Test Drive: 2011 Saab 9-5

By Kevin Harrison

My dad has an old toaster that has got to be from 1960. It was given to him as a gift from his mother to help him get started when he moved out on his own. That was a very nice gesture but I’m sure my grandmother, if she were still alive, would have expected him to have gotten rid of it by now with a more modern one.

But no. It’s still in the kitchen and it still is being used. It also works about as well as a Whoopi Goldberg starring in a pornographic movie. Either it doesn’t toast the bread at all or it will burn it more times than Letterman burns Leno. It’s also terribly unsafe. Every time it pops the toast up after being “finished” there seems to be blue sparks that fly out. And when you unplug it, the same thing happens.

In every measurable sense your toaster is probably better than my dad’s. Except it isn’t. While your toaster may be able to exceed dad’s toaster in, well, everything, one thing I guarantee it doesn’t have is character. There’s a history and a quirkiness that goes along with dad’s toaster whereas you just bought yours at The Bay.

The same can be said for Saab. BMW, Audi, Mercedes-Benz and Infiniti all make tremendous sports sedans. Sure some can be argued to have character, but do they have the history and quirkiness that Saabs have?

What other car company can say they’ve come within a hair of certain death and live to tell the tale for instance? Thanks to Dutch car company, Spyker, Saab has beaten the terminal illness that GM administered it.

The first new model to come out of a revived Saab is the 9-5. Was it worth it, or should Spyker have just left Saab to die?

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Sneak Peak: Saab 9-4X

Set to officially debut at the Los Angeles Motor Show in November, a Saab nut over at Saabs United was actually able to snag a pic of the production version.

Now under the ownership of Spyker, it seemsthings are chugging along quite nicely for Saab after being dangerously close to death. Spyker seems to be respecting the overall Saab design philosophy that makes Saab such quirky loveable cars.

Since this Saab was planned and developped under General Motors, it actually shares the same platform as the Cadillac SRX. It is expected to get possibly the same 2.8 litre turbocharged V6, however the 2.0 litre turbocarged inline four found in the 2010 9-5 is also a possibility, what with efficiency being on the mind of everyone. As the ‘X’ in the name suggests, AWD will be standard.

[Saabs United]

Saabs Back On Canadian Roads in September

Saabs have not been sold in Canada since 2009 and contrary to popular belief, the reason why had little to do with the brand being put on life support before Spyker could fall back on the tired cliche of saving Saab just in the nick of time.

What actually happened was its dealer and government importation agreements expired here and they weren’t renewed since it looked like Saab was done like dinner.

As a result, Spyker pretty much needs to start from scratch bringing Saab back to our country. According Saab Cars of North America president Mike Colleran, “Canadian Saab consumers are fiercely loyal. I get letters on a daily basis from Canadians asking ‘when’s Saab coming back?”

Didn’t know Canadians had such a thing for Saabs. In any event, the first model to be sold on our soil will be the newly redesigned 9-5 flagship sedan meant to be a 5-series, E-Class, A6 and S80 competitor. It will arrive at the end of September.

Next up will be a revised 9-3 in October, then the 9-4X crossover. Can’t wait to try them all out!

[The Globe & Mail]

Spyker to Revive 9-3 Hatcback?

The sale of Saab to Spyker was finilazed today, so now we can all breathe a sigh of relief and start the fun process of drumming up new possible models for the former terminally ill Swedish brand.

Among the models rumoured to return is the beloved five door hatchback version of the 9-3. This makes perfect sense to us as premium hatches are on their way back to popularity with the Mercedes-Benz B-Class, Volvo C30, and Audi A3 proving Canadians’ interest. Lexus’ CT 200h is around the corner and BMW is going to jump into the fray as well.

The previous generation hatch only 9-3 was well known for swallowing up just about anything you put in the back, which was one of its many good selling points.

Spyker is also rumoured to continue on with the new 9-5, 9-3X wagon and the somewhat unfortunate 9-4X. All we ask is that they bring back Viggen models like the one you see pictured above. There was no hope of GM doing it, but it seems there is a bit more hope with the Dutch behind Saab’s proverbial wheel.