Bilweb Auctions opens its August calendar on August 5, 2026, with 23 collector cars, and three Saabs appear consecutively in the running order: a 1978 Saab 96 GL 1500 at 10:50, a 1999-registered Saab 9-3 SE 2.0T at 11:00, and a 1998 Saab 9000 CSE A50 at 11:10.
That alone would make the sale worth following, but the three cars have little else in common. The 96 represents a completed restoration and late-V4 ownership; the 9-3 combines unusually low mileage with one of the stronger engines available in the regular OG 9-3 range; and the 9000 is a final-year anniversary car whose value lies as much in its family history as in its specification.
Bilweb has become a useful barometer for the Swedish Saab collector market. SaabPlanet has followed everything from the SEK 401,000 sale of a restored 1964 Saab 96 Sport to the recent 1984 Saab 99 GL “Malin” time capsule. These three August cars occupy a much more accessible part of that market.
See Bilweb Auctions’ complete August Auction 1 catalog
1978 Saab 96 GL 1500: Three Years of Restoration, Then Very Little Use
The first Saab across the block is also the one on which the largest amount of restoration work has already been carried out.
The current owner’s late husband bought the 1978 Saab 96 GL 1500 in 2015. It was then still finished in its original light-brown color and required rust repair. Instead of treating individual areas, he undertook a nearly three-year body and mechanical restoration, completed in 2018. Several body sections were replaced, with welding also carried out underneath and around the rear suspension mounting areas.
After completion, the Saab was used mainly for short drives and classic-car gatherings. Its odometer now shows 22,052 km. With a 48-year-old car that figure should be treated as the displayed mileage rather than automatically assumed to be documented lifetime mileage, but the more relevant point is that the car has seen limited use since its restoration.
Under the hood is the familiar 1,498cc Ford V4, rated here at 68 hp. That figure is significant for a 1978 car. The late 96 received a twin-choke carburetor for the 1977B model year, raising output to 68 hp, while 1978 brought the larger front indicator assemblies, enlarged rear lights and other detail revisions visible on this car. The excellent Saab 96 V4 model-year guide at SaabMuseum.com places it firmly in the final evolutionary phase of the model, just two years before 96 production ended in Finland in January 1980.
This particular 96 is not a factory-original restoration, and that distinction is worth making. It has a sport exhaust, three auxiliary lamps, a Saab sports steering wheel and a supplementary tachometer. The badly worn original front seats were replaced with a more supportive pair believed to be from a Volkswagen. The rear vinyl seat and dashboard have survived considerably better.
That separates it from cars such as the exceptional 1964 Saab 96 Sport that SaabPlanet followed at Bilweb in 2025. That car eventually reached SEK 401,000; this GL is aimed at someone wanting a sorted late V4 rather than concours-level historical specification.
Bilweb reports that the engine, gearbox, clutch and brakes work properly, and the car passed its Swedish inspection on July 2, 2026. It is now inspection- and tax-exempt in Sweden. There are minor paint imperfections and a couple of small bubbles around a rear-fender edge, but no major structural issue is identified in the auction inspection.
Bilweb estimate: SEK 65,000–75,000.
View the 1978 Saab 96 GL 1500 listing
1999 Saab 9-3 SE 2.0T: The Important Number Is 205, Not 1999
The Morello Red Saab 9-3 SE is perhaps the car that deserves the closest look at its specification sheet.
Bilweb lists it as a 1999 car because it was manufactured in September and first registered on December 20, 1999. Technically, however, it is model year 2000, something confirmed by both the auction data and its VIN. More importantly, Bilweb records 151 kW / 205 hp and a five-speed manual transmission.
That puts a rather different complexion on what initially looks like an ordinary five-door SE.
For MY2000, Saab’s B205R 1,985cc turbo engine produced 205 hp, while the B205L made 185 hp and the Viggen’s 2.3-liter B235R sat above it at 230 hp. Saab’s own technical data reproduced in the Saab Workshop Information System confirms those outputs.
For readers wanting the broader model context, SaabPlanet’s first-generation Saab 9-3 overview covers the MY2000 transition to the B205 engine family and Trionic 7. SaabPlanet has also previously featured the B205R in 205-hp form in a low-mileage OG 9-3 Aero Coupé.
