Remember our favourite saying here at ViaRETRO? No, not the one about driving and enjoying your classic car as it was meant to be. The other one! The one about “Any Classic is Better than No Classic“. Well, just to prove our point, this week my only search criteria was to find the cheapest classic car which was indeed entirely ready to be driven by its next owner. Various time-requiring projects and modern wannabe classics from the nineties need not apply – we’re looking for a true classic car which only needs you to turn the ignition key before carrying you into new adventures.
So just how much classic car can you purchase for a very humble wad of cash? For starters, let me just say that even I ended up being rather amazed with how many tempting classics I found with a price tag south of an approximate 5,000 Euros, or Pounds for that matter. Charming little FIAT saloons from the sixties, a variety of stylish Peugeots from the seventies and several of those early Japanese contenders which shook up the western automotive world as they entered our markets. Every one of them worthy as a supercheap Prime Find. But in the end it was a SAAB 99 from the late seventies which took the prize. So much so that I seriously considered keeping the link for myself and travelling to Sweden for a personal look this weekend.
Now there are obviously classics much more exhilarating than a SAAB 99, but that said, I make no excuses for choosing this wonderfully seventies Swede for this weeks Prime Find. For starters, you can’t expect miracles if you’re on a tight budget. But even so, at 40+ years of age, there’s no denying that this is a true and proper classic car. It’s also well-built and comfortable, has a high level of passive safety for a car of this age and it’s even rather quirky and full of character. What more could you possibly wish for if your looking for a cheap way into your first classic? – or perhaps a cheap way of expanding your already existing collection of classics?
Still sceptical? Well, about this time last year, our very own Claus Ebberfeld went as far asking Was the 99 the Best SAAB Ever? Controversial, no doubt. But read – or re-read – the article and consider the question again. Granted, at the time I didn’t quite agree with Claus either, yet only months later I too fell for the appeal of the 99 as I featured a 1976-model as our Prime Find in: CombiCoupé Unites Practicality with Style.
With links to our two previous articles on the 99, I’m not going to dwell further on the model in general. Instead let’s have a closer look at what I found in the Swedish classifieds: Well, sticking to the focus of this piece, I first want to mention that it’s for sale at an astonishing SEK 32,000 which currently equates to a mere £ 2,750 or just a tad above Euro 3,000. What can that possibly buy you? In this case, a very original SAAB 99GL 2-door saloon from 1979 which presents decidedly late seventies in it’s glorious Chamotte Brown factory colour. And just in case that’s not seventies enough for you, there’s an aftermarket rear window plastic louvre kit in place too. How cool is that? We’ve borrowed a few pictures from the advert just to prove it to you:
Quite refreshingly, this private vendor on the southeastern coast of Sweden, has bothered to write up an informative description of his SAAB and the condition it’s in. He has owned it since 2014 and has clearly invested both time and money. He claims to have treated the 99 to a complete engine rebuild, a better secondhand transmission, a new clutch and clutch cylinder plus various other parts back in 2015. The year after, the SAAB received a new windscreen and four new shock absorbers. Then in 2018 the brakes were overhauled with new discs, pads and front brake hoses. With this much love, I suppose it’s not surprising that the 99 comes with a fresh and clean Swedish MOT.
He goes on to say that there is only very minimal rust to be found, though he admits that the paint isn’t perfect and there are a few small dents here and there too. But we are assured that everything works as it should and that the car leaves a good overall impression while being entirely ready to be driven away. Surely, if the description and pictures are to believed, this has to be the bargain of 2020…?
But don’t just take my word for it – follow the link and judge for yourself: 1979 SAAB 99GL
Dear ViaRETRO reader, can you find a better classic at such a bargain-basement-budget?
With our Saturday instalment of Prime Find of the Week, we’re offering our services to the classic car community, by passing on our favourite classic car for sale from the week that passed. This top-tip might help a first-time-buyer to own his first classic, or it could even be the perfect motivation for a multiple-classic-car-owner to expand his garage with something different. We’ll let us be inspired by anything from a cheap project to a stunning concours exotic, and hope that you will do the same.
Just remember – Any Classic is Better than No Classic! We obviously invite our readers to help prospective buyers with your views and maybe even experiences of any given model we feature. Further to that, if you stumble across a classic which you feel we ought to feature as Prime Find of the Week, then please send us a link to primefindoftheweek@viaretro.co.uk