http://jalopnik.com/5876892...ed-from-saabs-museum

There's an estate sale going on in Trollhättan, Sweden. Saab is dead and now they're selling off the 123 vehicles in the Saab Museum. Here's the full list of cars, and the 20 coolest ones you should keep your eye on.

Saab started out as a small, strange carmaker run by engineers always willing to test out a new idea and build a new prototype. That means their museum is full of little automotive oddities like electric postal vans, plastic sportsters and canopy-roof concept cars. On top of that, Saab had a strong tradition of taking their production cars rallying, so there are tons of racecars all the way through the 1980s.

It's a toss-up for the star of the show. The last bastion of Swedish minimalist awesomeness to come out of Saab was the Aero X concept, at least barring last year's controversial PhoeniX, which is curiously not for sale. The Aero X is part of the museum auction, so you could pick it up all its slidng-roof, biofuelled, Opel-engined gloriousness on its own, or as part of the whole museum if you're feeling bullish.

All 123 Cars Being Liquidated From Saab's MuseumThe history buffs out there will have their eyes set on one car and one car only, and it will be the 1946-1947 UrSaab. This first car is where Saab began, and with humble origins, at that. The 18 horsepower comes from a German-sourced DKW two-stroke engine, but that engine is wrapped up in an awesomely aerodynamic shell, as efficient as anything built at that time.

If you happen to be a wealthy Swedish engineer with a taste for amazing old cars (and we know for a fact there is at least one Jalopnik reader who is), you should check out the fine print of the sale on the official .pdf document. For everyone else who is contemplating an extremely low-mileage addition to their garage, or just lusts after odd old Saabs, you can see the full list of vehicles below. Here are our top 20:

Jalopnik's Top 20

1946-47 UrSaab The first Saab prototype, with a 2 cylinder, 2-stroke German DKW engine and only 18 horsepower.

1952 Saab 92 rally replica A replica of Greta Molander's 1952 rally car, with which she won the Ladies Cup at Monte Carlo.

1956 Saab 94 Sonett This is the first Sonett. It weighs 1100 pounds and sports a GT750, 57.5 horsepower engine.

1957 Saab 93 rally replica A replica of Eric Carlsson's 1957 rally car. He raced this replica in the 2010 Mille Miglia with Victor Muller. It has a 750cc engine putting out about 50 horsepower.

1959 Saab 93 "Monster" A light-weight Saab 93 with two 748cc engines mounted together into a two-stroke six with over 100 horsepower.

1960 Saab Formula Junior No.1

1960 Saab Formula Junior No.2

1965 "Catherina" A personal project of Saab's designer, Sixten Sason, to build an experimental sports car.

1965 Saab MFI 13 Built by a pair of aircraft designers independent of Saab, this coachbuilt prototype was adopted by Saab and made into the basis for the Sonett II.

1966 Saab 99 Toad The last remaining prototype for the Saab 99, based on a widened Saab 96.

1967 Saab 96 Monte Carlo V4 previously owned by Prince Bertil of Sweden

1967 Saab 96 V4 rally car Driven by Erik Carlsson in the 1970 Baja 1000. It has a 1.5 liter, 150 horsepower engine.

1974 Saab 98 Prototype Built on a Saab 95a chassis.

1976 Saab-Scania Electric Postal Van

1977 Saab 99 Multikaross prototype camping van

1984 Saab 900 EV-1 A 2+2 wedge concept car with a composite body and a 285 horsepower turbocharged engine.

1988 Saab 9000 T16 Joystick prototype It has a joystick to replace the steering, brakes, and accelerator. More info at SaabsUnited

2001 Saab 9X concept car

2003 Saab 9-3X concept car

2006 Saab Aero X concept car

Wow, I had no idea SAAB actually produced some really cool cars at one point. Kind of sad to see a historical collection split apart like that.

While I enjoy some of the Saabs, I was pretty dissapointed with my mother's latest experience with her 2006 9-3 aero. The damn coil spring broke! This issue is well known to Saab but not its customers. Apparently there have been several thousand break and Saab did not issue a recall. They had a service bulletin stating that they will replace the part for free... thats great and everything but it doesn't help much when the broken spring punctures your tire and you lose control of your car on the highway. Now they refuse to pay related damages on her car.

I've never owned a Saab, but I am always nostalgic for things like this... I am kind of saddened by this news actually. I guess I still had hopes that Saab would eventually get bought again, or something. If they're selling their entire museum, then it really is the end.


Todd

That's just sad. I'm not a fan of Saabs but it is truly terrible to see a company's entire history auctioned off like that.

My dad always told me they were crap cars regardless of how nice they looked for their price. I never got a chance to really find out for myself.

It's a shame that such a storied brand could succeed so well in one of it's ventures and fail so miserably in the other. This too, is a Saab:

The AeroX concept is sexy..

I'm really bummed that Saab won't be coming back. Never particularly liked them, but it's sad to see any company die.

Moral of the story? When the Big Guys come knocking, DON"T SELL! I believe if they'd never sold to GM, they'd still be around. Smaller, but still around. Saab would've been able to make it on its own as a very small niche marketer, but once absorbed in GM, then saddled with billions in debt, it became something nobody wanted, or could afford to save.

I'm not blaming GM in particular. Just that when you're part of a bigger company, you're just one more nameplate, and not important. In Trollhaten, Saab was very important.

How long before Chrysler suffers the same fate?

Wait, I though Saab was doing great. That is what all the socialist have been telling us...right up until the workers showed up to a locked gate. Yeah, that government messing with the economy thing has such a great track record.

quote Originally posted by maryjane: It's a shame that such a storied brand could succeed so well in one of it's ventures and fail so miserably in the other. This too, is a Saab:

Are those sidewinders and mavericks, or do I have no idea what I'm talking about?

I believe the smaller ones on the outboard pylons are AIM-9 Sparrows, and the larger two inboard are AMRAAMs.

Mavericks are much shorter and fatter. Somebody more familiar with them will be able to corret me if I'm wrong.

(In a prevoius life, I built the launcher rails those things are hanging from. Not the missiles themselves. Sigh. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride.)