Here in the northeast, Saabs are a fairly common sight. Although the number of Saabs on the road has certainly dwindled in the past decade, rarely a day goes by that I don’t see a 9-3 sedan or 9-5 sedan or wagon on the streets of Boston.
Beacon Hill, with its yuppies and million dollar historic townhomes, is full of Saabs. Which is why what I though was a black 9-5 wagon, parked up the street a little ways, didn’t stir much excitement for me. But as I was getting closer, something about its proportions just didn’t seem right, until. . . It’s a 9-4X! An actual Saab 9-4X casually parked on a Beacon Hill side street!
Now I should let you know I actually have seen two of these on the road before. However, they were moving so this is the first one I’ve ever seen up close. I haven’t been able to find the exact number of completed 9-4Xs that made it off the production line, as the numbers online vary. The highest number I was able to find was less than 600. And I doubt all of those were sold in the U.S. I think it’s safe to say that the 9-4X will go down in history as the rarest production-model Saab.
The 9-4X not only shared its architecture, engines, and many other components with the second-gen Cadillac SRX, but was built along side it in Mexico, not in Trollhättan, Sweden. So although not a “true Saab”, the 9-4X was certainly a better effort than the lackluster “Trollblazer” 9-7X. At least the 9-4X was given completely unique sheet metal, as well as a totally different interior than the SRX. No one would be mistaking this Saab for a Cadillac; or a Chevrolet Trailblazer, GMC Envoy, Buick Rainier, or Oldsmobile Bravada.
The dash design was in typical Saab cockpit style. Similar the new 9-5’s, it was very monotonous with subtle, yet attractive wood trim on base and premium models or carbon fiber trim on Aeros. Engine choices were either a naturally aspirated 3.0L V6, standard on base and premium trims, or a turbocharged 2.8L V6, standard on top-line Aero models. In typical “European car” fashion, base 9-4Xs were equipped with leatherette upholstery. Leather was standard in premium and Aero models. All-wheel drive was available on base and premium, standard on Aero.
Saab’s death was like a slow, painful disease. After being fully acquired by GM in 2000, Saab suffered a decade of product starvation and declining sales. With its well-known financial troubles in 2008, GM began looking to dump Saab. After talks with several international buyers failed, in early 2010, GM was eventually able to find a buyer for Saab in Dutch supercar-maker Spyker. As part of the agreement, GM would continue to supply engines and transmissions to Saab. They would also continue to build our featured CC, the 9-4X, in their Ramos Arizpe, Mexico factory. The first fully redesigned Saab 9-5 in 13 years also entered production at Trollhättan during this time. However, Saab remained on life support, as Spyker struggled to fund what they’d gotten themselves into.
Saab officially filed for bankruptcy on December 19, 2011. They hadn’t produced a vehicle in their Trollhättan factory since April of that year. Rumors have been buzzing ever since then about new buyers. Most recently it was announced that a Hong Kong-based company purchased Saab’s assets and is planning on building electric vehicles based on the 9-3 in Trollhättan within next year or two. Although it would certainly be amazing if a vehicle actually makes it off the assembly line, I won’t raise any hope until I see one on the streets of Boston. Until then, rest in peace Saab!
According to Wikipedia, about 500-600 of these were ever made.
“No one would be mistaking this SAAB for a Cadillac or a Chevrolet Trailblazer…”
Or a SAAB either, for that matter
We will now find out just how good the CC effect really is! If I can find a 61 Buick in my bank parking lot on the day we ran one here, maybe a 9-4x will cross my path soon.
About this line – “No one would be mistaking this Saab for a Cadillac; or a Chevrolet Trailblazer, GMC Envoy, Buick Rainier, or Oldsmobile Bravada.” – – – Don’t forget the Isuzu Ascender! I had one cross my path about a year ago and did not take time to get pictures. I am still kicking myself. The first 9-7x I find gets the snot photographed out of it. I think that the trim, etc was more Bravada than anything else, from what I remember.
