History
GM purchased 50% of SAAB Automobile in 1989 and the second 50% in 2000. Many of the cars from the SAAB Museum were moved to the GM “Heritage Collection” in Detroit but interest waned in SAAB as GM’s financial situation worsened. Many Heritage cars were culled from the collection in 2009 including the SAAB 96T3 and shipped to the Auction House in Scottsdale, AZ. It was sold to an auto mechanic from California who wanted it for parts. The auto mechanic removed the transmission, seats and some other parts but eventually sold the rest of the car to a SAAB enthusiast from California who intended to rebody his old 1967 SAAB 96V4. He eventually moved to Oregon and the 96T3 went along with him. With his new job and other constraints on his time, he found he would be unable to complete the planned rebody project and agreed to sell the car to Wes Verkaart of Duxbury, MA. Once again the 96T3 was on a truck; this time to the East Coast. Wes had the intention of restoring what he assumed was a 96V4 but when he received the car he realized it was oddly different.
Research revealed the car had been a skunkworks project undertaken by a small team of SAAB Engineers in the mid 1980’s … after production of the SAAB 96 had ended! SAAB market research had determined there was still strong interest in the 96; particularly in Finland and other Scandinavian markets where attempts to sell a SAAB-Lancia 600 as a replacement had failed dismally. The skunkworks project centered around a lightweight Turbo 3-cylinder engine (993cc aluminum block, fuel injected Suzuki G10 Turbo) that SAAB would have been able to source thru GM’s association with Suzuki. The same engine was used in the Geo Metro, Chevrolet Sprint Turbo and Pontiac Firefly. Use if this lightweight modern engine could restore the SAAB 96’s 50/50 weight distribution as originally designed while simultaneously improving reliability and performance. Furthermore, the use of a turbocharger as standard equipment fell neatly in line with SAAB’s technological direction at the time. Wes decided to restore to SAAB 96T3 to its original form.
For this car, T stands for Turbo so T3 = Turbo 3 cylinder.
Some people may believe the T stands for tillförlitlighet which means reliability.
There was a special 2-stroke model in 1965 called 96 T Sport. That model was meant only for sale to rally drivers and the T for that model did stand for tillförlitlighe.
Some people may believe the T stands for tillförlitlighet which means reliability.
There was a special 2-stroke model in 1965 called 96 T Sport. That model was meant only for sale to rally drivers and the T for that model did stand for tillförlitlighe.