A Saab 9000 converted by Robert Solstad into a flatbed transporter with a removable camper module has appeared in an unusually uncompromising sales setting. Rather than being offered by a specialist dealer or presented at a collector-car auction, the vehicle is being sold through an executive auction conducted by Sweden’s Kronofogden, the Swedish Enforcement Authority.
The auction vehicle is listed as a 1991 Solstad Saab 9000 CDT, registration LAA118, with a recorded mileage of 10,478 Swedish mil, equivalent to 104,780 kilometers or approximately 65,100 miles. The Saab carries an auction estimate of 40,000 SEK, while Swedish automotive publication Carup reports that bidding opened at 25,000 SEK.
Those figures may initially make the Solstad conversion look inexpensive. The photographs and the official condition report explain why the estimate is restrained: the vehicle was not started or function-tested before the sale, its inspection expired in September 2023, one tire is flat, wiring hangs loose beneath the dashboard, and the detached camper body has several potentially serious defects.
A Saab 9000 Cab Attached to a 3.6-Meter Working Platform
The front section remains immediately identifiable as a Saab 9000, although almost everything behind the front cabin has been replaced by Solstad’s specialized structure.
The original passenger-car body ends behind the doors, where an extended chassis supports a flat platform measuring approximately 360 centimeters long and 210 centimeters wide, or roughly 11.8 by 6.9 feet. The auction photographs show the Saab and camper separated, making the construction much easier to understand than when the complete vehicle is viewed with the accommodation module installed.
This is not one of Solstad’s better-known six-wheel configurations. The auction car appears to retain four wheels, with the long rear frame carrying a rectangular flatbed rather than the tandem rear-axle arrangement seen on many of his transporters. That distinction matters because the Solstad name is often used as shorthand for every six-wheeled Saab transporter, while his workshop produced several different chassis and body arrangements.
Kronofogden lists the vehicle’s curb weight at 1,600 kilograms and its permitted gross weight at 2,510 kilograms. Carup additionally reports that it is registered in Sweden as a light truck, rather than as a passenger car or conventional motorhome. Power comes from a gasoline engine connected to a manual transmission, although the auction listing does not identify the engine version or confirm whether the drivetrain is operational. Three keys are included.
The Camper Is a Removable Body, Not a Permanent Motorhome Conversion
The accommodation unit is a separate structure designed to be loaded onto the Saab’s flatbed. With the module removed, the 9000 can theoretically operate as a transporter; with it installed, the vehicle becomes an unconventional Saab-based camper.
Kronofogden confirms that the module contains seating, a table and sleeping spaces. SaabPlanet previously documented this Saab 9000 camper in considerably more complete form, describing a four-person interior with heating, a bunk, cooking facilities, a toilet and a double bed positioned above the cab.
The auction report is more cautious. It does not confirm that any of those systems remain complete, connected or functional. The current description only guarantees the presence of the basic seating, table and sleeping layout.
That difference is important for a prospective restorer. The camper should not be evaluated simply as a dirty cabin that needs new upholstery and a weekend of cleaning. The auction staff reported that the floor felt poor while the body was being moved, suggesting that deterioration may extend into the supporting structure rather than being limited to visible interior finishes.
The bottom of the forward sleeping section is also broken, and a sofa or seat inside the living area is damaged. Since the over-cab portion projects forward beyond the main body, repairing it correctly may require rebuilding its internal frame, not merely replacing a panel.
The Vehicle Has Not Been Started for the Auction
The most consequential sentence in the official Kronofogden listing is brief: “Not started or function-tested.”
That wording leaves every major mechanical system unresolved. The auction documentation does not establish whether the engine turns, whether the fuel system is usable, whether the clutch and transmission operate, whether the brakes function or whether the extended chassis’ electrical and pneumatic components—if fitted – remain serviceable.
The Saab has been without a valid inspection since September 22, 2023. That does not prove it has stood unused continuously since that date, but it confirms that a buyer cannot treat the car as a currently road-legal vehicle ready to drive away.
The loose cables beneath both the driver’s and passenger’s sides of the dashboard add another layer of uncertainty. They could belong to removed accessories, camper connections, auxiliary lighting, an alarm, a charging system or equipment installed during the conversion. Without a wiring diagram or a functioning test, the buyer will need to identify each circuit before attempting to power the car.
Kronofogden also states that the owner’s manual and service book are missing. For a standard Saab 9000, replacing the handbook is straightforward. For a Solstad conversion, missing documentation is more significant because the most valuable information concerns the non-standard frame, body mounts, electrical additions and approval specifications.
Robert Solstad’s current company website notes that build records and specifications survive for approximately 50 converted vehicles and invites owners to make contact using a car’s registration number. For LAA118, that may be the most productive first step for whoever wins the auction.
Why the Solstad Name Still Changes the Calculation
The low estimate should not obscure the engineering history behind the vehicle.
According to Robert Solstad’s account of the company’s history, the first Solstad Saab was built from a Saab 99 in 1987. The original goal was unusually specific: create a transporter that could be driven on a Swedish category B license, carry approximately 1,700 kilograms and retain the normal road-speed allowance of the period.
