My wonderful E39 BMW has been so (relatively) trouble-free for a high-mileage German car that a part of me is always seeking out something just a little dumber and more troublesome. Today’s SBSD offers two cars that fit my usual desire for something Swedish and manual, with an extremely risky feature.
Our good friend Mark had to go into the shop for a little repair yesterday, so please keep him in your thoughts this week. You might see some other writers picking up the SBSD slack for a few days. Don’t be alarmed. We look forward to having Mark back as soon as the “check engine” light clears.
Friday gave us the choice between two strange French cars and, unsurprisingly, the Matra-Simca Bagheera won out quite handily. This seems like the right choice to me, as the three-abreast seating in a sports car is quite rare, and this is a lot cheaper than a McLaren F1.
You can’t turn the Bagheera into a tiny coffee truck, though!
2004 Volvo C70 T5 Turbo Manual – $9,000
Engine/drivetrain: 2.3-liter high-pressure turbo inline-five with a 5-speed manual
Location: Mamaroneck, NY
Odometer reading: 121,000
Operational status:Â Runs and drives well
When someone says a car is “rare” on Craigslist, I immediately roll my eyes. Often this is just Corvette Owner’s Disease, where it’s the only C6 Z51 drop-top made on Arbor Day with the automatic, beige roof, white paint, and chrome wheels. In this case, I think the owner of this grey, manual, T5, convertible C70 might actually be correct.
The first time I saw the C70 was in an advertisement for the Val Kilmer reboot of The Saint, and it was a coupe in that beautiful Saffron Metallic color. The coupes are probably the rarest, as the convertibles seem to have outsold them about 7-to-1 in America. This makes sense to me, and I knew a lovely older woman who was my supervisor at an internship who had two convertibles. I’m pretty sure both were automatic.
In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a C7 convertible with the T5 engine package (good for about 242 horsepower and nearly as much torque) and the manual transmission. With an Ian Callum-penned exterior, these have a wonderful presence. I prefer the coupe to the convertible, but today has a theme!
This one is in “excellent” condition according to the seller, and looks it. The basic things that might go wrong with these cars have all been addressed, including the timing belt/water pump, alternator, plugs, and brakes. The attached window sticker confirms my suspicion that the much larger wheels were not stock. Volvo has excellent wheels on offer, though these don’t bother me.
The price is a little high, though if it’s not the best C7 convertible in America, it’s maybe the nicest one for sale.
2001 Saab 9-3 Viggen Convertible – $5,900
Engine/drivetrain: 2.3-liter high-pressure turbo inline-four with a 5-speed manual
Location: Mount Kisco, NY
Odometer reading: 137,942
Operational status:Â Runs and drives well
What’s amazing is I’ve found two Swedish manual convertibles with similar displacements and conditions, all the way down to the aftermarket wheels. In this case, the 2.3-liter turbocharged motor spreads that displacement over four cylinders and probably produces a little less power. It’s also FWD, so torque-steer is probably something you’re going to fight with.
These are the GM-era cars and thus share a platform with Opel/Vauxhall and Saturn. Does that bother me? It does not. These still look great, and the Viggen version adds both a neat spoiler and the Viggen badge on the fender. What else do you want?
The seller here only claims the car is in “good” condition, and that it “drives and runs very well.” It looks quite clean to me, and the seats and dash both appear in surprisingly good shape for a car nearly a quarter of a century old. I wonder if this owner would take a straight-up trade for the E39… is that a terrible idea?
You have two great options here if what you want, specifically, is a Swedish car with no roof, a “high-pressure” turbo, and a five-speed manual.
Top photo: Craigslist sellers
Only good choices today. These Volvos are so pretty I can’t resist, despite the Saab’s tempting price. Get well soon, Mark! Stay out too long and we’ll develop a taste for nice things.
Not really into convertibles, but between the two I think I like the Saab. Just so I can call it a SAAAAAAAAAB.
The Ford is crackhead priced, so I voted for the Opel. There’s still money left over for a Viggen rescue kit, if it hasn’t already been installed here yet.
Best wishes to Mark for speedy repairs!
the saab it is. i blame the 9-3 i married into. now i have occasional visions of viggens. talk with your doctor to see if Moar Boost ™ is for you.
The cars “we have married into” would probably a decent Autopian Asks topic.
Price independent, Volvo.
Price dependent, Saab.
Both seem like reasonably fun comfortable cars to head to western NC for a weekend spreading the wealth.
honestly, I would be happy with either. Disregarding prices of course. 9k seems a tad high.
Correct link for the Volvo:
https://newyork.craigslist.org/search/cta?query=Volvo%20c70#search=2~gallery~0
I picked the Saab because there’s no picture of the Volvo with the top up.
