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

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.

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.

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.

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..

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.

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.

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

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]

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.

As posted on SaabsUnited.

Gee, a pipe dream.....now. Wonder if the Sonnett designs on the [FONT=Arial]Phoenix platform
[/FONT]


will show up as a new Spyker....


Tim

Sometimes I wish GM would have shut down Saab in 2010 and the Spyker / NEVS thing never happened. Not much good happened with Saab in the last 3 years.

This 900 / 9-3 is an odd combination of angles and shapes. A mix between trying to be retro and the strange shapes of the Phoenix. They should have done something completely new with just a touch of heritage. Or a baby 9-5 II. This looks like a Chevy Malibu Max.

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Saab 93 would have been the Geneva salon star. But it will never be built. We have a totally unique material all the technical facts about the engines, hybrid technology, fuel consumption and performance digits. In addition, Saab's final images and interviews with development engineers and chief designer.

As you read this show car world showcase their latest creations at the Spring Salon in Geneva. It was at this event as it was meant to be all-new Saab 93 was launched. But that did not happen. Saab is gone and a new 93 is not fair.
Instead, we - as the only newspaper in the world - presenting exactly how Saab 93 would have looked like. Saab controller designer, Jason Castriota, choose to release the final Saab 93 design with us. These are images that have never before been shown officially. Castriota has also set up an interview about working with Saab 93rd We are particularly happy to present a variety of technical data, including the facts that the engines, hybrid technology, consumables digits and performance. In addition, we have met people on the development side, including a person who has test driven the car.

This is as close to a press release on Saab 93 as you can get in the current situation. In a parallel universe, where Saab affair ended happily, the new 93 occupy most of this newspaper news site. We are therefore pleased to direct the potential of this event and for your present car that never came. • All of this, see the auto motor & sport number 6, available in stores from Thursday, March 7.



Världsexklusivt: Alla fakta om Saab 93 :: Nyheter - auto motor & sport