The Saab 96 (and its station-wagon sibling, the 95) is one of those iconic cars that just about everybody claims to love, but few are willing to rescue. Most of the 96s in the country passed through the junkyard gates and into the recycled-metal continuum a couple of decades back, with only the nicest examples deemed worthy of saving, but a few have hung on in side yards and cornfields long enough to show up in wrecking yards now. We saw this ’68 sedan in California last year, and now there’s this ’68 wagon in Denver.
This one has the Ford Taunus V4, rather than the three-cylinder Saab two-stroke so beloved by those who have never driven a car powered by one (to be fair, I know some two-stroke Saab owners who do love driving their cars).
The gauges have that cool Saab airplane logo.
Four-on-the-tree diagram and cold-starting instructions are found on this dash sticker.
No obvious signs of rust-through, and the interior isn’t too horrifying. After several months in this yard, still not many pieces have been plucked from this old Swede.
22 Comments on “Junkyard Find: 1968 Saab 95 Station Wagon...”
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Those gauges are cool.
So is your avatar. Somehow I’m guessing you’ve seen The Very Model of a Modern US President, which includes a riff on the cigarette. (If not, search that title on youtube. It’s there.)
These must have looked like such relics in 1968, when American cars were so much more modern and smooth.
What was the price comparison when new? You could get a Saab 95 or a Ford ______ what?
They looked so different (and they were) that they didn’t seem like relics. There was a Saab family in my neighborhood.
Keep in mind that if you lived in the sort of town where there were Saab buyers, it was extremely likely that every tenth car in traffic was a VW Beetle. The Beetle’s design was from the same era as the Saab’s, and the biggest difference to the casual observer was that most Saabs stank and smoked.
Every time I’ve seen one of these I am just appalled at how horrendously ugly they are. Anyone who bought these new obviously did not give a hoot about what their car looked like.
A friend had a 96 back in the 70’s. When asked to describe it, he said, “Picture a big blue turd…”.
Beauty’s in the eye of the beholder, Roberto. My father had a 96 back in the late 70’s and I absolutely loved that car. The four-on-a-tree shifter was a hoot, and only a 4WD pickup was better in the snow than one of these.
Hey, I’m not saying they drove badly or anything…perhaps they were very capable vehicles, I don’t know. But, just as you state, beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder. :-)
They were an absolute hoot to drive, although they were even by 1970’s standards a bit underpowered. And they did indeed have torque steer issues.
Those old Saabs really were quirky, and quirky is a quality sadly missing in today’s automotive landscape.
Perhaps, if Saab had stayed with what they did best, building small high quality cars they would still be in business. They were a great little car and usually in first place in the European road rallys. It was the kind of Company you would like to see succeed.
Not likely. The only way a car company as small as SAAB could survive is to charge a lot for each car, and even then, survival is problematic.
You’ve never experienced real torque steer till you’ve driven one of these.
Reputed to be very safe too ~
Pops bought a brandy new SAAB Two Smoke Wagon from Gaston Andre in…Brookline ? Boston ? Ma. , he love it and I remember it doing very well in the snow and ice but kept cutting out and stranding him in hot weather , in time a Dealer mechanic was driving it trying to figure out what was wrong when he wrecked it at high speed , the engine and tranny were ejected under neath the car as designed , Pops took me to see the wreck and explain why it’s important to have safer cars….
A few years later in Rochester New York , he bought another one , didn’t keep in long and never did answer a single question about it .
-Nate
I remember Gaston Andrey, but damned if I remember precisely which jurisdiction it was in. Haven’t thought about it though in probably 40 years.
I only remember the entrance to the Service Dept. .
That and the bright red brand new SAAB Station Wagon with the front wheels jammed against the firewall and the engine sitting on the floor behind the wreck .
I doubt Pops ever let me go near any Dealer Showroom , as I’ve said before he was a real shit .
Poor guy .
I see my comment is ‘ awaiting moderation ‘ – I wonder why .
-Nate
It was definitely in Brookline. (Sadly) I grew up in that horrible God-forsaken hell hole which became a total yuppie town recently (and for which I loathe it even more). I remember that dealership, it was on Beacon St close to the library. I think it was dismantled in mid-1990s and became some sort of kid store. Don’t even know what it is today.
I used to pass through Brookline daily on the ‘T’ .
I still have the yellow 1976 Honda CB400F my Brother bought @ Brookline Honda , it still bears the dealer’s sticker on the battery cover and ever once in a while someone offers me $500 for the cover alone…
Go figure .
-Nate
This SAAB of course is fricking awesome, but I’m hoping for something a little more recent next time. Maybe something in the last twenty five or so years.
Murilee is attracted to quirky and unusual. There’s very little of interest in post-1990 cars. By then, Mustang II, disco, the X-cars, and the K-cars had killed quirky.
Thanks for posting this one Murilee. I remember these as a kid. They never, never, never ever got stuck in the snow.
Where is the car located in Denver? I am restoring an old wagon and could use some parts off it. A phone number would be awesome. As far as being ugly..they have character something alot of vehicles don’t have, back then and esp today