1994 Saab 900 on 2040-cars

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Last Saab 9-3 built nets nearly $48,000 at auction

It was among the last Saabs to roll off the production line in Trollhattan, Sweden, is virtually new, and now it has a new owner. The Saab 9-3 Aero Turbo4 we told you about a month ago has sold in an auction for the equivalent of $47,789. As with anything related to the remnants of the legendary Swedish automotive brand, the backstory on this one is a little complicated, starting with the model year. Saab originally ground production to a halt in 2011. This model came about after National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) acquired the brand out of bankruptcy, and was part of a run of 420 models built starting in late 2013 before NEVS lost the rights to use the Saab name and griffin logo. It was originally set aside for crash testing, but never actually used for that purpose, and mostly sat idle inside the plant, in case NEVS restarted production of combustion vehicles. The 41 miles on the odometer came from running the car on a test track near the Trollhattan plant for photography and video purposes. It features a 2.0-liter turbo-four engine that makes 217 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. It has a two-tone interior with cream leather seats and a dashboard and center console that looks like what you might expect to result from Saab's parts-sharing arrangement under the ownership of bankruptcy-era General Motors. Nowadays, NEVS has financial backing from Chinese investors and is making electric vehicles based on the 9-3 platform and body, just without any Saab badging. It continues to operate the Trollhattan plant and another in Tianjin, China, and it reportedly plans a new plant in Shanghai. NEVS also has partnered with Swedish supercar maker Koenigsegg in a venture to develop new EVs. The 9-3 buyer’s name is Claus Spaangaard. HeÂ’s a Danish car collector and car-repair shop owner who says he already owns two Saab cars. Proceeds from the auction will fund research into sustainable mobility in Sweden, NEVS says.

Nicolas Cage flogs Saab-based Senova from Beijing Auto [w/video]

BAIC has officially pulled the covers off of its new Senova D Series sedan for China. The four-door is based on the old Saab 9-5 and boasts a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine. Local buyers can get their hands on the machine for around $22,745 at current conversion rates. Other engine options include a turbocharged 1.8-liter four cylinder as well as turbocharged 2.3-liter four-cylinder, and a wide range of safety equipment comes standard on every trim except the very base model. Those goodies include a tire pressure monitoring system, active head restraints, blind spot detection, driver fatigue detection and parking sensors.
The Senova nameplate serves every model based on former Saab architectures, including the Epsilon, GM2900 and GM2400 platforms as well as engine and transmission tech. In order to promote its new products, BAIC has hired Hollywood staple Nicolas Cage to serve as the company's brand ambassador. Cage stars in the Senova-heavy Town of Car Legends action-packed video short (directed by Olivier Megaton of Transporter 3 and Taken 2 fame) which you can view by scrolling below.

GM recalling 250,000 SUVs over door electronics

After a door-fire investigation that dates back to February, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has officially announced a recall today that affects around 250,000 General Motors SUVs for a faulty driver's door module. The recall applies to the Buick Rainier, Chevrolet Trailblazer, GMC Envoy, Isuzu Ascender and Saab 9-7X from the 2006 and 2007 model years, as well as the 2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer EXT and GMC Envoy XL for vehicles sold and/or registered in the Snow Belt.
Road salt use in these midwestern and northern states can lead to corrosion of the driver's door module on these GMT360 and GMT370 vehicles, which allows water to come in contact with the circuit board. If shorted out, the vehicle's power door locks and power windows will not work, and could possibly lead to overheating and, in some circumstances, a fire. No official word on how many total vehicles caught on fire, but back in June, 28 fires had been reported to the government agency. A fix for the problem is still being worked out, but all affected vehicle owners will be notified by GM.
Scroll down for the official NHTSA statement.