The next owner of this 1967 Saab 95 will want to ask Santa for a welder if they don’t already have one, there’ll be a lot of rust repair to do on this seven-seater wagon. Luckily, it’s only fourteen feet long and just over five feet wide so it could probably be restored in a single-car garage. The seller has it listed here on eBay in The Big D: Dallas, Texas. There is an unmet opening bid price of $1,999 listed and no reserve after that.
This is about as “new” of a Saab wagon as a person could get and still exclusively get the famous three-cylinder two-stroke engine in the US, the one that sounds like a popcorn popper. Ddddddrrrrin-din-din-din-dinnn…din-din-din-din-din-dinnn… In 1967, Saab started to offer a Ford V4 Taunus engine to meet US pollution regulations. That’s always a favorite topic: gov’ment reg’a-la-shuns…
The body doesn’t look half bad in the photo above. Or, more likely, it looks half-bad and half-good in the photo above as compared to the other photos. There is a scary amount of rust on this sweet little Saab, a very scary amount of rust. It’s not just body panels, unfortunately, it’s shock mounts and critical structural areas such as that. I can’t see this one being saved but maybe some of you have restored a car in worse condition? The seller says that the front and rear shock points are basically gone. They have provided a ton of great photos so kudos to them for being honest and upfront on the condition!
Parts of the interior look ok but that steering wheel doesn’t exactly promote sliver-free driving, does it? I never thought that a car from Dallas would be in this dilapidated condition unless it had been sitting out in a field for decades. We don’t know the full story on this car other than it came from a Dallas estate so who knows how it came to be so incredibly rusty and rough. The back seat looks pretty good and the rear cargo area and seating area both also look fairly good.
Here’s the… hey, where’s the engine?! Ok, here’s a photo of it in all its 841 CC, 38-horsepower glory. Between the Saab three-cylinder, Subaru Justy three-cylinder, and Yamaha XS750E three-cylinder, that’s why I have a 3-cylinder icon under my name, in case anyone was wondering. This car is missing the radiator, distributor, and fan and you can see that it needs an incredible amount of work. Can this Saab 95 be saved or is it a parts car at this point?
1st, love to have one, just not this particular one. 2nd, unless they drove this in the Gulf, there’s no way a southern car would rust like this. It had to be a northern car at some point, with that kind of rust. We saw very few Saabs, and even less wagons. Personally, I say good riddance to the ring-ding, they make great boat or dirt bike motors, but a 4 cylinder is just more civilized. Fact is, I don’t think you can even have 2 strokes in some places. Kind of a toughie here, the rust is really bad, but good luck waiting for a decent one. Again, if it ran and drove, a different story, but at this point, probably best for just parts.
So let me get this straight
Seven seats 💺 and three cylinder engine to get on s highway with little extra length to absorb the modern day SUV barreling down at 80 plus while texting, face timing ….
Hmm who do the owners choose for back seats to expire 😞
Agree with Howard. The shift to the V4 Ford engine saved the car manufacturer. It make the 95 a much better car. The 2 stroke cars had to have a sprag clutch in the transaxle to allow the engine to decouple on deceleration otherwise the engines seize for lack of lubrication. The sprag clutch continued for a while after the V4 was introduced. As for this one and as a former Saab tech it’s another Saab story. At most a parts car here.
We had a v4 sedan in the 60’s. 4 speed on the column was a hoot. The sprag clutch could be locked engaged for hilly rides, uncoupled for mileage?
One saving grace is that it is a oil injector motor. It is a parts car and most of the parts worth having have already been removed. Still too much money.
Hard to believe a trained automotive stylist went to his drawing board and came up with that.
True, but then you can also look at nearly every French designed car and wonder how those car designs ever reached the build stage !
“…nearly every French designed car…”
Really? Don’t forget that the French were the first big car makers, and that everyone followed their lead.
Ever driven one?
Ever raced one?
The early Saabs were designed by aircraft engineers, not trained automotive stylists!
That was my feeling when I began working for the Saab dealer at age 16. That wagon Looked like they just sliced it off intending to put something back The owner had one for a service vehicle. I loved driving it.
U should C the Tatra (CZ) it was designed offa, vee dub too:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatra_87
I think “you’re wrong” but that’s abt ‘fashion” & who can speak for that? (hair styles, someada clothes I see on women, architecture, furniture in some homes, etc)…
Looks like it has a Monte Carlo dash and gauge set swapped in, plus the wood rimmed Monte Carlo steering wheel. This stuff is potentially worth a lot to someone restoring a genuine MC!
Rust in all the wrong places but some good parts and as has been said the Monte Carlo dash and Nardi wheel are a big plus. I’ve been told that back in the day the little “trash” containers in front of the doors could be filled with ice and the beverage of your choice. ;-)
Next owner should have his head examined.
I second the motion.
I hope someone saves her. I had a ’71 V4 version. A very good handling, comfortable, roomy, and tough car. They didn’t rust any worse than other cars of the era. It was a little thirsty for its size but a small tradeoff for the versatility and reliability.
Parts car. The oil injection engine and tank have value, as do the dash, glass, gauges and steering wheel, hubcaps, wheels, interior parts, transaxle and other mechanical and trim bits.
The chassis is not salvageable in any safe manner. Once those shock mounting points and spring towers are gone, it really is all over.