A French gentleman named Nicholas Cugnot is said to have been the first to have successfully used front-wheel drive on a vehicle – a steam-powered three-wheeler – in 1769, almost 200 years before this 1967 Saab 95 was made. Saab was famous for its rally successes and also for its quirky cars. The seller has this project wagon posted here on craigslist in Phoenix, Arizona and they’re asking $2,750. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Henry R. for the tip!

The Saab 95 was made from 1959 through 1978 and we got them here in the U.S. until 1973. You’d be hard-pressed to find a quirkier and some (me) would say cooler car than a Saab 95 wagon. Of course, all Saab 95s were wagons so it’s redundant to say a 95 wagon. The seller touts this car’s rust-free status and it does look rock solid in the photos, which are pretty small and there aren’t a lot of detailed photos to see the underside and cracks and crevices. The seller says this was a California car that they recently purchased.

Here’s a photo of a perfect example of this car in the “B6” Middle Blue color, that’s gorgeous. The VIN decodes to this car being a 1967 as the seller reports, so that’s good. A fun fact is that 1967 was the last year Saab offered the two-stroke three-cylinder engine due to emissions regulations. For ease of use and whatever else comes up when comparing the three-cylinder two-stroke to the V4, I’d take a three-cylinder every time. Hagerty is at $6,800 for a #4 fair-condition car and $18,000 for a #3 good car so there’s some room to get this one going again without losing your shirt. I did this Photoshop four-door version a few years ago, just to see what a four-door Saab 95 may have looked like.

“Rust-free” or not, this car needs a full restoration, in my opinion. That means every square inch gets sanded and painted inside and out. I like a car with a “patina”, in general, but this car would be such a blue-smoke-spewing jewel if it were in restored condition that I’d have to go that route. The back seat looks perfect but having been a California car originally, according to the seller, I’d bet the vinyl is pretty unforgiving and hard by now. The hidden rear seating is a great feature, although I don’t know anyone small enough to ride back there now.

Kudos to the seller for at least trying to get an engine photo, that’s more than most craigslist sellers do. This is Saab’s 841-cc two-stroke triple with around 40 horsepower and 62 lb-ft of torque when new. This one hasn’t been started in years so it’ll need some work to get it rolling again. The four-speed manual transmission on the column sends power to the front wheels and this would be a fun restoration project. Have any of you owned a Saab 95 with a two-stroke engine?