We badly want this glorious Saab Sonett III

On the lookout for a rare and classic coupe for circa £10,000? Lucky you, but heck even if you’re not, this fantastic Saab Sonett should be on your wishlist.

Isn’t it just a fantastic looking thing? This particular car is a very clean 1972 Sonett III that’s about to be listed on online auction site The Market. The estimate? Between £9,500 and £13,500. Lovely.

The Sonett was originally conceived in the mid-1950s as a two-stroke, two-seat roadster, but only six of those Mk1s ever made production. Then, in 1966 the first hard-topped Sonett II was launched – mainly for the US market – still with a two-stroke engine.

That only lasted for a single year, because in 1967 the Sonett was updated with Ford’s contemporary V4 engine in order to meet emissions regulations.

Skip ahead to 1970 and we finally get to the Sonett III. The Ford V4 engine remained but Saab gave the Sonett a complete redesign (which included the addition of those manually popping headlights). The super cute III remained on sale for four years and just over 8,000 were built, with later versions like this one getting an updated 1.7-litre V4 as opposed to the original 1.5-litre unit. Sadly, US regulations meant power couldn’t change with the enlarged engine, so the 1.7 still made a heady 65bhp.

Just have a look at that interior, though. Simple but perfect. And no doubt you’ll have spotted the 75,000 miles on the clock. So, who’s going to buy this thing and lend it to us for evermore? Anyone?

Images: The Market