Tell me about the SAAB sonnett.

[fastfredracing]

Not looking for any projects, just have always had a little curiosity for them. My buddies dad had 3 or 4 of them. ( hoarder type guy, none of them ever ran or moved) I always thought they were a somewhat interesting, and unique car.
Anybody ever had one ?
https://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/cto/d/pittsburgh-1973-saab-sonett-iii/6880870827.html

[speeder]

No but I've had a handful of Saab 96s, which are mechanically the same. The 96 is an extremely solid car, was rally champ of the world back in the early '60s, etc... The Sonett was fiberglass and cool looking.

And it seems like no one has one running Sonett. Like your friend, everyone has multiple non-running Sonetts taking up all of the yard space on their property.

[manbridge 74]

Funny, there’s two sinking into the ground near me.

Really interesting read from the old Sports and Exotic car mag circa 2008-10 about breaking the class record at Bonneville in one. Might find it on the net...

[rwest]

Do it!

[DanielDudley]

The only things I recall are that they are perhaps heavier than they look, and that you have to watch out for the interface between the fiberglass and the metal being corroded. Mechanically they are pretty good cars that are probably more dynamically interesting on loose stuff than on pavement.

It would be very cool to have a nice one.

[speeder]

Here is my last Saab 96, just sold it to a guy in Japan about a week ago. I was going to bring it to Minnesota and vintage ice race it but plans changed. I love these cars every bit as much as Porsches.

[Jim Richards]

That would be a fun project. That Saab could end up looking like this one that sold on BaT in 2016 for $8,100:







https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1972-saab-sonett-iii/

[tcar]

I had a 99, but my buddy had a Sonett III, and a V4 before that.

Number 1: It's pronounced So-Nett (like 'so neat').
Number 2: SAAB is all caps... you already know that. (Like GMC)

That has a German Ford V4 engine.
SAAB used other engines until about the middle 70's. (Used a DKW 3-cyl 2-stroke for early cars and Sonetts, then the V4 for the Sonett and 96, then a Triumph I4 for the 99 which they later modified to their own engine in the 99 and 900.)

The later 73 Sonetts had impact bumpers that looked terrible, and were heavy. That doesn't.

He loved it, no issues at all for the years and miles he had it... drove it everywhere. Wish my 99 was the same.

[SiberianDVM]

There is a blue one rotting away in the front yard of a trailer about 10 miles from me. Has been there at least 10 years. If I only had more time, space, and money...........

[porsche930dude]

I had one. Never on the road. I started fixing the rust got it sorta running and ended up parting it out because no one wanted to buy it whole. Really more like a fiberglass kit car than a real car. Mechanicals are very simple and basic. An intresting progect to tinker with and cool looking but I didnt really bond with it.

[CurtEgerer]

This one's been sitting in a store front of an abandoned building in downtown Calumet, MI for years. It's the part of town where Parc Expose is for the LSPR rally every year, so it's not a secret.

[speeder]

Project Sonetts are seriously a dime-a-dozen but really nice, sorted ones like the BAT example above are very rare. They are just not valuable enough to inspire people to devote the hours and $$ a restoration requires.

[manbridge 74]

Here’s what can happen separating the body from rest of car.

[manbridge 74]

And the link to the Sonett II that won class 3 years in a row with two stroke engine. 122mph from a car that started with 60hp.

Rare 1968 Saab Sonett II land speed record holder 2013 Bonneville Speed Week | MyRideisMe.com

[porsche930dude]

Originally Posted by manbridge 74

Here’s what can happen separating the body from rest of car.

Yeah and thats all the metal on it. You best not get hit. This was mine

[LEAKYSEALS951]

Growing up, my next store neighbor (he was a teenager with a sonnet... I was a teenager with a 912... 1st world suffering )had the same sonnett (other than color) that Jim Richard's pic was.

Both cars had sports pedigree? and no inspiring power to the first degree.

It was a fiberglass car,- (more like a kit car- as stated previously) with no impressive power, no impressive braking, no impressive steering, nor impressive shifting. I don't remember the heat. AC- obvious no-go...

He destroyed the uninspiring 4 speed tranny in short order. I also remember his pop up headlights getting jammed in the up position.

I briefly remember a neighbor running across her lawn to shake her garden rake at us... not because of the car's prowess so much as my friend's stupidity in driving it like an idiot.

I drove it on numerous occasions.

edit- I can see this car appreciating in value more for nostalgia than what it ever really originally was. Unless you want to re-live some childhood memories- (which I have and they weren't all that great) - let it go! lol....

edit- Just look at those rear drum brakes- I think you can get that on a porsche 924 (which I also had)... infact-- the 924 was a much more SOLID car than the sonnett..

Conclusion- MEH.

[LEAKYSEALS951]

Also, just to clarify-

My dad was a p-car dude. He got me a 912 so I wouldn't kill myself with the rear bias of his 1965 911. Never mind that it started to collapse in the middle (well the torsion tube broke loose) and the only thing holding it together was a stretching throttle cable...

My friend's dad was a divorcee- he bought his kid (the boy- 18 yo) the sonnett as an "In your face" present to show the step dad who was boss.

My friend's sister got her license too (16yo) - and was presented with an 1981 alfa romeo spyder, which I also got to enjoy. Hands down- a much better car in enjoyment than the sonnet. Better power, steering, handling... more like a present day miata...

Both cars needed constant attention and maintenance, which the brother and sister were both ill equipped to deal with.....

My dad- of course had a sh#$ load of bondo and a torch.... so I came out on top!

So on that bombshell - by an Alfa Romeo!

[wdfifteen]

Does it have the 3 cylinder corn popper engine or the German Ford V4?

[tcar]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

Does it have the 3 cylinder corn popper engine or the German Ford V4?

The OP? V4.

[speeder]

Only the very first Sonett II cars would have been 2-strokes in 1966 and possibly 1967. All Sonett IIIs, (like the subject of the OP), would be V-4s.

The car in the OP doesn't look bad at all if it truly is rust-free in the metal super structure. Mostly need paint and some other attention. If it was close to me, I'd be checking it out.