Saabs today sort of remind me of Studebakers in the late 60s. Someone who knew the cars could drive really, really cheap because demand for used ones evaporated. Same with these. A friend used to sell them, and they still come in on trade at the dealership where he still works (that now sells other brands). He picked up a very nice 9000 Turbo for peanuts and because he knows them very well, he is having a blast on a budget.
people who live across the street from me have an Ascender….want me to get a few pictures?
I would love to write up an Ascender. After doing the Hombre, I see my future specialty as chronicler of oddball badge-engineered Isuzus! I will send you my email address if you can get some good pictures.
I parked by an Ascender yesterday at the drug store. The nameplate on the side caught my attention as I got out of my car. There was someone sitting in it so I didn’t feel like giving it a good once over or taking a picture.
Mr. Bill
Hamlet, NC
Yes the platform that launched a thousand iterations the GMT360.
Chevy TrailBlazer
Buick Rainier
Oldsmobile Bravada
GMC Envoy (and Envoy XUV!)
Saab 9-7X
Isuzu Ascender
I’ve always been amazed there was never a Pontiac, Saturn, or Cadillac version of that platform, that would have spread its costs out over ALL the brands.
The Saab version will be “interesting” at car shows in 20 years. Sort of like seeing a “Packard-baker” at a car show in the 1970s.
JPC is right BTW, any of these vehicles that share mechanicals with much more common models are bargains on the used market because of the badge on them. Luckily parts (except body parts) are not a problem.
As long as I was prepared to consider the vehicle a total write off if it was in an accident, I wouldn’t mind one of the luxury versions of the GMT360 (Oldsmobile Bravada, Buick Rainier, or Saab 9-7X) as a quiet competent AWD cushy cruiser.
FYI did you know the Buick Rainier is one of the least traffic ticketed vehicles on American roads?
Yes, the GMT360 may be the most widely copied vehicle of recent times. I see a Jeopardy question here. “Saabs for $300, Alex.” “The only Saab with an inline six cylinder engine.” “What is the 9-7x.” “Correct for $300.” 🙂
Only one with a V8, as well, right?
I thought all 97’s were V8’s?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saab_9-7X
Although I would have felt silly spending that kind of money for a vehicle based on a TrailBlazer without getting the maximum number of cylinders.
You burst my bubble, Carmine. The inline 6 was always my favorite feature of this platform. If I can’t get a 9-7 with a 6 (9-7-6?) I don’t want one at all. 🙁
jpc: You can have have a 9-7-6; they did make them; now you just have to find one.
Anyway, given that 3=6 in two stroke parlance, all the three-pot 93s and 95s count, at least in number of firing strokes per revolutions.
I can’t believe I forgot about the Ascender! There are so few Isuzus of any kind out on the road, it slipped my mind. I did have a Rodeo Sport (formerly Amigo) driving in front of me the other day.
Ascenders seem uncommonly common in Hawaii, for some reason.
Maybe I just notice them more since they were never sold up here in Canada. Who knows.
The 9-7x Aero remains one of the most hilarious vehicles ever to be produced.
The ultimate SAAB:
http://www.saabgroup.com/en/Air/Gripen-Fighter-System/gripen-fighter
It has a Volvo engine, however (a licensed GE F404-400).
Actually China’s BAIC announced its first SAAB-based car, the Senova, a couple of days ago. Sites reporting on this seem to disagree on whether the 9-3 or the 9-5 is the platform, most simply highlighting the fact that Nicholas Cage appears in a silly commercial for the car …
http://www.autoevolution.com/news/nicolas-cage-s-chinese-car-commercial-is-embarrassing-video-59469.html
No one’s mentioned the “Saabaru” 9-2x. I’ve seen a couple at my Subaru mechanic’s shop. I’ve mused about getting one as an oddball WRX-in-disguise.
