I came across the is gem of a 95 wagon today and just had to get some pics Sorry, I only had my phone camera again. But maybe a Saab looks better through a phone camera.
I didn’t get to talk to the owner so I don’t know what year it is. But I am sure some of you gluttons for punishment Sabb aficionados can help out.
He/she is obviously a sucker big Saab fan. And if you are too, then you can check out a full CC of a ’68 Saab 96 here.
There is even an original Saab box on the seat.
I tried to get a good picture of the diamond polished dash, but this is as good as I could get.
As far as I could tell, the car was a beautiful specimen. Hard to tell if it has been restored, but if so, then it was an excellent job.
Well, it takes all kinds. If God made the platypus, then there must be a place for Saabs and their owners as well. But it is hard not to love this 95, at least for me.
Sweet! The wagon’s actually designated 95, the 96 is the sedan.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saab_95
This wild pickup conversion is from that page. Crazy!
Is this car a two-stroke three or the Ford V4? It sure looks like an oil pressure gauge on that dash, and the exhaust pipe is nice and clean, but I don’t see the V4 badges.
I always wanted one, tried to get a two-stroke Saab as my first car, but the only Saabs I could afford were beaters. I still love the styling and general design, it’s timeless.
Thanks, fixed it! Not sure about the engine, would love to see under the hood.
There must be a site like carjam in the US where you type in a rego number and the cars particulars come up
No. For one thing, you’d be dealing with registration system for fifty different states. For another, most states have decided that these records are only for law enforcement use…I suspect that too many people were being stalked through their car license numbers or something.
My dad is a (retired) electrician. We did residential wiring together in the ’70’s. Our helper drove one of these (though not in anywhere near this condition). He loaded that thing down with ladders,tools, wire, supplies and you name it. It was the functional equivalent of a pickup truck (which he could not afford). The little Saab was a champ. It always puttered out to the job site no matter how remote. It was nearly indestructible.
Michael , thanks for jogging my (good) memories ! You made my day !
( I think that your pics are pretty good)
It does look better through a phone camera. The rose colored (or perhaps turquoise colored) glasses are stronger this way. 🙂
More people seem to be getting rid of their Saabs these days. I was at the junkyard earlier this week and there was a late-model 9-5, ’93 and ’94 900 Convertibles, one a Turbo, and a 5-speed ’88 900S. This is very unusual for the Quad Cities. I don’t recall ever seeing a Saab here before, and I’ve been going to this junkyard for years. You’d think the cabs would be worth more than scrap value. Maybe a parts issue? There used to be a dealer in Davenport but they stopped selling Saabs over ten years ago. I did get the Saab Scania badge off one of the convertibles!
I’ve had exactly the opposite problem (in the southern New England region) recently – Saabs have horrible resale value and the moment a clutch goes or an engine sludges, the yards have another 6 to 12 year old beater Saab. Or at least they used to; trying to find various sensors and trim pieces for my ’99 9-5 wagon was darned near impossible this summer, even though for the five years previous the local yard had at least a half a dozen 9-5s and NG900s/9-3s. Maybe people are hanging on to them longer – or maybe it’s a function of falling sales for the marque from 2003-ish on?
I really liked the original 900s, the pre-GM version. They are rare around here now, although when I was a kid the neighbors had his and hers matching black 900s. One hatchback, one sedan. They were probably 1989-1990 models.
That SAAB is in good nick must have been resprayed, no stone chips or is that the camera. I dont see many Saabs and very few wagons at all it seems they ran out of styling ideas by the time the back was done.
Indeed that’s a clever two-tone paint job, certainly not a factory option from the sober Swedes.
I had one of these in the mid eighties, a ’68 model in tan (a sober Swede color). With the third row rear-facing seats this little baby would actually seat 7 (provided some were not fully grown).
The louvers (or whatever they are) on each side of the hood are not stock, so far as I know. The grill is also different from any that I remember in this country.
They produced these in Sweden long after they disappeared from the American market, when we got the 99s and 900s.
My guess is that this is one from that extended run that was later imported by the owner.
I had a 1969 96 in college and recently bought a 1971 96. I thought I was a boy rally driver with the first one and, having gone into a curve too fast, barrel rolled it 5 or 6 times. I pulled the grill out of the radiator fan, drove it to my parents house on the Mexican Texas border, than drove it across the line to have it repaired. A week later, I paid $120 and got back a car that looked almost like a new one. I traded it for a Saab 99 in 1975. One night at was at a Mexican bar right across the river in Matamoros, and I saw the car, painted orange like the General from the tv show, fighting it’s way across the international bridge.
That 95 is a 1969 or later
If I’m not mistaken, the US spec models after 1967 had rear side marker lights until it was replaced by the 99 around 1974 and it was, I think only a 4 door sedan until the 900 made its debut in 1978 as either a 3 door hatch, or a 5 door hatch.
Knew someone at church who had a beige 5 door ’78 900 that he had bought new and this was in the early 80’s. I think he had it for a long time.
As for these models, I’ve always liked them for their goofy styling.
Also, by 1967 or ’68 if I recall, the US models at least had gone to the 4 stroke motors, rather than the old 2 stroke units.
The side marker lights didn’t come until 1971. This example has a steering wheel from an earlier model. The 96 is identical to the 95 but is a coupe. The V-4 was first offered in 1968 and was standard from 1969 until production ended in 1980. These were great on the European rally circuit until the mid seventies and are still raced in “vintage” rallies and ice races
I owned a 1972 99e, with an English 4cyl fuel injected engine. When it ran good, it ran very, very good, and when it ran bad it ran horrid! Forget about competent mechanics, parts availability, or anything else! I had a neighbor with a Volkswagen 411 equivalent, which was frequently parked with various tools and parts strewn about. We agreed that I wouldn’t tell him anymore Saab stories if he wouldn’t sing another chorus about the Old Volks at Home.
I’ll have to ask the owner next time I see him. This car was at a little Saab “rally” back in April. A bunch of Saab Suuckers met up at Atomic Auto and drove out to the coast. I’ve got a few photos of this exact car, plus a 1970 96, a 1950-something 93 and a 1968 Sonnett.
Sadly, I only attended as I was dropping off the key to my poor 9000 which had just blown the head gasket and warped its little head. Only weeks before succumbing to the TTAC disease “Panther Love”.
I’ve had 2 96s and a Sonnet so I can appreciate this beautiful 95. The grill looks like a pre-1968, the turn signals post 1970. Repainted soccer ball wheels off a Sonnet. No pretzel head rests, and a pre-1968 steering wheel, and the instruments cluster perhaps from a 2 stroke monte carlo, only with the radio rather then the speed pilot in the glove box. My guess is that it’s a 67.
As my brother is a total SAAB fanatic I can understand the sniping at them in the article, but the up to the 99 (model not year) SAAB made some fantastic yet totally sensible cars for there time. I fell off the wagon with the 900 when it became apparent they were more interested in making adult toys then transportation for thinking people.
Dave W, this one has a 69 or later grill. That was the first year the car had those headlight surrounds and the blue Saab emblem in the nose. It was the first year that only the V4 was offered. The vents on the hood were dealer installed on some cars in the south. They are now for sale by Jack Ascroft and maybe others. The soccer ball wheels came with paint as on this one (black) but also without paint, and could be purchased as a dealer option on 96 models. As far as I know, the black painted ones were standard on Sonnett 3’s. I have a set of the painted ones for my present 96, but am tempted to remove the paint. As you said, the steering wheel on the featured 95 is from an earlier model, but I like it.
The seats are not Saab issue, and neither is that chrome on the dash, but who cares? It is still a great car, IMO.