I got a call for help via email and whilst I think the call would be better placed in a more targeted crowd, I’m still going to post it here for two reasons:

1) Someone may actually be able to help, and

2) I’m just fascinated by the car

Markus L is looking for some special Saab bumpers for a Sonett III. Normally the Sonett III came with the same moulded black bumpers that were on the Saab 99, 96 and 95 back in the early-mid 1970s.

Bumpers like this:

I just assumed that all Sonetts were made with these bumpers, but I guess it makes sense they weren’t. the black bumpers didn’t come on to the Saab 99 until 1972, so Sonetts made before them would have had something else.

Apparently that something else is this:

It’s a thin strip style of bumper, or just a bump strip, really, that must have been used on early Sonetts. and doesn’t that rear look strange painted white? So different.

A quick whip through my photo archive shows some other cars without the big black 99 style bumpers, so these must have been around for a while, at least.

If you’ve got any leads on where some of these thin style bump strips can be located, please leave a note in comments or contact me directly.

Any links to websites that might be of assistance would be appreciated as well.

–

I’m going to rob a bank tomorrow.

Why?

My dream collectable Saab has come up for sale – a 1973 Saab Sonett III.

Brian L, knowing my fetish for Sonetts, sent me this ad from Craigslist. This Sonett is for sale in the San Francisco area. It’s white with a tan interior, has had a recent engine rebuild (only 1,000km ago) and it’s for sale for only $2,500 so I only need to rob a small bank!!

The photos aren’t very big and there’s none of the interior, nor is there any comment as to the condition of the floorpan, etc, which can be a problem with these. But at face value it does look OK.

This would be such a unique car here in Australia and I absolutely love to drive on for myself. It’s a small V4 engine but the car’s so light I can’t imagine it’d be anything but fun.

——

Earlier this year, GM offered to fly me Business Class from Sydney to Detroit for the North American International Auto Show, the show where I saw the unveiling of the 9-4x.

I ended up saving them around $4,000 by flying economy instead (yes, they really do spend that much on airfares – wanna save money, GM? Fly like the rest of us!)

To GM: If you feel like making up the difference, here’s your chance!!

-

OK, I’ve got Saab Sonett fever tonight.

Inspired by both the Sonett III that I posted about earlier, and this Sonett II, I’ve even pulled my finger out and written up the Sonett II car page in the archives!

This Saab Sonett II was spotted by Dan S at a recent autocross event in San Antonio, Texas. Dan snapped off a bunch of shots, a number of which I’ve reproduced here, but the full story about the car is over at his blog, Racing Ready.

In short, it’s a 1968 Saab II V4 that’s been through a couple of separate rebuilds of the body and the engine (see RR for the details and more photos). It certainly looks a treat and apparently the owner got it through the autocross event with the shiny side up and was able to drive it home again – a worthwhile day’s work.

Every time I see one of these babies I want one more and more. I’d settle for a Sonett III as these are much rarer and harder to get, but geez they’re nice.

I’ve featured this car once already. A few months ago, a guy named Pelle in Sweden got in touch to tell me he’d just photographed a wedding and this beautiful orange Saab Sonett III was the featured mode of transport for the happy couple after the nuptials were celebrated.

Pelle had a bunch of photos to pass on to me. 168MB of them, to be exact!! I threw a few of them up on the site and gave Pelle my address so that he could send me a CD.

I’ve just reviewed the CD and all I can say is WOW!

If you’re a fan of Saab Sonetts, then you’ll want to spend a bit of time going through these. I have a dream of importing a Sonett to Australia some time in the next few years. The Sonett I’ll be able to afford won’t be anything like this, but this is a great example to aspire to.

There’s around 30 pictures here. Please only enlarge them if you’re really interested as this is going to kill my bandwidth allowance, but this car just has to be seen.

Thanks to Pelle for sending them on.

——

As mentioned, the car was being used for a wedding and here it is playing it’s role just beautifully.

And here’s the detail shots. Click the ones you’d like to see in order to enlarge.