As the link mentions, there was a very low-production Sonett I competition car in the mid-1950s. The Sonetts that concern us today are the Sonett II (1966-69) and Sonett III (1970-74).
The United States was the target Sonett market. In addition to Wikipedia's entry content (as of early September 2026), I suspect a reason for Saab's dropping the Sonett line was the prospect of increasing costs required to deal with safety-related and other regulatory requirements in the USA.
All images below are via Bring a Trailer Auctions.
Very early Sonett IIs were powered by Saab's two-stroke inline three motor. Most had Ford V-4 engines. The design has 1960s sports car coupé features such as a flowing fender line and "power bulge" on the hood, but the overall impression I get is that the appearance is rather crude.
Sonett IIIs received a more professional styling effort, mostly in the form of a refined front end. The black horizontal lines under the grille opening are the front bumper sections.
Long hood line, with the driver's head positioned aft of center.
Besides the changed front end, a small side window was added abaft of the B-pillar, and the area behind it blanked off.
The latter point is more clear when seen from this perspective. Here, the backlight window is large and panoramic.
Now the backlight is smaller, becoming a hatchback entry point. Aft end detailing is more conventional and attractive, complementing the frontal changes.
American regulations required substantial bumpers, so final-year Sonetts got that large slab. Also a 1973 grille design a little more in line with Saab 96 passenger cars.
The backlight window is fixed in place, so I don't know what those two bright round spots by its forward edge represennt.
A view of the Sonett II "chassis."
Sonett IIIs had a small, but more conventional hood design, unlike what you see here.
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