Would you buy a 2-Stroke Saab?

While browsing FB Marketplace this morning I came across a weird old Saab 96 from 1967.  It appears to be in very good shape for the age, engine and transmission have been rebuilt within the last 500-5,000 miles.  How long it took to accumulate those miles I'm not sure yet, likely a long time.  There is minor rust where the floor and firewall meet that would need repaired, but the seller has the car well documented and I don't see any other trouble spots.  The interior and body all appear to be in good condition.  

I like off beat old cars so this is up my alley, but certainly much different that any 60s American car that I've been the care taker for.  I would use it for around town and back roads only, I don't think it would fare too well on the open highway.  What do I need to know before I go look at this car?  I found a decade old thread here about Saabs, but I'm not sure how much the parts and support situation has changed in the last 10 years.  Where can I go for information?

It looks similar to this one:

Hell yes!

Is this one of those with the freewheeling clutch?

In reply to Slippery (Forum Supporter) :

I think all of the 2 stroke Saabs after the very earliest ones have the freewheeling clutch setup.

From what I am reading all 2-stroke cars needed the free wheeling system to keep from damaging the engine on long down hill stretches without much fuel and oil.  This car has it.

No.

Unless I had a spare liter bike engine that needed a home.

I give it a solid yes it's a good idea. 

Absolutely.  They're neat.

In a second. 

Yes-  but don't plan on getting anywhere quickly.  It's hard to convey how slow these are. Even when hopped up.  One the PHA guys races one of these.  I was downright painful when he went past a corner at full song.  How something could make so much noise and still go so slow... 

Personally, I'd rather have a V4 version. Preferably the 95 wagon.

In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) :

850cc and up to something like 1/3 of the air and fuel that went in, went right out the exhaust unmolested by combustion.  Yeah, not exactly a recipe for performance.

I had a 2 stroke wagon a long time ago , 

it ran but not well , probably more my fault , 

My friend has a 2 stroke DKW that runs pretty good but fumigates the neighborhood , 

Will smoke free 2 stroke oil help ?  I know they made it for 2 stroke bikes years ago.

And someone said they work great with a supercharger !

I say go for it.  The freewheel transmission is a little weird at first.  Once my Sonnet is done, I would like to get an earlier Saab.  

I would in a heartbeat. 

I would channel my inner Erik Carlsson.

My old Paw had one, the hotrod Monte Carlo version. His favorite story was how one fine day he was parked at a light when all suddenlike things got real loud as a brand new 427 Cobra came to a stop in the other lane. So he cleared the Saab's throat- RRRRING DINGdindingding and the Cobra driver and passenger looked over and lolled and he blipped the throttle and Dad swore the Saab rocked sideways a bit. Everyone is laughing their butts off, the light changed and Paw floored it and left the Cobra in the dust.

All the way past the crosswalk on the other side of the intersection. He says the cobra passenger was laughing so hard he thought the guy was gonna fall outta the car. The Saab purred like a cat all the way home. Buy it. Go Cobra-hunting, on *very* short venues...

stanger_mussle (Forum Supporter) said:

I would in a heartbeat. 

I would channel my inner Erik Carlsson.

=)

Just don't too carried away!

If the body is good, why not a V-4?

I'd totally go for it. I'd also hop it up. Of course I'm racing a two stroke car so I may be biased.

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) :

850cc and up to something like 1/3 of the air and fuel that went in, went right out the exhaust unmolested by combustion.  Yeah, not exactly a recipe for performance.

Sounds like you are describing a rotary, perfect!

In reply to Slippery (Forum Supporter) :

That’s what I thought when I read this

How something could make so much noise and still go so slow..

There were oil injected engines with three carbs in some models, The Monte Carlo and the Special Sedan.

I had a 65/66 Special Sedan.   Did not need the free wheeling,so I locked it out.  DD and I did some racing with it. 

 Fun car.

If it isn't rusty, then of course you should buy it. Lots of potential for a fun but painfully sloooooooooooooow ride.

Slippery (Forum Supporter) said:

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) :

850cc and up to something like 1/3 of the air and fuel that went in, went right out the exhaust unmolested by combustion.  Yeah, not exactly a recipe for performance.

Sounds like you are describing a rotary, perfect!

Rotaries are very much like two strokes in certain aspects, even if they are four strokes.

I think the move from the 850cc two smoke to the Ford V4 was mainly due to emissions reasons and the fact that the buying public was starting to reject two strokes in Europe, and not for power reasons. 
 

My understanding is that all 95s and 96s have free wheel transmissions, not only the strokers. It's just that the strokers need them.

Now where is the build thread?

In reply to BoxheadTim (Forum Supporter) :

There was a thread recently about a Sonnett, where the freewheeling feature was discussed.  I assume all non-inline four SAABs had it.

Nitroracer (Forum Supporter) said:

From what I am reading all 2-stroke cars needed the free wheeling system to keep from damaging the engine on long down hill stretches without much fuel and oil.  This car has it.

Yes and it is why if you are taking your two-stroke bike or quad to the dyno, make sure the operator knows what they're doing when dynoing one. Or else they're going to chop the throttle and you're going to hear a squeak.

I think it could be a neat project; so I fall in the "Do it!" camp. My dad's first car was a two-stroke 96, and the stories he tells make it sound like a lot of momentum car fun. He upgraded from 750cc three speed to 850cc four speed, and later to Monte Carlo spec. He has stories of ice racing in a series where the classification was studded tires with engine-over-drive-wheels, studded tires with engine not over drive wheels, non-studded tires with engine not over drive wheels, and non-studded tires with engine over drive wheels. He ran in the latter group and did OK, or at least a lot better than his studded-tire SAAB counterparts did when they were both facing a competitor in an early 911.

He also tells tales of 24-hour wintertime TSD rallies, including one where he lost his muffler, trying to meet the challenges of the rally while also trying not to wake the entire community when rolling through little towns along the way. He recounts stopping once on a snowy/icy hillside to heed the call of nature, and the car drove up the hill fine, stopped on the side of the road fine, and he stepped out, slipped and fell, and started sliding down the hill as the car remained parked.

He said that when traveling on a winding two-lane following a slow truck, if it seemed like there *might* be a chance that the exit of the next curve lead into a straightaway, the only chance to maybe execute a pass was to downshift and floor it in preparation to pull out into the oncoming lane on corner exit. If the road was clear, he might be able to pass. It'd not, it was a light brush if the brakes and pull back in to safety.

He also has stories of the rust being so bad that a suspension attachment point broke off and punched a hole through the floor of the car when it was a used car about ~6-7 years old...so actually you should forget it...old, slow, potentially rusty...who would want such a thing?