new relationship with a cute little Swedish car?
A tech school buddy had one of these in wagon form. He called it the “Fish” because of its “fins”, and it had a V4 too. Listening to and driving one, you’ll understand why manufacturers never put any more V4’s in automobiles. I believe this V4 was a Ford-sourced engine for mainly European use.
Actually, my ’68 96 Deluxe with the 1.5 liter V4 runs great. Less than 60k original. Decent power, accellerates well and runs smoothly, idles well at 1000rpm and starts without issue.
Still doing some refurbing, the car sat from 1980 to 2022/23 or so in a dry location. Brakes, shocks, carb, exhaust all redone. Great fun to drive.
Wondering about trans does that have overdrive
It does not. They turn about 4200 at 70mph, but not to worry – the V4 has low piston travel so it doesn’t mind.
Didn’t these have a “Free Wheeling” device? Not even sure what free wheeling is, but I think I remember reading about it in their ads
Freewheeling allows the car to coast when you take your foot off the gas. it was a relic of these cars have 2-stroke engines that fed oil through the gas. When you went downhill at speed with your foot off the gas, it closed the butterfly limiting lubrication. Freewheel was the answer. You can shift without the clutch if you’re moving faster than the engine rpm. I aways use it. You want to be gentle when increasing the engine rpm so you don’t re-engage too hard, though. Takes a little practice, but one of the car’s many charms. I have owned 5 96s, 1 with a 2-stroke and 4 v4s (one just a parts car).
What am I missing? It runs and drives but needs its wiring harness installed. I still want it.
Parts are pretty easy to get. Check out vSaab and Saabnet.com. Lots of support from the community.
Just details, not to worry about. LOL
Transmission would be four speed with a freewheeling feature which can be locked out (although we never locked out freewheeling in any of the several 96’s we owned through the years.) These were great little cars, and with good ground clearance and 15 inch tires, they would go anywhere in snow, and worked well on country roads. The V4 engines ran quite smoothly since they had an internal balance shaft, and had a fair amount of low end torque. We loved our SAABs and used them up until there was no more fixing the New England rust that eventually consumed them. The worst problem we ever had was the water heated automatic choke thermostat which didn’t respond quickly enough to prevent occasional flooding. A hand-choke conversion fixed that situation; otherwise we had no real issues over several cars and many total years of use. I hope this one is completed and cherished!
I had a 1969, with a V4 of course, that we bought used when we were living in Northern New Hampshire.The combo of the PO living on a dirt/gravel road and the saltiness of the roads contributed to a lot tin worm activity. The biggest downfall though we’re the trans bearings that started to increase friction. I bought a used trans and installed it as, literally, a shade tree project but the second one started to size up too. In the early 70s there was a dealer in nearby New Britain CT and a senior tech who installed new bearing for me!. I loved driving the car though, great power-to-weight and comfy for my brother’s and me on a longer trip. I’m full of parked-up vehicles now, but I might be tempted by a 95 model though.
BTW, judging from the front window and grill, this is a 1968, not a 1970.
The V4 was a Ford industrial engine. I have one in my Layton Roller. (The roller has a,top speed of 8 mph!lol!) I needed ignition parts and since there was no listing for a Layton roller with vibration option. I asked for ignition parts for a V4 Saab. They were in stock at the local O’Reilly part store.
Saab 96 V4s were fearsome rally competitors. Nothing industrial about their many hard fought victories.
Great little cars had several ,dealer went out of business so I started buying Fords still do !
Ford Transit Mk1, Ford Corsair, and many others used the V4 engine in the UK,
The main reason the Saab 96 V4 didn’t continue its rally success into the 1970s was the transmission wasn’t up to the added torque and horsepower required to stay competitive. V4s with turbo charging range well into the 200+ hp range but the trannies couldn’t manage much over 170 hp.
Hard to compete against 200+ hp Escorts when your max is 170 although the scrappy little Swedes did pretty well even then.