It’s a gorgeous spring day in Seattle, despite our intentional propaganda to the contrary designed to keep pesky tourists away. That didn’t stop this Swedish emigre from settling down in Ballard, home to many old Swedes and their cars. Full gallery below.
A Type 97 Sonett offers so much to love – manually-operated popup headlamps, a striking wedge shape (good for a Cd of 0.31), and of course a Ford V4 churning the front wheels. A bright period-correct color only helps bring home the charms of the Sonett. In most parts of the country they’re as common as hen’s teeth, but old Ballard’s Scandinavian roots run as deep as a Volvo B18 runs long. Not a two-stroke, unfortunately, but a potent autocross tool nonetheless.
V.I.S.I.T. – Orange Swedish Door Stopper Edition
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I love the hell out of that car! So sporty, yet so quirky! Even the color kicks ass. That is 2 fists full of win!
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And the unique sound. Amazing.
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I love these. Allow me to respond with the first of my own series – P.I.G. (Parked in Garage). I spotted this punkin's sibling on the parking ramp at work last week. I was surprised to see it, as I came very close to buying this car a few years ago when I saw it for sale at my kids' day care center. At the time, I couldn't justify another toy. Some things do not change.
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<ImgSrc="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_fVEg3I8ek1A/S4vceHyOleI/AAAAAAAAACo/fy_517r9QiU/s640/2010-03-01">
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Legacy wagon!!!
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Yeah. That one isn't for sale. ; )
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Nice soccer ball wheels.
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Talk about playing to a stereotype – the aging Swede in Ballard. Makes me wish that Almost Live was still on TV.
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As someone who as of june 1 will have his house annexed into Kent, I'm not sure my wife would agree…
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Tell her to shut up and iron your wife beaters … or else!
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At least it's not Lynwood…
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[youtube KBgIvH0tu6Y http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBgIvH0tu6Y youtube]
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That never gets old.
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Manual pop-up headlight! Oh sweet, sweet heaven, I am having flashbacks!
Many cold, snowy days in the New Mexico mountains and a Dodge Daytona that had many electrical gremlins. Most effected was the auto-magic pop-up headlights that worked 1/10th of the time. I hit the lights, but no reassuring phhhuuuut of the lights popping up. Having to pop the hood, and crank the lights up, gloveless. Jesus, that was a bitch!-
I learned after my first freezing rain while working up in Michigan to leave the lights up on my 77 Vette. I was up there working a co-op job in college, being from Georgia it didn't occur to me that the lights might not want to pop up when coated with 1/4" of ice. I had to pound on them hard enough to break the ice, but not too hard to break the fiberglass. My apartment complex had covered carport style parking, so when it rained the first 3 feet of the car would still get wet.
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Kudos to you for having the cajones to drive a Vette in Michigan winters!
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Actually I was just there (Midland to be exact) for the "spring" March-June. Still, it was some of the coldest winters (92-96) this Georgia boy has ever seen. A limited slip diff and probably a more then 50% rear weight bias with my fat butt in the driver's seat helped some.
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Yes that's one sexy little meatball…..
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VERY nice find!
When I was in high school 20 years ago someone was selling a lime green V4 Sonnet that was in a state of significant disrepair. That was the last time I saw one in person and I've been hoping top spot another ever since. -
The FWD hurts, but the car itself is fairly cool looking.
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It's a SAAB. It's supposed to be FWD. It's a rule. GM broke that rule and now look at them.
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So true. I have a strict no-FWD rule for personal drivers with the exception of Cord, Citroen, 66 Toronados, and Saabs. I broke this rule for three years of Jetta ownership and am still smarting because of it.
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I'd bork it.
Damn you…now I'm adding these to my list of "potential project cars" that will probably be more hell than heaven. -
I can't remember the last time I saw one of these. Thanks for reminding me how cool they are. I even like the DOT orange color. Now that SAAB has been bought by Spyker, let's see if they introduce a modern version of this sweetie.
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Seconded on the Spyker idea. Though to be honest, I was even more excited to see what Koenigsegg might have pulled off with the nameplate. Ah well.
Such awesome-looking little cars, and one of the very few automotive applications of a V4. I've wanted one for a long time now…-
Yeah, I really feel like Koenigsegg was a better fit for Saab. More focus on "go" and less focus on "show." But then Spyker is a hell of a lot better than the dustbin!
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I'm interested to see what Spyker comes up with, too. Maybe a weird little coupe with a console-mounted ignition switch and aircraft-style switches.
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This one lives not too far from my neighborhood:
<img src="http://jalopnik.com/photogallery/DOSTBESaabSonett/1008952970">
I've never seen it in motion, but I know it drives. Sorry for the low-quality pic. Camera phone.-
Was white a factory color? The only ones I've seen were painted in very typical early seventies nonmetallic shades – orange, blue, green, red and yellow.
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There's a regular contingent of these at Cars and Coffee Irvine. They're cool looking and just plain weird under the hood.
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I'm pretty sure I've seen the same orange Sonnet (how many could there be in the Ballard area). Don't see many cars around painted in such garish colors aside from taxis. Yellow Cab has Austin Allegro yellow, Orange Cab has Saab Sonnet orange, and Farwest Taxi has Bricklin SV-1 green.
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I love your website – nice work!
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