Half a million for an old Saab!? Yes, recently an enthusiast really paid for this acacia green Saab 96 V4 Super. After much publicity beforehand, someone paid twice as much for this late 96 as expected. It is therefore a special specimen…
It is fair to say that the amount of half a million was in Swedish crowns. Anyway, that’s still a good 48,000 euros. Also not sickening for a Saab 96 V4 Super from 1979. Especially not when you consider that it cost about 22,000 guilders in the Netherlands at the time, or about 10,000 euros.
Saab 96 with only 7 kilometers on the clock
What makes this thoroughly green Saab 96 so special is above all its mileage. There is only 7 (!) kilometers on the odometer and the production sticker is still on the side window. The car was put in a barn immediately after purchase on September 17, 1979. It has been gathering dust there for over forty years. Under the cobwebs and moss, the car appeared as good as new – including the interior.
You often see that entire colonies of mice live in stationary cars, but luckily this barn find has not been riddled with mice. The bright green interior was probably too much of a good thing even for cold-suffering rodents. After only a good cleaning and polishing, the Saab was again to pass through a ring and went under the hammer at the Swedish auction house Netauktion.
The auction house did not expect a bidding war
Because the auction house had managed to create a lot of media attention, there were many interested parties for the special Saab 96. A real bidding war ensued, which ended in a final bid of 500,000 kroner. That was more than twice the estimated yield of 240,000 kroner.
The new owner still has some work to do on the green monster, because the selling party has not dared to start the engine after 42 years of standstill. Let alone that the car was driven … We do see on the video that the brakes were not fully engaged, because the Saab was winched onto the car ambulance while rolling.
