1974 Saab Other

Coupe

V4

4 speed manual w'freewheeling option

97745000991

Clear

I just bought this car from the sister of an unfortunately deceased brother. Story is this car has been in her dry garage for about 20 years and was last started about 9 years ago. It is still in pretty nice overall condition. The body looks good, no signs of prior collision repair, there is one spot on the driver's rear upper corner that has some light damage, see pics. It has had one overall respray at some point, a nice job. The driver's side has an area, mostly the door, that has had some later sprayed on touch up (door ding scratches?) that was not well done. Overall the finish is holding up well but certainly no show car. There are a few spots where the paint is flaking but I'd live with it as is and make a nice driver out of it. Some may want to do an overall repaint, or maybe just some touchup. The interior I believe is still all original. Driver seat has wear, split damage, but otherwise intact and pretty nice.Those lumbar supports are an interesting touch. Dash is good, door panels are good, headliner is good, rear cargo area is good. It was missing the cargo area cover so we made one up to put over the spare, battery and tools. We gave the carpet and upholstery a quick once over, it could use another good shampoo but is fine as is for a driver. I'd have to say it is in much better condition than the couple of other unrestored Sonnetts I've seen. The engine was not stuck at all! I put a new set of plugs in, cleaned the points, and hooked up an auxilllery gas can and electric fuel pump. I did not want to risk pumping gas from the car's tank, it most likely needs flushed out at least. Anyways, the carb float works (didn't overflow), excellerator pump works (amazing) and once cranked the engine fired up immediately. It sounds great, no valve or rod noises, no smoke from the tailpipe. Runs smooth, idles smooth, revs well. Seems to be in good shape. Also no antifreeze leaked. I only ran it for a few minutes but it came across as a nice running mill. The exhaust does have some leakage, I think at the manifold exhaust pipe joint. The reason I only ran the engine briefly is because the brake and clutch systems are pretty much frozen up. A test drive would be nice but not today---. Hydraulic systems need refurbished. So yes, this is a project car, though I'm tempted to find the time, this car must be a hoot to drive. I love light and agile cars, my daily driver is an 85 Bertone. The electrical systems seem to mostly be in good order. The starter relay gave us a little trouble but seems OK now. The headlights, running lights, idiot lights,turn lights and wipers work. Heater fan is not, but probably will with a little TLC. I didn't think to try the radio (I always listen to my drivetrain) sorry. Tach works. Can't say if the speedo is working, couldn't drive the car. Can't say if the brake lights work, brake pedal is not moving much. Not sure about the interior lights. At one point the running lights would not shut off, but that appears to have been a sticking relay? It would be a good idea to go over the fuses, relays, grounds and do a general cleaning of contacts. But the electrical system seems pretty sound and not hacked up. Headlights do raise and lower without issue. All glass is good Passenger front turn lense has a hole. Passenger rear backup lense is cracked. Maybe other minor flaws. Photo of the car from the rear is from the "as found once dragged from the garage" shots, bumper cleaned up pretty well, but this is the best photo I have of the rear FWIW. RUST. There is some, but not too bad. Floors are solid except where the exhaust hangers are/were, now wired up. Very back section of floor, especially near the battery box has rust. I didn't go at it with a ballpeen but there is some crumbling/rot. But in the grand scope of things it is not at all any kind of threat to the cars integrety. See pictures. The suspension mounts are solid. Outer rockers are solid. It would not be hard to patch up IMHO. I think this car is pretty complete, missing one air filter. Three good wheel emblems (one on spare), one broken in the parts stash. There are some extra carb parts. A few tools, including the special sparkplug wrench you need for the plug next to the alternator (I learned!). Spare wheel, tire not holding air. Tires on the car are old (I had to replace two of them), hold air, but I wouldn't suggest using them on a long spirited run. I did have to disconnect the parking brake cables to get the car to roll, but it does roll and steer well now. In short, a pretty darn nice Sonnett needing some TLC. Personal inspection is welcomed, please call Bill 937 241 3412, it is at his house in Dayton, Ohio. I'm out of garage space myself. Original owner was the then mayor of Dayton! Thanks for looking! On Jun-22-13 at 05:49:16 PDT, seller added the following information: OK, in response to some chastisement I got in an email about just cranking up a dorment engine so abruptly, here's what I actually did. Before anything else we shot some oil into the cylinders (plugs were removed). Waited awhile. Jacked a front wheel up and put the car in gear. We spun the engine over by turning the wheel by hand. The engine showed no signs of seizure or rings stuck to the bores. It was a pleasant finding. I then did a compression check. Remember this was a cold engine that had still not run in years. Put a battery in, cranked with the starter. Back two cylinders were 155psi, driver front was 140psi, passenger front I couldn't get my gauge onto, so I don't know for certain. I will say when the engine was fired up it immediately ran smooth and sounded just fine. No clattering valves, rod or main bearing knock, or strange noises. Another pleasant finding. I'd be willing to bet the compression came up on that front cylinder after it had been run.