The first vehicle was sold before completion, followed by another, and the operation grew from a one-person business to a five-person workshop. Solstad says contacts within Saab subsequently helped provide access to new Saab 9000 Turbos, laboratory facilities, brake testing and certification support.
The company’s work expanded far beyond privately commissioned transporters. Solstad records the construction of Saab ambulances, newspaper delivery vehicles, animal ambulances, funeral vehicles, police vans and car carriers. The workshop also participated in the creation of the first Saab 9000 CS Combi, commissioned for Swedish entrepreneur Bert Karlsson.
The camper at Kronofogden belongs to that broader body of work. It should not be grouped with improvised flatbed conversions in which a passenger car was cut apart without documented engineering. Solstad’s vehicles were intended to be inspected, registered and used as working machines, with the chassis, brakes and legal classification considered as part of the conversion.
SaabPlanet’s earlier features show how widely that formula was adapted. The Solstad Saab 900 six-wheeler represents the classic three-axle configuration, while the later Saab 9-3 car hauler demonstrates how the idea continued with newer Saab platforms and purpose-built vehicle transport equipment.
LAA118 occupies a different branch of the same history. It was designed to carry its own accommodation body rather than another car, while retaining the possibility of using the platform separately.
A 40,000 SEK Estimate Is Not a Solstad Market Value
The 40,000 SEK estimate reflects this vehicle’s present uncertainty, not a general valuation for Solstad-built Saabs.
In 2024, a much better-preserved Saab 900 Solstad transporter sold for 316,000 SEK. That example had covered only 28,826 kilometers and was presented as a complete, functioning collector vehicle. Its result showed that buyers will pay a substantial premium when a Solstad conversion combines low mileage, usable condition and convincing documentation.
The Kronofogden car stands at the opposite end of that spectrum.
Its mileage is still reasonable for a 1991 working vehicle, but mileage is not the main issue. A buyer must budget for recovery transport, recommissioning, electrical diagnosis, tire replacement, brake inspection, possible fuel-system work and a complete assessment of the extended chassis.
The camper then requires its own restoration plan. The weak floor and damaged forward bed structure should be examined before anyone attempts to mount the module back onto the Saab. Water ingress, rotten timber, corroded fasteners or failed bonding between the outer shell and inner frame could turn an apparently localized repair into a substantial rebuild.
Carup reported on July 31 that no bids had been placed more than three days into the auction. That was a snapshot at the time of publication, not confirmation that the vehicle remains without bids. The auction page updates bidding dynamically, and activity may change before closing.
The Sale Conditions Favor a Swedish Buyer
International Saab collectors face a practical barrier even before transport and registration are considered.
Kronofogden requires a Swedish personal identity number or organization number to register as a bidder. Transferring ownership of a vehicle also requires a Swedish identity or organization number and a Swedish address. That effectively means an overseas buyer would need an eligible Swedish person or company involved in the transaction rather than simply registering and bidding from abroad.
Payment must be completed within two days of the auction’s conclusion and can only be made by card or Swish. No buyer’s fee is added, but Kronofogden does not provide shipping. The buyer assumes responsibility for arranging collection and transport.
The public viewing is scheduled for August 4, 2026, from 2:00 to 2:30 p.m. at Propellervägen 9 in Kalmar. Collection is scheduled for August 19 from 11:00 to 11:30 a.m. at the same address.
The auction closes on August 5, 2026, at 10:06 a.m. Swedish time. A bid placed during the final two minutes resets the remaining time to two minutes, preventing a conventional last-second bid from ending the sale immediately.
Sold Exactly as It Stands
Kronofogden’s terms leave little room for assumptions. The Saab and camper are sold in their existing condition, without guarantees concerning function, origin, quality or authenticity. There is no ordinary right of withdrawal, and the buyer cannot cancel the purchase simply because additional defects are discovered later.
For that reason, the viewing in Kalmar is not a formality. The strongest bid should come only after examining the chassis extension, platform mounts, corrosion points, camper floor and forward sleeping section. The engine should be treated as non-running until proven otherwise, regardless of how complete the Saab looks in the photographs.
Yet the vehicle also presents an opportunity that cannot be recreated by purchasing an ordinary Saab 9000 and improvising a rear platform. LAA118 already exists as a registered Solstad conversion with a detachable camper body and a documented history extending back to 1991. Its problem is not lack of identity. Its problem is that years of deterioration now stand between that identity and renewed use.
A careful restoration could return it to the role Solstad intended: a Saab 9000 capable of arriving as a transporter and becoming temporary accommodation once its living module is loaded. A careless purchase could leave the buyer with two difficult projects occupying separate sections of a workshop.
The estimate of 40,000 SEK therefore describes only the entrance price. The true cost will be determined after the first inspection beneath the flatbed, the first continuity test under the dashboard and the first close look at the camper floor.
Should actually be scrapped.
The front structure may not be able to handle 2 cars, 1 truck and one on the roof!