Article: The new Saab 9-3 that was going to save Saab Automobile

[nordwulf]

You can view the page at http://saabworld.net/content.php?r=9...g-to-save-Saab

[Warren Demontague]

I know it's blurry, but I don't love it. It looks like they couldn't decide whether to make it look like a hatchback or a sedan and ended up with a weird mutation of both.

[nordwulf]

It looks like the Saab 900 4 and 5-door with that droopy rear-end. It appears the rear-end came from another car being an after thought. I am curious what the front looks like but don't love it either.

[Warren Demontague]

Yeah, that specific type of negative curved slope in the back is a strong Saab cue from the 80's. But I'm looking at that rear three-quarter view and it looks very awkward. The proportions are way off - they're evoking design cues from a small car from a different era and putting them on what looks to be a much longer car. Like they took a three box sedan design and lazily tried to tie it up with a hatch to give it some Saab cues.

[nordwulf]

It's water under the bridge but I still very much prefer Simon Padian's designs before the Muller/Castriota era.

The good old GM days..

[Dave T]

The rear of the car does look a bit strange. However, Saab 4 door cars don't have a history of looking the best. The current 9-3 is the best looking 4 door, in my opinion, but the 9000 were also good. The classic 900 3-door is one of the best looking Saabs. Part of the attraction to Saabs is the well thought of functional design.

I think that cars got progressively better looking for the past 30 years until around 2005 but has recently become uglier. In the 1980's, there were a lot of ugly cars but by the mid-1990's more cars became good looking (restyled circa 1993 Ford Taurus, circa 1990 Honda Accord, 1990 BMW 3 series, 1995 Saab 9000, etc.) Although I haven't thought too much of what current cars are the best looking, some possible 4 door cars that come to mind are the latest Ford Fusion and Focus Electric. It's too bad that body side moldings have been largely discontinued in cars.

If the Phoenix series/new 9-3 came out, I would have expected it to come out a little late, such as this spring as a 2014 model. It recently occurred to me that if the new Phoenix came out, my car would be the old model and eventually a really old car. The only positive thing (and not very important) to come out of Saab's closure is that my car will remain current looking for a little longer. Eventually, it will turn from a new car to a really old car but without the "previous model" transition.

[Shazam]

I like it. There are some weird oddities, but over all, it looks pretty good. I think it might be more hatchback-ish than shown in the fuzzy pictures. I think the window would be humped up a bit (like the NG900/9-3).



Still, the little ducktail on the back is weird.

[Shazam]

Is this (would this have) built on the phoenix platform?

[VinceV]

T[FONT=Helvetica Neue]ake the black wing off and now you have somewhat of a 911 back end - I would design a nicer wing than try to follow suit on an older style.[/FONT]

[ShaneB4Saab]

Looks like a morphed mid-late 90's Mercury Sable rear end. Definitely not the highlight of the design. The side view looks great though.