My first car was a '68 Saab 96. I loved the free wheeling. Saved my butt many times in the snow in N.H. where I grew up. Mine was the same color as this on the video. Brings back tons of memories!
My Grandfather had exactly the same car -same colour from new in 1968 with the round headlamps and the mesh grille-Saab changed the front from 1969 to rectangle headlamps and a chrome grille .The Ford V4 engine was superb and had a very distinctive sound. He had it for over 18 years .Unfortunately they moved by the sea -the salt from the sea rusted it . Was sad seeing it rust away. Fond memories. Great fun to drive!
Thanks for showing us the Saab, love the shape of the V4. I have a 1979 Peugeot 504 diesel automatic and A/C. The shapes of the 60's and 70's cars are so much better than the current auto designs.
My grandfather drove one from 1967 until 2005. It was in exceptionally good condition when he died. (For a car that was in used every week.) Looked good also.
You see some odd ones. I remember the Saab look from that period, got out of college in 68, but I only remember the smoky 2 strokers. I never heard of a V4 before today. Fun video. Thanks for sharing.
Fond memories for me, I had both the 2-stroke 96, and a 68 V-4 delux. the old 2-strokes are a very nostalgic item, but the v-4 four stroke was a huge improvement. The engine was designed in Dearborn MI, Ford had a small car project going, and , I believe Ford bought a Saab to field test the engine. Anyway, they gave the engine to their German subsiduary, and went with the Mustang instead of a small car, (no regrets there for sure). Saab did a sweetheart deal with Taunus, and the V-4 fit quite nicely and were installed in cars with minimal mod required. The horn set up was a result of U.S regs going into effect, and Saab did just what was the easiest, I remember I could never do a panic horn blow without also turning on the wipers.
Wonderful walkaround, thank you. :-) One of my favourite 60s designs. Oddly timeless design, with lots of personality. Oddly spacious for such a little car. I hope this 96 keeps serving its owner well. She's one lucky driver to own a classic like this. :-)
What's really cool with this little Swedish SAAB is that it has great handling, not a lot of engine but you can keep the speed through corners because the car is realy light. Both the two stroke version and the V4 was successful in rally back in the days ;) Nice to see an original car that looks so great, here in sweden cars rust :(
I went thru college building transmissions for these things. 96, 97 and 95 wagons. When you take a transmission designed originally for a 3 cyl with 25hp and put the v4 behind it oh well. There was a later model transmission case that had exterior reinforcements, and some guys could find an early iron gearbox and run them. The girling discs caliper pivoted wierdly and wore poorly. Be very careful when taking the freewheel apart, it is a witch to reassemble. You could do bat turns with the car by grabbing the emergency brake.
I know this comments very late, but if you wanted to know and still haven't found out, the horn is wired into the windshield wiper lever. all you have to do is pull the lever towards yourself. Also, the switch on the dash you didn't know is the headlights. Again, this comments very late so I'm sure you know this by now. :)
The V4 engine was used in the Ford Taunus, then put into the Saab 96. I don’t know about it being an industrial engine. I ran two Saab 96s the first being a rally car. I always found the V4 to be a sweet engine, very easily tuneable
It's a great car. I own a dark green 1968. At 75 mph there's still power left, runs 28 MpG on fuel. Engine work can be difficult but parts are not too expensive.
By now you've realized you've got the gear change wrong, it's towards you and up for first. The horn is on the left stalk, pull it towards you. It will have disc brakes up front. And the engine was not based on an industrial engine, the Taunus V4 was designed as an automotive power plant, with industrial variants IIRC. By the way, have you ever seen a Porsche industrial engine (derated 356 engine). Once you drive one of these little Swedish eggs, you wonder why anyone in their right minds would have bought a VW Beetle at the time. These can keep up with traffic, and they had heat and quite steady handling, three things the Beetle lacked. Oh, and a good size trunk!
Absolutely spot on. I owned two 96's both two stroke a '65 and a early '67 that was a two stroke but with oil injection and 3 carbs (Monte Carlo) My most beloved Saab of that era was my 1971model 95 wagon that had the V-4. Any one of these cars was rock solid on the road, almost magic the way they handled. I came so close to hitting a retaining wall on the local freeway in horrible snow conditions but with just a little correction at the right time. With winter specific tires mounted on all four wheels, these cars are insanely confident in slippery conditions.
Cool cars! They handle like a go-cart and the engines (either 3 cylinders or V4) responded very well to performance modifications. By the way, the shift pattern for the forward gears is a standard "H", not the DKW three-on-the-tree-with-something-extra.
You forgot to mention that these cars also have selectable freewheel :) It can be selected på pulling/pushing the little handle under the center duct at the firewall :)
Beautiful little car! Great shape for it's age. I do enjoy the different cars you introduce your audience too. I am glad that people enjoy driving older cars and that you like working on them otherwise they would not be able to drive them. Is this owner going to do more restoration?
Actually it's the Taunus 1500 V4. The 1700 was used in Sonetts and in rally cars. I've got myself a '72 version of these. Ask away if you've got any questions.
HirYoshima I remember there being a 1500 and a 1700 just can't recall when and where it was used. My sister had a Sonnet lll, I had two model 96's both 2 stroke and a model 95 with the V-4. Saab began using the V-4 mid year of 1967 I believe. Great cars, I would love to drive one today... I'll have to settle on my '08 Honda Fit
We had a ‘68 Deluxe also. Butt ugly but actually was a good running/handling little car. Easy on fuel too. Also had “free wheel” capability which was a holdover from the previous generation which had a two-stroke motor. There was a t-handle in the footwell which was used to enable/disable free wheeling.
