Follow us on TwitterHere It Is: Saab 9-5 Leaked (Again!)
With all the talk about the new Saab 9-5 and the importance it is for the struggling automaker, we’ve seen a lot of renderings and spy shots of the car. Recently a CGI produced by Saab for promotional materials (it’s standard fare for automakers) got leaked on the internet. Needless to say, interest is high.
And why wouldn’t it be? The current Saab 9-5 has soldiered on without a major redesign since the car debuted in the Spring of 1998 for the 1999 model year. That’s a long time, especially for a mid-size sedan like the 9-5 that’s supposed to do battle with the 5-Series, E-Class, etc. The 9-5 gives us the best look at what Saab wants to be – let’s take a look.
These aren’t renderings, that’s for sure. These are the real thing! Autozeitung, a German auto magazine, is who started these leaks. SaabsUnited reports the embargo date on these images for late August. So it’s clear Autozeitung just wanted to be the first to be out the gate with these new images, breaking the embargo in the process. The magazine’s cover was caught by forum member at MotiveMag.
Not to be outdone, Autobild released a whole group of pictures (the ones you are looking at). I don’t know about you guys, but I’m impressed! I love the styling, it takes a lot of cues from the Aero X Concept and combines them into a very handsome looking sedan. Totally unique – exactly what a Saab should be! I want one! Also, I’ll let you know when I can locate some high resolution wallpapers of this car. I know what car is going to be up on my desktop….
That is such a brilliant-looking car. The only thing going against it? Front wheel drive. It deserves better (despite Saabs always being FWD, I know).
The styling is fresh and unique, while paying tribute to the venerable 900. You can almost make out the classic, 900 shape in the profile before the shoulder, which, combined with that unique C-pillar, creates just enough tension to break things up. It really is a stunning car.
I’d also like to point out that the instrument panel looks AMAZING.
To Brian, It comes in all wheel drive ( i.e. XWD) so not only front drive.
Chris
I agree Brian it would be cool to have RWD – you should check out the Saab Revitalization in Action project I helped work on. We had a Saab model to compete with the 7-Series.
But – FWD or not, I want one!
Again it will be in AWD. I don’t want people reading this and thinking it is only a FWD car when that is not true. (XWD pronounced cross-wheel drive)
Yes, Saab’s XWD system is excellent. He was just referring to the cars standard arrangement. If I was getting one I’d probably go for the all-wheel drive system. What’s even more interesting is that on the Turbo X, the eLSD lets power be transferred individually between the two rear wheels as well.
No worries, ELBOBO, I know there will be an XWD variant available.
As the owner of a Swedish car, I have respect and admiration for the folks from Trollhättan. I was initially looking for a clean, black 900 turbo back in the day, but was scared off by their, um, unique FWD layout. I went with the sure-thing: The 240 wagon. Not as pretty, but equally wonderful.
Looks like you’re an Alfa man as well? I suspect we’ll get along fine, then!