1971 Saab Sonett III

I bought this 1971 Saab Sonett III Model 97 in 1985 as a "retirement" project. However "retirement" has other projects and priorities. Mileage is 52,238. This is one of only 1265 produced. These were essentially handmade. One interesting discrepancy is that the VIN on the door post is 71500273, hile the VIN on the dash is one number different. Oops.

The wheels are the Italian design, nd I have been told that the wheels alone are worth $700 to $800.

The interior is excellent. There is little visible wear, nd everything is intact, ncluding the covering over the rear hatch latch mechanism. There is some driver's seat wear, ut less than I have ever seen in any other Sonett of this vintage. The only other interior issues are that there is some seat fabric and carpet sun fading, nd the headliner needs re-glued. When I bought the car there was no operating clutch. I put the clutch back together while still on the car lot, nd then drove it home. I drove it about 45 miles before parking it. It ran very well. There were no mechanical problems other than the clutch and a missing muffler. I then parked it for 27 years in my heated garage. As far as I know, verything worked when it was parked in 1985, nd I am not aware of any damage from the storage other than more age.

The exterior is complete, ncluding the difficult to replace bumpers. They are damaged, ut possibly restorable. There are a few places the fiberglass has been damaged, uch as right rear under the bumper, he right hand lower rear hood and passenger door, nd the trim over the passenger door. I don't find cracks anywhere. Overall, he fiberglass is good.

Everything is there except the exhaust system from the Y pipe back, nd normally replaceable items like hoses. The major issue is rust, ut the rust is less than that of some other Sonetts that I have seen or owned of this vintage from Northern Ohio. The driver and passenger floor pans are still intact, hich is unusual. The rear hatch floor is rusted around the edges, ut still there. The driver's side rocker is intact, ith repairable rust damage in both front and rear left hand wheel wells. The passenger rocker has been caved and is essentially totally rusted on the bottom. There is repairable rust damage in both front and rear right hand wheel wells at the rocker area, ut the right hand rocker needs total replacement.

I placed the Sonett on Ebay in 2013 and thought that I had sold it. The buyer has defaulted and has never picked up the car, o the sale is incomplete. Thinking it was sold, I had moved it outside my heated garage, o it has now been parked partly covered outside for 2 years.

I need to find this gem a good home.

Thank you for your bidding.

On Oct-01-15 at 19:03:47 PDT, eller added the following information:

Added 10/1/15:

There have been several questions that deserve further clarification.

This car cannot presently be driven. The engine was last started in 1985. The engine is not frozen and the alternator and water pump can all be moved by hand. The brake and clutch pedals move freely, ut the clutch hydraulics are frozen. All hydraulics will obviously need rebuilt.

When I bought the car off the car lot, omeone had taken it for a test drive and had returned it with the clutch slave cylinder completely driven out the end into the flywheel housing. I don't know how this is even possible. The clutch throwout bearing was also out of place. I repaired the hydraulics enough to work and got the throwout bearing into place enough to drive it, ut the bearing is still out of the retainers. To fix this requires that the engine and transmission be removed from the car. This will happen anyhow as it is restored.

I parked it in my heated garage with the original intention of rebuilding it. The front clip was removed in order to save some floor space, nd at sometime I apparently cut or removed several hoses and drained the antifreeze. All rubber will likely need replacement.

The front clip has since been reinstalled except for some of the interior front wheelwell sheetmetal panels.

The worse rust damage is the right rocker. I was unable to take a good enough photo to include here. The right side is caved, ut the entire bottom is rusted out and is gone. The rocker must be replaced as this is the mechanical structural strength for the vehicle.

Movement will require a trailer or flatbed as the tires are too old to be trusted on the road unless first replaced.

There is one photo with the front clip removed, here a "soccer ball" wheel is on the car. It was just there to hold it up during storage. There are 5 Italian design wheels that go with this car.