There have been Saabs numbered 99 and 900, but today's Nice Price or Crack Pipe Swede is specifically number 934. You'll need to decide if that number's import means its price is worth all its numbers.
You're not listening to me people. I schooled you on close calls yesterday and what do you go and do? Throw down a razor thin 51/49 win the very next day, that's what. And on a freakin' SHO-converted Mercury Sable sleeper wagon too. Man, I thought that bad boy would have been 110% Nice Price at its five-grand asking. Shows what I know.
Here's something that I do know, and that's the fact that it's hard to come by a factory fresh Saab 99 these days. Oh sure, you may come across some pretty nice examples, but museum quality? Pffft. You are even less likey to find one of the 100 99s that Saab built as test cars in 1977 as part of the development of the now-legendary 99 Turbo.
Consider this your lucky day.
This is #934 of those test cars, and no I don't know why of 100 cars they were numbered in the 900s. At any rate, this is one of 14 notchback testers, and has been given a restoration that seems - in the pics at least - to bring it back to as-new condition. The folks over at Saabs United have a little bit of background on the car, and it appears that it didn't always look this nice.
The 100 cars were split between markets - SW for Sweden, EU for Yurrup, and UC for USA/California, each as durability testers to gain understanding of how the cars worked in different environments. This is obviously one of the UC cars, and it is based on the EMS two-door sedan platform. Others where the three and four door hatch models. The engine is the Triumph-based 2.0 four, but of course here sporting the turbo and related ancillary improvements. Wheels are EMS soccer balls, and the paint is Cardinal Red as supposedly were all the testers.
One of the cool features of the Saab Turbos was the model's badge which displayed the O in TURBO as - of all things - a turbo vane. That's pure gold. This car has an additional badge, that being its test Car number ID on the dash. The seller says that the car also comes with its original log book as well as all the records since new.
Over all the car looks exemplary both inside and out and of course everything about it is as gloriously weird as you would want from a REAL Saab - including the between the seats ignition, backwards-facing motor, wrap-around windscreen, and little mid-car mud flaps. Even if this wasn't noteworthy for its provenance, it would be worth a look just for being such a clean and tidy example of the car from Saab's heyday.
Of course it does have both the looks and the provenance and as you might expect, those add up to a hefty asking because such things do not typically come cheap. The seller has set $37,000 as his asking, which is probably the high end for damn-near any Saab today. In fact, I think that's about what the Chinese paid for the whole company a couple of years back.
What's your take on $37,000 for this rare and historically significant - to Saab lovers at least - 99 Turbo? Does that means this Saab passes the price test? Or, does that price just test your patience?
You decide!
Cars.com, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to Hayter1 for the hookup!
Help me out with NPOCP. Click here to send a me a fixed-price tip, and remember to include your Kinja handle.