The Golden Saab Sonett II V4 of Lasse Lönndahl, Lost for Decades and Found by Accident

Some Saab stories survive not because they were carefully archived, but because a few people simply refused to let them fade. The story of the Golden Saab Sonett II V4 once owned by Lasse Lönndahl belongs firmly in that category – a tale reconstructed from registry notes, chance conversations, and a locked garage that stayed closed for more than twenty years.

The Sonett II V4 in question was built in 1968, during the short but intense final phase of Sonett II production, when Saab had already transitioned from the fragile two-stroke Sonett II to the Ford-powered V4 configuration. Externally subtle but mechanically decisive, the V4 brought a bonnet bulge, revised cooling, and a different driving character – less experimental, more usable, yet still unmistakably Saab.

A registry alert and a missing VIN

The story resurfaced through the Saab Sonett II registry, maintained in Sweden by Bert, whose work has quietly kept track of surviving cars for decades. A message arrived from Switzerland: someone was looking for a specific Sonett II believed to be in Sweden, identified as VIN 436. The problem was simple – and frustrating. No one could find it.

Among those drawn into the search was Hans Lundström, himself already an owner of a rare golden Saab Sonett II V4. Weeks passed, leads went nowhere, and the VIN remained elusive. Then, in a moment that only classic-car archaeology can produce, the breakthrough came not from paperwork, but from a coffee conversation in a small Swedish town.

A carpenter, a forgotten garage, and a closed door

A friend – by trade a carpenter – casually asked Hans whether he still owned his Sonett. When told yes, he mentioned something almost offhand: years earlier, while building a garage, he had seen a Saab Sonett inside. The owner, he said, had passed away long ago.

That single remark changed everything.

Tracking down the son of the former owner took time. When contact was finally made, the answer was both simple and astonishing: the Sonett was still there, untouched, and had not left the garage for at least twenty years. A meeting was arranged. The door opened. Inside stood a Saab Sonett II V4, complete, original, and in remarkably good condition.

The VIN was checked.

Not 436 – but 536.

They had been searching for the wrong car.

A famous name emerges

The real surprise came not from the chassis plate, but from a box of documents that accompanied the car. Registration papers revealed that this Sonett had once belonged to Lasse Lönndahl, one of Sweden’s most recognizable singers of the post-war era – and, as it turned out, a devoted Saab enthusiast.

The license plate added another layer of intrigue: A99999. In the 1960s, celebrity association mattered, and distinctive registration numbers were part of the image. Period photographs confirm Lönndahl posing casually with the Sonett, the car clearly presented as both a personal choice and a public statement. At the time, such appearances were often encouraged – sometimes subtly sponsored – by manufacturers eager to associate their cars with modern cultural figures.

The bonnet bulge visible in the oldest photos leaves little doubt: this was indeed a Sonett II V4, not an earlier two-stroke variant.

Two golden Sonetts, built days apart

Negotiations followed, and the car changed hands. What makes this discovery almost surreal is what happened next. Hans now owned two golden Saab Sonett II V4s – his original car and the newly rediscovered Lönndahl Sonett.

Even more remarkably, factory records show that both cars were built in the same production week, with VIN numbers separated by only a small margin. Same color. Same model. Same moment in Saab’s most experimental era.

Today, both cars survive in exceptional condition, not as restored showpieces stripped of context, but as historically anchored artifacts – one carrying the quiet weight of celebrity ownership, the other standing as its near-twin.

A legacy that stayed on the road

Lasse Lönndahl passed away two years ago, but his Sonett endures. As Hans himself notes, the car now rests safely in his garage, preserved not as memorabilia, but as a living reminder of a time when Saab was unafraid to put a fiberglass sports car into the hands of a singer – and let the image speak for itself.

In a brand history full of engineering firsts, this story stands out for a different reason. It shows how Saab’s cultural footprint extended beyond test tracks and rally stages, into everyday life, chance encounters, and garages that waited patiently for the right moment to open again.