1964-1974 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
What ya gotta understand from the start is that you can't just do a 'bolt-on' restoration on a Sonett the way you can with, say, a '65 Mustang or other domestic 'collector car' that's supported by a huge aftermarket industry supplying replacement parts. Engine and driveline parts are fairly easy to come by and can be rehabbed by bolting on replacements -- but what's going to be tricky about restoring a Sonett, especially a beater Sonett, is the chassis and bodywork, and those AREN'T so easy.
At your target price, any Sonett you find probably will need a lot of chassis rust repair AND a lot of fiberglass work. Both of these are pretty skill-intensive: if you've already got the skills (i.e. both of you are experienced metal fabricators, welders and fiberglass techs) then you could have a fun project that will require mostly just the investment of your time... lots of time. (But presumably you and your girlfriend enjoy each other's company, so that's a plus, not a minus.)
If you haven't got those skills, though, then you wind up paying somebody who does, and that can make resurrecting a $1000 Sonett a lot more expensive than just buying one that doesn't have too many problems in the first place.
A dirty little secret of car restoration is that except at the very rarified end, the cost of restoring a car is almost always a lot greater than what the car will bring at resale. In effect, the person putting money into, say, an $8000 restoration and then has to sell the car for $5000 has just given the buyer a $3000 bonus. (As the buyer, the trick for you is to make sure the quality of the resto work really was worth $8000, which isn't always as easy at it sounds!)
So, you've got options if you're prepared to be patient. Think of it, though: a lot of the fun of a collectible car is shopping for it in the first place. Don't think so much in terms of all the time the two of you will be spending sanding off rust and mixing fiberglass resin and catalyst... think of all the time you can spend together poring over the classifieds, talking over the merits of various cars offered for sale, leisurely weekend drives to look over cars that might be worth buying, etc., etc... you might find that *shopping* for a Sonett is more fun than *owning* it!
I think that's one reason many of us wind up owning several Saabs -- having the car is fun, but what we really like is the thrill of the chase...
PS -- It'll help you in your search to know the details of the different models. Saab Club Sweden at http://www.saabklubben.com has some year-by-year comparison charts with good info. Another thing to know: technically "Sonett II" refers to the version powered by the two-stroke engine; less than 300 were made and they're super-rare and expensive. The version with the same body style but the V4 engine is usually called the "Sonett V4". Not everybody who writes classifieds knows this, though, so if you see a "Sonett II" advertised at a low price, it's probably really a Sonett V4. You usually can tell just by looking at the photos -- the V4 has a huge honking hood bulge to clear the V4 engine, while the real two-stroke Sonett II has a smoother hood more in proportion with the rest of the car.
posted by 68.13.138...
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