The last Saab to leave the Tröllhattan factory has sold at auction in Sweden for SEK 465,000, or around £37,500. Built in 2013, the almost unused 9-3 was offered for sale by National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS), which acquired Saab’s assets upon the firm’s collapse in 2012.
The car is a silver Aero Turbo saloon with the 217bhp 2.0-litre engine, which was intended for crash test purposes and set aside from customer models. It’s been parked up ever since, with around 40 recorded miles on the clock and was the final new 9-3 to leave the factory. Its new owner is Danish enthusiast Claus Spanggaard, who picked the car up on November 15.
Saab originally ceased production of the 9-3 in 2011 with a new model in the pipeline, but the firm collapsed in 2012. Production of the 9-3 resumed under NEVS in 2013 but ended just a year later, with only 420 units having left the factory.
The Tröllhattan factory, based around 75km north of Gothenburg, opened in 1947 and began producing the Saab 92 in 1949. A new EV version of the NEVS 9-3 was due to be produced at the plant, but this is yet to happen despite production commencing in China. The 9-3 is now set to be Chinese market only, with new models intended for Europe from 2020.
Proceeds from the sale of the last Saab will be donated to NEVS’ Sustainable Mobility Scholarship at Sweden’s University West for research into zero-emissions travel.
