Photo: Auto Trader
Not long time ago, we showed you a rare example of a Saab SUV sporting an LS V8 from a Corvette. If that didn’t satiate your appetite for quirky Swedish metal from a company no longer in existence, maybe try this on for size.
The 9-3 Viggen borrows its namesake from one of Saab aviation’s finest achievements, the J37 Viggen multi-role jet fighter. A jet so powerful and so sophisticated, it was actually able to achieve radar lock on to an SR-71 Blackbird spy plane. The fastest and most top-secret jet in the American arsenal. Thank heavens that the Swedes were American allies.
Now, clearly, the Viggen aircraft and automobile don’t share much in common besides a name and the company which built it, but if sports cars and fighter jets are meant to be fast, agile, and well put together, then both did a very respectable job.
The 9-3 Viggen featured a turbocharged two-liter four-pot engine pumping out 230 horsepower and mated to an old-fashioned five-speed manual gearbox.
Good enough for zero to 60 miles per hour in six seconds flat. Not quite as good as the top speed of the Viggen jet of over twice the speed of sound, but more than enough for long interstate road trips.
Sporting 56,900 miles (91,571 km) on the odometer, there are a couple of dings and scratches spotted throughout the bodywork, likely collateral damage from the chaotic roads of the New York metro area. Overall though, such a conservative amount of mileage for a 20-year-old car is not bad at all.
This little nugget of Swedish magnificence can be yours via a private seller in Larchmont, New York, just north of New York City, for just $6,200. A fair amount less than the $45 million price for a brand new Viggen fighter jet in its day. Safe to say, the fuel costs for the car are significantly less than the jet as well.
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