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So, I picked up a blue (previously orange) 1973 Sonett in Pittsburgh. The story of how I got this is interesting, at least to me. Several weeks ago while out celebrating St. Paddy's day, some friend and I were walking around from one cluster of bars to another. On our way there, a friend turns to me and she says "Look, that would be a perfect car for you". And I turn and see this blue interesting looking car that has a Saab tag. I snap a few pics - quite surprised and not believing that it was an actual Saab, but agreed that this indeed could be my next car.
I currently have a Amc eagle wagon and e36 m3 sedan (that has been totaled). After tiring of bmws, I've been wanting something else but hadn't really found anything aside from early 70s Barracuda or Challenger convertibles that caught my attention. Unfortunately, those cars are also a bit pricey for anything approaching running condition on a grad student salary.
Anyway, after four hours of searching, I'd identified the car as a Saab Sonett and after reading up on it and looking through pictures and other stories, I'd decided that I wanted one. So then I started my online search. Found a few, lost two auctions, wrote to a couple sellers who never got back to me, then went on a trip to Oslo. The day after I get back to the states, I'm looking on CL and see THE EXACT SAME BLUE SONETT that started this whole thing for sale.
I email the guy. . . wait 90 minutes, then call him. He calls me back about 30 minutes later, I make an appointment to see the car (for today), I'm impressed and we quickly haggle on the price. Now a few hours later, I'm a proud owner of a Sonett which is now sitting in my driveway.
We were unsure whether the engine would start. It had been sitting for about a year. The seller tried starting it earlier today and we'd hear the starter turning the engine over, but nothing happened. While waiting for the tow truck to arrive, I decided to give it a try again realizing that mechanical fuel pumps sometimes take time to prime (happens every morning in my Eagle - when it is running). The engine fired up this time, then proceeded to idle at 3k rpm.
I took the time to check through a few other items, most of it is working, the interior needs a lot of work, the exterior needs some. Pretty solid body, some surface rust on the floorboards and in a few other areas, but nothing some gruntwork can't fix. Only major issue right now is the high idle and that there seems to be no pushback on the clutch. The pedal just sinks down into the floor. I noticed the plastic thing for the freewheel, but there is no linkage between it and the driver footwell.
I'm hoping the clutch is a quick fix. Since the engine is running, I'm really excited to be able to at least drive around the block sometime this weekend.
I've put up pics here: https://picasaweb.google.com/kamakula/SaabSonett
I'll make sure to snap some of the interior tomorrow and add them to the album as well.
posted by 108.17.92...
, Sun, 22 May 2011 13:15:25
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