But if the top works, and it’s a hardtop convert (weren’t they all?) I’ll go Volvo
This C70 is a soft-top.
The next one was the retracable hardtop – replacing the coupe and convertible with a single body style.
Definitely the Viggen. While the OG9-3 was no paragon of chassis stiffness, these Volvos are like cooked spaghetti. And having owned both platforms, the Saab is MUCH cheaper to deal with, and less wed to the dealer. Pretty stout mechanically too, as Viggens don’t seem to suffer the sludging issues that lesser 9-3s can have. And much better priced.
But oh yes, a Viggen will make you have a full and complete understanding of torque steer. I wonder if the “Viggen Rescue Kit” is still available? that combination of subframe brace and IIRC steering rack brace tames it considerably. They nearly all have aftermarket wheels at this point because the originals were made of warm butter to the point that Saab lost a class action lawsuit over them.
I have the “Viggen Rescue Kit” installed on my base 9-3 convertible and it transforms the cars front end stiffness and handling!
I had it on my NG900SET – very much agree! The factory should have done it, of course. But at least there was a way. Hopefully still is.
Both are pretty sweet! Picking the Volvo for the sleeker look. Ad is already down so someone agrees. Or the owner pulled the ad and is boosting the price to $15k due to Shitbox fame 🙂
To me, it’s a toss up between the two. Arguably the Saab 9-3 Viggen is more special/novel than that Volvo. both will be more expensive than average to service/maintain/operate.
But the Saab is $3000 cheaper. Plus I have prior ownership experience with this gen of Saabs.
So the Saab gets my vote.
Having owned 3 Saab OG 9-3’s, it was a very easy decision for me: Volvo. My last Saab ruined GM Saabs for me.
Having owned both, I will put it this way – I would buy another GM Saab, I would never even consider buying that vintage of Volvo again. The juice wasn’t worth the squeeze. And they are wed to Mama Volvo in a way that these Saabs simply are not. Even if you invest in the computer hardware to be able to interface with the car, you can’t do anything electronic to it without paying Volvo $$$ for a “software download”. At least with the Saab you can buy a cheap Tech II and DIY to your heart’s content.
Friggen in the Viggen!
I owned one of those Saabs, which is why I voted for the overpriced Volvo. Saabs of that era are wonderful cars that will drive you insane at every opportunity.
I owned one as well… I didn’t think they were THAT bad… but it helps a lot if you’re near a Saab specialist… which I was.
However, the Saab specialist near me is no longer in business.
So I wouldn’t want to daily drive either of these because given they are both over 20 years old, parts and service is gonna start getting difficult.
So I’d only want either of these as 2nd weekend cars.
And with either of these, you either have to be prepared to pay a decent premium for repairs/maintenance… OR be prepared to do a lot of wrenching yourself.
I like both but voted for the Saab, mostly because I like the location of the ignition switch. That is a probably a dumb reason to choose one car over another, but it is my reasoning nonetheless.
My only concern with the Saab is the lack of cupholders. Where am I supposed to put my Mountain Dew? The Volvo also also appears cupholderless, though, so this may be a systemic problem in Sweden.
Saab. The 9-3 Viggen is literally the only convertible I have been in where I thought to myself “I could own one of these” (excluding my daily driver Jeep TJ, which now has a hard top). Then again, I can’t fault anyone for picking the Volvo.
Gimme the saab, cheaper, always liked the looks!
My wife drove an ’04 C70 for a few years without the high pressure turbo and loved it. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the most reliable car we’ve ever owned (I suspect it may have been a Katrina refugee but I couldn’t prove it). Wound up trading it in for an FJ Cruiser that she still regrets getting rid of. Unfortunately, her elderly mother (RIP Mags) couldn’t climb up into it, so it had to go.
Hmmm, Ford-era Volvo or Chevy-era Saab? I like ’em both, but the Volvo really speaks to me.
Side-note: THANK YOU for getting rid of the red headlines (redlines?) that were all over the site earlier this morning. They gave me a frickin’ headache.
As an Old Saab fan. I picked the Volvo. It is just too cool and I can still find a Volvo dealership if needed. The Saab is just too GM for me.
I prefer the styling of the Volvo in this case, if it was up against a SAAB 900, that would be a different story.
Never been a Saab fan. Volvo today.
Neither one is a bad choice. But Boxy wins for me today.
Can we get a ‘both’ option today? I could easily see myself in either of these.
Both of these are FWD, so the torque steer comment is equally applicable to the Volvo. Love me a Saab, but the Volvo just looks better, has 5 cylinders, and the Saab wheels made me sob, so had to go Volvo today.