The sonnet is defined as a 14-line poem, of which I know virtually nothing. Likely because in high school English, I was doodling cars or some other dumb stuff that had nothing to do with literature. Similarly, I knew nothing about Sonetts. But I got a quick education on them recently, as I had the opportunity to stop at what I have loosely referred to as “Saab Heaven”. There, I discovered these four Sonett’s by Saab.
They are fantastic little cars that resemble a GT type of car, looking the part of a proper grand tourer, except possibly for the power output. I was glad I had stumbled upon these, as I never saw one before, in photos or in person, and I was uneducated about their mere existence. Now, I realized that I knew nothing about Sonnets or Sonnetts. Alas, these Sonnetts are in Saab Heaven to provide other road-going Sonetts some extra bits to keep on keeping on. Let’s explore them a bit more, shall we?
The Saab 97 / Sonnett III was manufactured from 1970 to 1974, at a time when some young American folks of recent driving age were likely thinking of a ‘Cuda, Road Runner, Duster 340, Boss Mustang, Chevelle, Corvette, or possibly a Porsche 911. The Sonnet was powered by a Ford Taunus V-4 engine, bought from Ford of Germany. The 1970 cars had a 1.5-liter version, the 1971 and later ones had a 1.7-liter. Both had 65 net hp. Later (’73-’74) US-delivered Sonnett III’s had chunky impact-absorbing 5 MPH bumpers and other safety equipment deemed necessary to meet the regulations of the early 1970’s US Market. Only 8,368 Sonnett III’s are reported to have been produced in the five years from 1970 to 1974, with 1970 being the rarest model year, with just over 300 examples produced.
So, these Sonetts are anything but common, and the quartet I found is remarkably complete except for the red car.
First in our quartet, playing second fiddle, is the olive Sonnett III:
This unit has a mix of optional alloy wheels and stock Saab stamped steel wheels with dog dish hubcaps. I love the dog dishes!
In this shot, we can see that the fiberglass body has fared well (from the pictures, we cannot discern much about the chassis and metal parts, but I assume there is rust to be found!) The hidden door handles and stepped rear facing air vents help to produce the Sonnett III’s low (for the time) 0.31 coefficient of drag.
Almost flush hinges and latches for the back hatch/glass are also slippery. Remember, these cars came from a jet maker.
One last 3/4 view of the olive car is somewhat reminiscent of the Shelby Daytona, with its spoiler and inverted Kamm tail, angled in toward the rear axle.
On the inside, the olive car is relatively intact. Maybe it is awaiting its day with the restoration shop? We see the bucket seats, 4-speed shifter, and the no-frills dash and instrumentation.
Moving on to the Mustard car, the first fiddle of the quartet.
We can see a few different details, such as the vent / HVAC intake, the hood scoop, and the fairing / duck bill forward of the windshield.
We can be pretty sure that the mustard car is a ’73 or ’74, with the chunky front bumper intact. That long nose reminds me of my E-body Barracuda, or a ’71 Mustang. But the hidden headlights are reminiscent of the late ’70’s Fiat X1/9; or maybe a Mazda RX-7, or even a Porsche 914.
The interior on the mustard car is even more complete, with the keys in the ignition and (what looks like) the original AM-FM radio in the dash. Let’s fire it up and go for a ride!
The gas cap detail takes me back to the basic Saab design language, reminding me somehow of the classic Saab 96.
The mustard car seems to have been rescued from the varied mountainous terrain of West Virginia. It is wearing a ~ 25 year old WV license plate.
Another good view of the pop-out rear window, and the aerodynamically sculpted door lock and hidden latch actuator mechanism.
Here are some shots of my favorite, the mustard car, from the right and left front views. This example has a complete set of the optional 15″ geometric pattern alloy wheels included. Saab fans call these “soccer ball” wheels.
As we continue the tour of the quartet, we move lower in quality and completeness. Let’s visit the Black car, our viola in this quartet.
The black car has some missing exterior bits, such as side marker lights and other small doodads. The sunroof looks like a non-factory add-on from the late ’70’s or 1980’s.
Here is a good shot of the optional alloy wheels. This one is still wearing a likely period-correct Michelin XZX 15-inch radial tire.
In this view, the profile of the Sonnett III is reminiscent of a 70’s C3 Corvette crossed with a Datsun 280Z.
Closeup detail of the grille and front indicator lights.
Farewell, black car. Thanks for your participation in the quartet!
We now arrive at the last of the quartet; the cello, aka the Red car.
It has given up many of its parts to allow other Sonnetts to continue soldering on. As such, there were fewer details to photograph on this example.
