One of the Last Pre-Production 9-5s From Saab’s Bankruptcy Auction Can Be Yours for $18K

Miss the Saab bankruptcy auction in 2013? Here's your shot to buy one of Saab's last prototypes ever.
www.thedrive.com

Share

If you look up the definition of “loyal,” you’ll probably find a picture of a Saab fan. The brand is dead, but the fandom is anything but. If you have a buddy who says “born from jets” too much and constantly brings up that one Peter Peter Hughes album about Juan Manuel Fangio, we found the perfect distraction. One of the final pre-production Saabs from the company’s bankruptcy auction is up for sale. 

Up for sale on my favorite place to search for weird sub-€500 beaters, Mobile.de, is this lovely manual Saab 9-5. Per the listing, it has the a 1.6-liter turbocharged four-cylinder good for 180 horsepower (although the listing says 179). From the outside, it looks completely normal except for a bright blue X on the trunk. Keep thumbing through the photos and you’ll find out why. There’s a plaque from the KVD auction house affixed to this car that reads, “Sold at Saab bankruptcy collectible auction 2013. Not allowed to be used in traffic.” 

message-editor%2F1609916284510-xsaab_970x546.jpg
mobile.de

According to the seller, this is the third-last Saab 9-5 pre-production test car that was made. Clearly, they’ve found a way to use it in traffic anyway, as the listing claims it has 33,500 kilometers (20,816 miles) on its odometer and the car has German license plates that definitely wouldn’t have come with it at aucdtion. Its inspection expires this month, though, so maybe now is the perfect time to seek out a clean Florida title instead of putting it through Germany’s notoriously tough inspection again. 

There isn’t much detail on this car’s ad itself, although there’s plenty on its initial sale at Saab’s bankruptcy auction online. While the last Saab 9-3 was just sold in 2019, the final Saab 9-5s went to auction in 2013. 

message-editor%2F1609916509884-d.jpg
mobile.de

The final 9-5 was developed primarily under General Motors’ ownership of Saab but built under Spyker’s ownership, and when GM ceased licensing out its technology that went into the 9-5, that was the end of the model. 

This is a right-hand-drive model. No model year is specified in the listing, although the seller says that it’s from the last model year that was no longer produced. It could even be a 2012 model, as several 9-5 sedans were produced as 2012 model year cars before production ceased, according to KVD’s December 2012 list of bankruptcy auction cars posted on the Saab 9-5NG SportCombi and 9-4X website, which includes a listing for very similar car: 

message-editor%2F1609915044246-screenshot2021-01-06at12.35.32am.png
Screenshot via Saab 9-5NG SportCombi and 9-4X

The Drive reached out to the seller out of curiosity on this, but if that is the original listing for the car, the owners have certainly been enjoying it after it left the Saab factory. 

This black-on-black right-hand-drive special is currently listed for $18,326 U.S. (€14,900), although the listing says that’s negotiable. The seller says that he wants to focus on the older Saabs in his collection, hence the sale, and that more information is available upon request. 

You can view the full listing (with more photos) on Mobile.de here.  

[H/T Team Radar Love!]

Got a tip? Send us a note: tips@thedrive.com