What makes PBM277 especially attractive is that the drivetrain has not been separated from a good ownership history. The car has covered only 91,239 km, and Bilweb says its long-term keeper acquired it in February 2000 and drove it until May 2025, when his wife took over. Only about 6,000 km were added during the last ten years. The original handbook, completed service book and two keys remain with the car.
The specification is also pleasantly restrained: Morello Red metallic, color code 276, light cloth upholstery, ACC, BBS wheels, tow bar, engine heater and cabin heater. There is no visual attempt to turn it into a Viggen or later Aero.
The faults are equally straightforward. The ACC display intermittently loses pixels and the air-conditioning system needs attention, while the body has stone chips, minor paint loss on the hood, a small longstanding dent on the C-pillar and an early rust indication at the left-rear dogleg. Bilweb otherwise describes the original paint and interior as well preserved.
For an OG 9-3 buyer, that combination – 205 hp, manual gearbox, 91,239 km and roughly 25 years with the same principal user – is considerably more interesting than the SE badge initially suggests.
Bilweb estimate: SEK 45,000–55,000.
View the Saab 9-3 SE 2.0T listing
1998 Saab 9000 CSE A50: Final Model Year and One Family From New
The Saab 9000 CSE A50 2.0t requires more work than either of the other two cars, but it has the strongest provenance.
The A50 story starts with Saab’s 50th anniversary in 1997. The anniversary 9000 received two-tone leather with the classic Saab aircraft emblem, distinctive wheels and a wood/leather steering wheel. The following year became the 9000’s last; according to the SaabMuseum 9000 model-year archive, only the CS body remained for MY1998.
SaabPlanet revisited that final period when marking 40 years of the Saab 9000, while another 9000 Anniversary featured on SaabPlanet shows what these cars can become when enthusiasts take the performance route. This Bilweb car is almost the opposite: a largely standard 150-hp 2.0t manual that remained in normal family use.
Bilweb describes it as having one user and one owner family from new. Swedish registration data lists three registered owners, so “one-owner” would be technically inaccurate; one-family history better describes the provenance. Most of its 205,650 km were accumulated during the first 10–15 years, after which annual use became very limited.
There is even a remarkably specific trace of that history inside. The driver’s leather backrest shows minor wear because, according to the owner’s wife, her husband habitually drove wearing suspenders. There are no holes, and Bilweb believes leather treatment could improve it.
Mechanically, the engine, manual gearbox and brakes are reported to feel sound. The air conditioning works, a new battery has been fitted and the exhaust was replaced recently. The reasons for the much lower valuation are the illuminated ABS and airbag warning lights, corrosion around both rear wheel arches and the right rear quarter, exterior scratches and 12-year-old Michelin tires. Its inspection validity also expired on July 31, leaving the car with a driving prohibition until that is resolved.
This one therefore needs to be bought on the condition of its structure, not on the A50 badge alone. But a 1998 manual 9000 anniversary car with continuous family provenance gives a restoration project something that cannot be recreated after the fact.
Bilweb estimate: SEK 25,000–30,000.
View the 1998 Saab 9000 CSE A50 listing
Which One Makes the Strongest Case?
The 96 GL has already absorbed the expensive part of classic ownership: a substantial body and mechanical restoration. Its deviations from factory specification will matter to purists, but its SEK 65,000–75,000 estimate is a fraction of what the best early 96 Sports have recently achieved.
The 9000 A50 is the cheapest and the riskiest. Rust, warning lights and expired inspection cannot be treated as minor details, but its final-year specification and one-family history give it a clear reason to preserve.
The 9-3 SE is the standout of the three. A five-door OG 9-3 with 91,239 km, documented long-term ownership, original Morello Red paint and 205 hp through a manual gearbox is precisely the type of car that used to disappear into the general used-Saab population. There are fewer of them left now, and this one has reached auction before modification, heavy mileage or corrosion took over.
Bilweb closes the three Saab lots within twenty minutes of one another on August 5, 2026. Their estimates – SEK 65,000–75,000 for the 96, SEK 45,000–55,000 for the 9-3 and SEK 25,000–30,000 for the 9000 – should make the final results useful reference points for three very different sections of the Saab market.
