V4 Page

A New Sonett

Here we are, summer is here for a while. Although it waited until we were packing up to go home after the Club’s first weekend meeting - still, the rain kept the dust down. We turned up at Bangor without a Saab (there is always one!) as the Yellow peril is still waiting for an MOT so that we can go to Denmark in it.

Now where did I leave off at the end of the last article? Oh yes, I remember, I said I hope to have done some work on my 96's by the next mag, or I might just go out and buy another. I bet you the next part will not come as a surprise!! I did not buy a 96 but another V4 - a 1969 V4 Sonett. But all I have to do now is a bit (???) of welding and put the boxes of bits together, paint and pop on the body and away we go. Well that is the theory……

I saw this Sonett fail to reach its reserve on eBay twice, then I emailed the seller, Stuart Yallop, who lives in Surrey. He gave me the low-down on the car. This Sonett was made in 1969 (I explained to Lorraine that that must be an omen as that is the year we were married - ever the romantic…) then imported from the USA in 1973. I went down to see the Sonett, it was a 200 mile round trip. A deal was struck and plans were made on how to transport it.

As there were so many parts an open trailer was obviously not suitable, so I hired a long-wheelbase Luton van. Stuart had the Sonett body up on trestles, about the height of the floor of a Luton van, so I decided to make a wheeled trolley. In theory we would lift the body on to the trolley wheel it down the drive, slide it from the trolley into the back of the van and then when I got it home I should be able unload it by myself, wheel it into the workshop and it would be ready to work on!

I made the trolley one morning…at work…and brought it home quite proud of my effort. I left it on our drive to show Lorraine when she came home from work. (But last summer I promised Lorraine that I would make her a wonderful rose arch. So when I showed her what I had made she made a few comments like “It’s a little bit low to walk under” and “It’s the first rose arch I have ever seen with wheels on” - I think it’s called sarcasm!) Anyway the trolley worked a treat and I got everything home safe and stored away ready to “do” over the winter months.

A lot of work had been done to the mechanical components and the lower body sand blasted. The car had been owned by the Lumsden brothers. It had been sold to Stuart when one of the brothers emigrated to Mexico. They had bought the car in 1988 and carried out a lot of work on the mechanics with a rebuilt engine to 1530 cc (Sport and Rally Group 2 spec, 38/44 mm valves, heavy valve springs, polished rods, big bore exhaust (Jetex) and twin choke Weber) giving it about 100 bhp. It was used on many events then was stripped in 1995 for restoration. This was how it was sold to Stuart along with a lot of new panels from USA Saab specialist Jack Ashcroft - including a front-end strengthening kit as used on Jack’s racing Sonetts. Has anybody got any information on this kit? Stuart had the suspension parts blasted and then repainted and has restored the dash panel with its crinkle finish and included a “loverly” Moto-lita wood rim steering wheel.

A thought crossed my mind the other day, I could always put the engine and gearbox into my old 96 Souvenir and try them out, much better than leaving them unused in the shed. If I do, I will let you know next time.

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