Lack of outer door skin, front suspension bits, windshield, and tires in the engine bay likely means this Sonnett will not be traveling anywhere soon.
I hope you enjoyed the tour of the uncommon Sonnett III’s, and I hope to see one on the road or at a car show sometime in the future. Now I will be a *bit* more educated on the existence of these Sonetts, but sonnets, that’s something I’ve still got much to learn about.
Related CC Reading
Vintage R&T Road Test: 1972 Saab Sonett III – “… Traces Of Its Kit-Car Origin Still Linger”
The detail on the gas cap is just too funny, I have exactly the same gas cap but with a Chrysler star stamped in the keyslot flap, its a standard Chrysler accessory supplied by Hillman dealers.
strange little cars that Im not sure even sold here Saabs that age are very rare in any body style, later models are about but rarely in going condition.
When these cars were more common on the roads, I just couldn’t deal with the front overhang. Not just visually; it seemed to scream “front heavy” and “terminal understeer” to my young mind. I think now that the overall design has aged well and I could look past that – especially when behind the wheel. And I suspect with its light weight, only 65 hp and a bit of suspension tweaking it could handle as well as any modern FWD car and feel a lot more direct and playful. The only pre-99 Saab I’ve driven was a two-stroke 96, so I’ve never driven a V4, but my perception is that this is a car crying out for a better engine. And perhaps a few more inches of space for the driver.
These were new in the showroom when I traded my ’67 96 for a new 99 in Feb 1974.
The ones they had were in this olive (Verona Green, as was my car) and red at the time. The “dog dish” hubcaps hubcaps on these were the same as those on my 99. Would have dearly loved a Sonnet III but with family in the plans a 99 was the right choice. It became one of the most favorite of all the cars I’ve had. Hope at least the 2 better of the Sonnets here are saved!
Thanks for this. Great photos.
Off the top of my head, I have to say that most Sonets (I believe that there’s only one “n” in the name) I’ve seen have all been in this sort of “long term storage” state. I recall even as a kid I knew of one in a neighbor’s driveway that sat mostly covered and never moved in the 10 or so years I saw it. So in that sense, I would say that at least half of the cars in this post are just living in their natural state.
I did see one at Swedish Car Day up here in MA last year, and although its interior was full of parts, I did observe it running and driving. I even got a look under the hood. The reversed engine kind of blew my mind (I’ve never seen something like that before). Otherwise, it looks like an engine (in this case, it came from Ford) that anyone with basic wrenching skills on early 1970s hardware could tackle.
Recently I ran across a Sonnett sitting at a local gas station in my neighborhood, and, taken aback by its size, color, and the incongruity of its existence in a land of modern bubble-shaped appliances, I stopped to shoot some pictures. From all that I could see, it was in excellent shape, and should not have been parked outside. It stayed there for weeks in the same spot, and I had to stop myself several times from asking them what it was doing there and if it was for sale.
Recently it disappeared; I hope it’s in good hands.
That’s a Sonet V4, which is the version right before the Sonet III. That one looks to be in exceptional shape, although I’ve never seen one in the wild. Great catch!
The size thing though is definitely an issue. I’m not a particularly giant person (under 6′), but I swear I’d not fit into that thing.
I only saw one or two of the V4s, but had a pretty intiment experience with one of the 3 cyl 2 stroke powered one. Girl had it, her father bought it as her first car, Father decided it needed more power so took the engine from 850cc to 903cc. She ran the car in our local car club parking lot events (I ran my 1966 GT350 in them along with my wife)
I owned a carburetor and ignition shop and he came to me to help with the 3 barrel no float bowl carburetor. I finally fold him he was going to have to tell me what he had done as I couldn’t really help him if I was in the dark as far as modifications. I told him as far as the group that governed our events was concerned, unless I was asked point blank the secrets were safe with me. After he told me, I pulled out my Solex parts catalog and we decided what size chokes (venturii portion) he needed and what main jet to start with.Once this was done, daughter was beating the V4s in our events.
A Sonett with West Virginia plates while here, in California, I have seen only one parked in 1972. Go figure. The first two could be easily brought up to speed by several on the board here. The mustard one would have been a very sharp looking car back in 1972. That color was another one of those early 70s colors and can be seen here…
I had a buddy in HS (around 1981) whose dad was a complete SAAB nerd. He would buy any 2-stroke or V-4 car that came up for sale, regardless of condition, but his true love was the Sonett. This picture could represent a corner of his back yard.
My buddy would drive to school in whichever car his dad got running on any particular day. A V-4 Sonett II was the first and only car that I ever got a chance to drive with a four-on-the-tree manual transmission. I never did find reverse!