Scandinavian invaders conquered much of northern England over a thousand years ago, and the Danes came to rule the old Roman city they called Jórvík. The Danelaw is a thing of the past, but during my visit to that city (now known as York) a couple of months ago, I stumbled upon some ancient Scandinavian treasure in a scrapyard: a Saab 96, as rusty as a long-buried iron Viking sword but still recognizable.
During my scrapyard explorations in England, I saw very few cars built before 2000 (with some notable exceptions), and these old Saabs are cool, so I took some photos.
The Saab 96 was initially built with a three-cylinder two-stroke engine, but in 1967, Saab started installing the Ford Taunus V4 engine in these cars, which is what can be seen here.
The odometer indicates that the car had nearly reached 100,000 miles (or maybe more, it’s hard to tell with a five-digit odometer).
The interior of the car was filled with mildew, even in freezing Yorkshire winter weather; the smell could be detected from a couple of rows away.
Although not in restorable condition in its current state, the Saab 96 has many fans in Britain.
Would you put the horse behind the cart? Of course not, which is why you wanted a front-wheel-drive Saab 96!
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