How many ponies do you think is too many to route through a car’s front wheels? Today’s Saab is claimed to rock around 350 horses and is FWD. Let’s see if that’s over the limit and whether its price is too.

There are a handful of vehicles that, if properly maintained, should last… well, nigh-on forever. Old Volvos, Mercedes W123s, Toyota Hilux trucks… they all seem invincible.

You could likely add last Friday’s among that list of god-like cars and trucks. That’s a model of simplicity and durability right there. And, with its torque-forward Cummins 12V six it should prove adept at towing small planets and other necessities as well. At $6,800, it hauled in a solid 68 percent Nice Price win proving good value among its laudable attributes.

Speaking of hauling, who here doesn’t like hauling ass? That’s what I thought. When it comes down to putting the pedal down, almost all of us like to have something big happen as a result.

Here we have a that, based on its ad’s description at least, should impress when that loud pedal is pressed.

Now, before we get into the specifics of how all that is accomplished, I’d like to take a moment to point out the ad itself. I’m not entirely sure that the seller is trying to sell this sweet Saab, or if he’s simply using it as an excuse to rub our faces in the rest of his collection and his awesome lift-equipped garage.

Geez, fella, we get it, you’re living your best life.

I’m pretty sure that sitting in that stable of cars is the reason theis Saab is on the market. The seller says the 9-3 needs to go as it has been replaced in both his heart and garage by a new car, and sure enough in one pic there’s a shiny new Volvo XC30 sitting in the background. He also apparently maintains a Cayman and MKII Jetta/Golf so color me impressed.

I’m also a bit smitten with the Saab itself. It does rock a heady 187,000 miles on the odo, but save for some abrasion on the air dam the bodywork doesn’t seem to show them. Smoked lenses cover the tail lamps and side markers, but otherwise, it all looks to be stock. Black painted 17-inch double-spokes underpin. There’s no word on how much tread is left on the tires wrapping those.

That could be “not much” seeing as the car appears to be a rocker. The stock driveline here is a turbocharged 2.8-litre V6, an engine that was once lauded by Wards as one of the world’s best. That’s paired here with fairly rare six-speed stick driving the front wheels. In this Combi that engine’s been amped with an ECU tune and opened up intake and exhaust (still with the cat, nicely). According to the seller, that gives it around 350 horses, and says the car “is pretty fast with the tune, and surprises a LOT of people.”

Other pluses include a leather two-tone interior that looks to be in great shape, a new airbag from Takata and the claim that everything works as it should, including the often recalcitrant sunroof.

When I was but a young sprout a lot of my older car buddies decried the shift in cars from simple mechanical controls to those run by these mysterious new electronic boxes. Since then, however, things have changed. Making cars go faster these days can be as simple as remapping a computer, and that can almost be done from a mobile phone. There’s still plenty of opportunity to turn a wrench if you’re into such things, but unlike my curmudgeonly cohorts of old, I really like the ease with which extra power can be found and applied.

I also like how that’s been done on this Combi Saab. If you’re also onboard you’ll probably be wondering what just such a fast wagon might cost. The asking price on the 9-3 is $4,700, which admittedly is a good bit of bank for a GM era car from the now-defunct Swedish maker.

That being said, this seems not only to be a good car but one that’s had some tasty mods that should keep it competitive with its more modern—and expensive—challengers. With that in mind, what do you think of this horse-heavy Saab and that $4,700 asking? Is that a deal for a nice Combi with benefits? Or, is this 9-3 priced as high as its ponies?

You decide!

Harrisburg, PA , or go if the ad disappears.

H/T to smhersh for the hookup!

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