How about a manual transmission version to make it really rare… 😛
That could be done, I’m sure (the SVX auto trans is swapped out for a WRX manual almost routinely).
I snapped this picture of one yesterday while I was photographing another CC car. There’s actually a house I pass on my way to work that always has a 9-2X and 9-7X in the driveway. Apparently those people were fooled by badges into buying “Saabs”. I’ll have to get a picture of these.
Or, they had a sense of humor, which would be my reasoning for grabbing one…;)
I test-drove an Aero when these were new–it was during GM’s ’employee pricing’ spree and the thing was stupid cheap after discounts, around $20K.
As you’d expect, it felt and drove just like a WRX. But one interesting detail was that it had the steering rack from the WRX STI (quicker, if no more feelsome). And the 9-2X had more sound deadening, so it was quieter. It would’ve made a nice upgrade package on the real WRX.
Wonder what it would take to turn one into an STi-engined sleeper? Not much, I’m guessing. (Might be a workable alternative to my ongoing SVX obsession…)
I’m sorry to be negative here, but sometimes there are good reasons why car companies die.
My former 2000 9-3 Saab was the worst car I’ve ever owned. This includes the several inexpensive cars I bought when I was in my teens — including a Vega. Saab’s build quality was nonexistent because trollhatten apparently didn’t have any quality control, even for incoming parts.
My new 9-3 was delivered to me with the head and the flywheel both cracked. I had seven sudden (and dangerous) mechanical failures at speed on California freeways before the car had 35K miles. At 62K, the water pump failed and cost $3200 to repair. You don’t want to hear what everything else cost to fix.
But enough of all this fun. I respect Saab’s design and drivability, but these cars should never be built again. They are simply a way for a large company to extract money under false pretenses (aided and abetted by our excreable fraternity of captive auto journalists), from individual buyers who purchase these cars in good faith.
So sorry you had that wretched experience! My daughter’s 2000 9-3 is wonderful! It only has 117k miles now, but, other than an ignition cassette in ’08, has had no repairs outside of tires and brakes, etc.
My 2001 9-5 wagon went 210k with no major repairs at all, although the fuel pump quit then, and the brake booster, clutch, and turbo were looking iffy, so I sold it. My ’06 9-5 has 130k and the gas gauge is getting flaky, so maybe there is something to this “unreliable” thing after all!
I wonder how GM resisted the urge to turn this 9-4 into a Buick? It almost has a Rendezvous like stance with the raked C-pillar/rear window.
Saabs should’ve been Oldsmobiles. Born from jets, born from rockets, close enough!
Seriously though, the post-hatchback Saabs would’ve made great Oldses. To me, the last 9-5 is the reincarnation of the 1st-gen Aurora.
(Personally, I think Buick should’ve been the Brougham brand, leaving more sporting vehicles to Olds… I would’ve liked to see GM have a “V” instead of a ladder: everyone starts at the bottom with Chevy, and then grows into Pontiac then Oldsmobile, or you go from Chevy to Buick to Cadillac.)
I just saw one of these with my wife in Chicago. I commented to her that it must be the only one in the country.
(BAIC) Beijing Auto bought platforms and some other technology from SAAB. They’ve come out with a sedan based on the 9-5, so the car continues to live on, sort of.
http://chinaautoweb.com/2012/11/baic-shenbao-d320-c70g-a-saab-9-5-variant-2012-guangzhou-auto-show-in-pics-4/
Incidentally, their pitchman for the car is Nicolas Cage. If I’m getting this straight, the “Senova” is a new name for the car in the link above. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-27/nicolas-cage-hired-by-china-s-baic-motor-to-promote-senova-cars.html
I have no opinion on their quality, but I think the last 9-5s are strikingly attractive cars, free of the excessive sculpting that is currently trendy.
I would kill for a 2nd generation Saab 9-5 Sportcombi (station wagon). Sadly, only prototypes & preproduction models were made before Saab’s untimely bankruptcy.
