Lot Ended
Description
Ex-press car; enthusiast owned; magazine featured; stainless steel
exhaust; 23 service stamps; funky two-tone interior; advisory-free MOT; rare
model in super condition
Supplied new by Saab Great
Britain Ltd in April 1999, this rare 9-3 Viggen Turbo was originally a press car
and would have been featured in various magazines when new. There is an October
1999 issue of Auto Express in the history file which has a 5-page feature on
this very car when it was pitted against a Volvo C70 T5 Coupe.
Both had a 2.3 Turbo engine and 5-speed manual transmission, the Saab
producing 225bhp and costing £31,000 while the Volvo had 240bhp and cost
£32,465. The Saab got to 60mph in 6.9 seconds while the Volvo took 7.3 seconds,
both cars being limited to a 155mph top speed. While the testers loved the pace
of the Saab, the instant throttle response, the interior cabin space and the
level of equipment, they gave the winning vote to the Volvo for its better ride
quality and more effective brakes.
Our vendor, a Saab enthusiast,
acquired this car in 2021 from a private collection, as recounted in another
magazine article on file. It had been on static display for almost three years
at this point so it needed a bit of recommissioning which included a cat back
stainless steel exhaust system, engine crankcase ventilation system, new clutch
kit and new tyres, the mileage at this point being
112,386.
It has now covered 127,268
miles and comes with an excellent service history including no fewer than 23
entries in the service book, the last in June 2025 at 124,334 miles which
equates to an average service interval of 5,400 miles (see
photos).
There are also many dozens of
invoices for work carried out over the years, noteworthy recent bills being for
a new timing chain and tensioner in 2022 at 114,400 miles and a re-gas of the
air con in June 2024. It has an MOT until June 2027 with no advisories recorded,
along with 21 old MOTs to further warrant the
mileage.
As you can see in the photos,
this pampered Saab is in unusually good condition for its year/mileage, with a
funky black and orange leather interior, the only real blemish we noted being a
couple of small bubbles under the paintwork at the leading edge of the bonnet
(as pictured).
Said to drive as well as it
looks, it has been starting instantly and running well as we have moved it
around on site, with 35.1mpg on the onboard computer (we are told that it will
do 40mpg on a run).
Believed to be one of only
around 85 in the UK, this well-historied Viggen is ready for a new owner to
enjoy.
Consigned by James
Dennison – 07970 309907 – [email protected]