1964-1974 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
Eric (in Vt) was great help in both getting me to decide to take the plunge to buy my '73 and offering advice after the fact. He can offer much more advice than I - but I find it impossible not to promiote the Sonett!
My car cost about twice your budget but came with extensive engine rebuild with lots of performance modification, a rebuilt gearbox, new dual exhaust, restored interior, a nice paint job and full service records right back to the original bill of sale. All the work was done by the best Sonett & V4 guys out there. All work done in the last four years. Car was a Texas car, always garaged and has no rust to speak ok. So I suspect you can get a decent car for $4K-$5K and do much of that that work yourself. Time is money but working on an old car is really rewarding (I'm working on restoring an MGB GT right now). It's actually pretty rare a fully restored Sonett to come on the market. The prior owner put at least $5K more into the restoration than I paid for the finished car. I could afford it at the time and count myself lucky to have found one.
I'm 6' tall and fit OK. Not possible to enter or exit the car gracefully but once in it is pretty comfortable. Much easier for the passenger who doesn't need to squeeze in around the steering wheel.
Keep in mind this is a 1970's sports car - not a 2010 Porsche Boxster or even a late 1980's Miata. Original stock '73 Sonett had just 65HP and a 0-60 speed of 13.4 seconds. Unless your car has been modified your number will be even lower/slower. The soccer Mom in her minivan will be quicker off the line - with the soccer team in the van. But once you are in it - oh what fun to drive. The car can be modified to perform better with a 2 barrel carb, induction system, cams, overbored, exhaust, etc. Mine will do 0-60 in a little under 10 seconds and hit 98 HP on a dyno while still below advised redline. But those are not changes I'd pay for. I suspect the stock car is fun enough to drive as is. Spend the money on making it reliable
As for the late year bumpers. Yup - ugly as sin and not going to do much to proctect you or the car in anything other than a parking lot bump. However, the car is so small and low the chances of somebody backing into you are higher than if you were driving an Escalade. Without the bumper you are looking at some expensive fiberglass work even if somebody just taps the front or back of the car. Some day I want to get up and see Eric's custom tubular set.
If you are ever in Central Massachusetts come see my car. Maybe we can hop in and do a road trip up to visit Eric and his old Saabs in Vermont.
FYI - the proper spelling is Sonett, not Sonnet. Derived from the Swedish translation of Så nätt den är, which means "how neat they are". Perfect name!
posted by 68.171.143...
, Tue, 6 Jul 2010 10:56:43
, Wed, 30 Jun 2010 06:02:11
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