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
Here’s hoping for a quick recovery, Mark.
My best friend has a Viggen that he lets me borrow when I visit the east coast, also a manual convertible, and it is a joy to drive. My parent’s place is about an hour and fifteen minutes from his place and the last time I had it I put the top down and took all country roads from southeastern PA into Delaware.
He also has let me borrow his manual 9-5 Aero wagon of similar vintage which has also been fun to drive.
Given the significantly lower price of the Viggen and my history of good experiences with my friend’s Saabs it’s a clear choice.
A man of fine tastes, your friend.
Love that Flash Green V70R in the background!
I’ve owned three Volvos and no Saabs (so far) and I like both of these cars, though I’d prefer the hard-top equivalents of each, since I’ve owned a few convertibles and feel like I’ve mostly got that out of my system (I’ve got a NA Miata, but I never take the hard top off). With that said, I’ll choose the Saab since this is merely a speculative exercise and I don’t have to actually be responsible for finding parts/paying for repairs. 😉
I vent for the Volvo!
Bork! Bork! 😉
Me too, and it’s a close one!
Good choice! That’s a durable engine and parts are still readily available, It still has many years of life left in it. 🙂
I do kind of wonder if the 2.3 by this point shared any parts with the Triumph slant four that originally spawned it?
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
VIGGEN!
Yeah this is a no doubter for me. I’m way too blinded by enthusiasm to even consider the C70, even though it does seem like a nice example of a neat, though sort of boring Volvo. I love Volvos, but the C70 just doesn’t do it for me, at least in comparison to any 900/9-3.
Wish it was blue though.
Volvo, for sure.
Easier to find parts, easier to find someone to work on it, the 5 cylinder engines were decently reliable and working on them is surprisingly not too bad (even doing a timing belt/wp service), and that 5 cylinder volvo will sound good with some exhaust mods. The Saab won’t.
There is absolutely no question whatsoever that the name
“Viggen” beats the hell out of the name “C70”. Saab it is.
I like the Volvo, but I’ve always wanted a Saab, and I don’t know why. Better price, too.
Easy pick of the Saab today. Fun to drive, less expensive, and looks way better in my opinion. No disrespect to Volvos, but those C70s always had a little Sebring vibe to them.
My heart wants the Saab but the Volvo has better prospects for staying in working order, even if neither can be expected to be low-maintenance.
This one is tough but I’m going to go with the volvo. A long time long island owned second car is going to win because I have much more faith in believing that the owner serviced it well. And that’s saying something because I LOVE the viggen.
No both option today???
(*flips coin*), Heads! Volvo.
I want to want the Volvo – but these are notorious for their severe cowlshake.
So it’s the stiffer Saab for me.
That’s what she said.
If I could somehow frankenstein the finish of the Volvo into the design of the Saab, that’s what I’d pick. Otherwise I’m a fence-sitter/coin-flipper on this.
If it were a *Saab* Saab I’d probably go for it, though.
The Viggen all day!
I have a 1999 Saab 9-3 convertible with 185K miles on it, and it has been a fantastic car. It has hidden depth to it… At first drive it doesn’t seem that impressive, but the longer you spend with it the more you like it, and the more other cars seem to lack something.
Well said, I know the feeling.
Viggen is the heart’s answer but the C70 is the correct one. Parts for Saabs are bordering on unobtanium right now whereas Volvo continues to exist, so… Sucks, but them’s the breaks.
This was tough, because I find the Volvo is more attractive inside and out, but my history with Saab (and the lower price) made me tip toward the Viggen. Yes, GM borked that glorious unicorn of a company, but Ford did Volvo no favors either. As much as I love a 5-cylinder engine, those punchy Saab turbo fours were the heartbeat that sold the cars they powered, crazy torque steer be damned. These are two cars that adhere to a very similar formula, but only one is the OG: the Saab.
Swede vs Swede. Going Saab, lower price and I have been in a few of these. God bless me.
Get down off the lift soon, Mark………
I’ve never been a fan of GM-era Saabs, but I’ve always liked the 1st gen C70. Moreover this gen was released before Ford took ownership so there are no Ford design cues whatsoever, it’s pure Volvo. And I dig the aftermarket wheels.
Not a fan of the asking price, though. But I’d rather pay the premium than going with a car that does nothing to me.
They’re Swedish. Just give me both.
I voted Volvo, but I would probably live to regret it. Cest la vie!
I remember test driving these even though they were out of my budget. Viggen all the way!
The wheels on the C70 are Heico Volution V, very very cool wheels in Volvo circles.
I had them on my 98 V70 T5 Manual.