Often, with project cars like this, there’s “the good” and then “the bad.” This 1972 Saab 96 with V-4 power on Craigslist in Seattle for $6,500 is mostly good. It’s had $8,000 in recent work. Add that to the purchase price, and it’s plain that this labor of love is being sold below the owner’s cost. Thanks for the tip, T.J.
The owner is definitely “a Saab guy.” He is reluctantly selling because he lost his garage space. (I know, it’s a line, but in this case I think it’s true.) “It is a very fun, stable front-wheel-drive car that is easy to work on, has an amazingly supportive community, and parts are more available and less expensive than you might think. It is a simple, beautifully funky machine, ready for fun.”
The body is a bit rough, with dull grey paint (from a brush) and a big dent in the driver’s rear quarter. But rust is minor, confined to the footwells. The shock towers are good. The Saab reportedly starts right up and runs fine. The list of new stuff includes CV joints, clutch, wheel bearings, front end, ball joints, upper and lower control arm bushings, brakes front and rear, KYB shocks, new Weber carb, plug/wires/cap/rotor, Jetex stainless exhaust, fluid flush, and more.
Nothing is said about the state of the engine and transmission (four on the tree, as I recall). I had one of these, and it’s the latter’s dying that doomed it for me. The interior photo reveals (barely) that the seats have sheepskin covers on them. The dash looks good.
If you don’t believe it really runs:
Cold-start video can be found here: https://youtu.be/GaMlMRn8jdg
Driving video can be found here: https://youtu.be/z_sC-ICozIw
A ton of parts, pictured in the ad, include an intact front-end panel with grille and headlight bezels, a workshop manual, gaskets, spare fluids, and more. Saab made the 96 for 20 years, from 1960 to 1980, a two-decade span that saw the original three-cylinder, two-stroke engine replaced with a 1.5-liter German Ford V-4 that produced 65 horsepower. It could reach 62 mph in 16 seconds.
Even cooler than the 96 is the 95 model station wagon variant, with seven-seat capacity and priceless tail fins.
This car is ragged but right, and the owner could drive it while lining up that paint booth. Or revel in the patina from that wayward brush.
Neat, even if painted with a broom.
First..put those lovely “soccer (football) ” wheels on with new tyres and drive it for ever as is!
Lovely looking car. I had a neighbour when I was a boy who had one. His was blue and although not the prettiest car I’ve seen, it was a daily driver, it was nice.
We bought a used Saab 96 at the Chevy dealer in Littleton NH. The PO was a chicken farmer who lived on a dirt/gravel road and the gravel in combination with winter salt resulted in fist-size hole in the front feners. Fortunately replacements were available and it was a simple bolt-on and reshoot the paint. The issue, as Jim Motavelli mentions, is the tranny: bearings got tight, then used replacement duplicated that symptom. We got a replacement kit and found a Saab transmission guy at the New Britain dealer so the next owner got the benefit. I would consider buying another if I could resolve the next transmission failure, but…
My brother-in-law bought one of these for my sister way back in the early eighties. Was a pre-smog, pre-ugly bumpers model, dark green. I loved driving that car. Only 4 on the tree I’ve ever driven. She drove the wheels off of it.
If this one is as good a runner as stated it’s worth the money, even if it could use a paint job.