I thought so too. In August 2011, I stopped at the Caddy-Saab dealer in Rockford and got brochures. The salesman I talked to said it seemed that Saab was starting to right itself. Too bad it didn’t work out.
I bet the brochures are as rare as the cars themselves!
I didn’t even know the 9-4x existed. The last SAAB dealership in Houston is also (still) a Cadillac store. I suppose it might have had a 9-4x and SRVs on the lot at the same time. That would have made for an interesting side-by-side comparison.
IMO the 9-7x is an abomination. I realized when I saw my first Ascender at the auto show it was the beginning of the end for non-commercial Isuzus in the U. S. When I learned that its cousin, the TrailBlazer had a wheelbase only one inch shorter than a Suburban I thought “What’s the point!”
My favorite non-SAAB SAAB is easily the SAAB-aru, the 9-2x. A friend of mine had one and another friend had a WRX. I thought the 9-2x was much nicer and well appointed.
The Richmond Saab dealer was also Cadillac and Subaru. Which made it interesting seeing the WRX’s and 9-2x’s parked near (never alongside) each other. By the way, they still support the car.
Strange how GM acquired Saab about the same time they announced they would discontinue Oldsmobile. Even in a bad year, Olds would still produce about 200K cars annually . . . . Saab – maybe 55K. What a joke! Poor Oldsmobile. Poor Saab.
Surprising to see a surviving 9-4x.
Another aborted Saab, who didn’t past the prototype or clay model stage was the 9-6x, another “Saabaru”, a rebadged Subaru Tribeca, back when GM had a stake in Subaru. http://www.worldcarfans.com/111071835030/saab-9-6x-concept-unveiled—six-years-after-being-axed
Is it true new Saabs were selling for about 50 cents on the dollar at the end?
I like the dash layout. It feels Sweeping and modern.
the rarity increases my interest in this model 100%.
Saabista here. As much as I loathe all things GM, and although evidence shows that GM starved SAAB of new product much like they did Saturn, basing the last gen 9-3 on the Epsilon 2 platform (modified from Opel) greatly increased SSABs reliability over the pre-2003 models.
While my 2004 Aero convertible only has 45k miles, it’s still solid, fast, and handles great. Yeah I dread when/if any trouble light comes on….or the headliner drips hydraulic fluid (pump lines/valves for the top)…but with the top down, and a color to compliments its flowing lines (mine is black), it’s still a head turner.
Fair warning – sell your Subaru stock now. I have a Trooper, and they went away. I have a SAAB, and they went away. I’m about to buy an Outback, so….
I love the 9-4X’s design. Had they stuck around longer, I would have considered one seriously. But they weren’t 40% off at the end of the SAAB ride like the 9-3 and 9-5 were…
There are still a few available NEW if you look on Autotrader….
Thinking worrying SAAB – GM crossbreeds is not complete without the Cadillac BLS and BLW.
This was a version of the last 9-3 (based on the GM Vectra platform) re-clothed to align with Cadillac’s prevailing house style, aimed mostly at Europe one imagines. Not exactly a great success – around 6000 produced in 2006 and 2007 for example. Production officially ended in 2009; sales some time later one suspects. There was a wagon badged BLW as well.
So, a Cadillac, built in Sweden, based on a platform shared with GM Europe, many US GM brands and even Fiat (the Croma) was not a success. Go figure, as they say.
And here’s the BLW
I have noticed that SAAB used the same basic dashboard design for years.
I test drove a new full size wagon in the late 1980s. I was not really impressed but thought the ignition placement was a unique feature.
Still haven’t managed to find one of these in the wild, but Carfax tells me this example has moved to a better car climate in VA Beach.
Here is a 2011 SAAB 9-4x Aero currently for sale. (As of 11/11/2022), and it can be owned for around $16k US. From what I understand,…there were very few of the 9-4x’s with the AERO Package.