2003 Saab 9-3 Linear Sedan 4-door 2.0l on 2040-cars

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This virtually new, very last Saab 9-3 could be yours

The date is October 7, 2019, and it is currently possible to buy a virtually new 2014 Saab 9-3 Aero Turbo4. Spiking the car's rarity is the fact that this specific vehicle is said to be the last Saab to roll off the production line in Trollhattan, Sweden. Driven only 41 miles, chassis No. YTNFD4AZXE1100257 is a true piece of Swedish automotive history, and it's set for auction this month. We first got word of this car back in June 2019, and the time has finally come for this Saab to be sold. As previously reported, this vehicle is from the National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) era. The seller, Bilweb Auctions, says it is the last Saab to come off the manufacturing line, and it was reportedly set aside for crash testing. The testing never occurred, and the sedan, one of only 420 built, survived. The seller says the mileage comes from running the car on the test track next to the old plant for photography and videography purposes.  This 9-3 Aero uses a Ecotec 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder with 217 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. It has immaculate Diamond Silver paint and matching silver turbine wheels. Inside, there is a two-tone interior with cream leather seats, a black dashboard, and black accents. According to Autocar, the proceeds of the auction will go to NEVS' Sustainable Mobility Scholarship at University West in Sweden. Bidding on the car opens soon, and interested parties can sign up to be alerted when the auction starts.   Auto News Auctions Saab Sedan

NEVS Saab EV prototype on display, with top speed of just 75 mph

National Electric Vehicle Sweden, the Saab-owning Swedish holding company that is in turn owned by Chinese investors, has some problems (i.e., no cash). But that isn't stopping NEVS from showing off a prototype Saab 9-3 Electric Vehicle this week. But wait, you might be saying, didn't NEVS already start production of a 9-3 EV? Yes, indeed, and the vehicle displayed this week was indeed built at the Saab plant in Trollhattan in May as one of those early pilot builds. A modified Saab 9-3 Aero Sedan, the EV has had the lithium-ion battery pack jammed under the floor, so all of the cargo and passenger space of the gas-powered 9-3 remains available. "The starting point for our development of the Electric Vehicle project was to maintain all the good attributes and characteristics," said NEVS' vice president of engineering and product development, Stig Nodin in a statement. You can find the press release below. The li-ion pack comes from Beijing National Battery Technology (which is owned by the same company that owns NEVS) and can offer a range of about 120 miles, NEVS says. The prototype also has a 100-kW electric motor that offers 140 horsepower that provides a 0-60 miles per hour time of 10 seconds and a top speed of just 75 miles per hour. That's unlikely to be fast enough to outrun Saab's creditors, but NEVS says that the prototype is here "to serve as a reference for specification of coming production model(s)," so let's hope the speed number can be increased while the range at least stays the same. Today Nevs presented the Saab 9-3 Electric Vehicle as designed and produced as part of a prototype series in Trollhattan. The car is a modified Saab 9-3 Aero Sedan where the batteries are placed under the floor, keeping the full interior space as well as the luggage compartment intact. With that, the Saab 9-3 EV is just as practical as the Saab 9-3 Aero with gasoline engine. The Saab 9-3's famous driving-experience is of course preserved in the EV, helped by its low center of gravity and a 50/50 weight distribution. "We are happy to present the result of Nevs engineering into a real Saab EV product. The Saab cars' well-known performance and safety is maintained and we foresee a very good product for the market. When we developed the Saab 9-3 Aero Sedan Model Year 14, we focused on enhancing the driving experience, safety and quality.

Junkyard Gem: 2004 Saab 9-5 Arc Wagon

As I work on my project of documenting automotive history via the machinery I find in car graveyards around the country, blank spots in the junkyard record keep showing themselves. I've remedied the lack of discarded BMW 3- and 5-Series cars in recent months, through the E46 and E39 respectively, and now I'm trying to move past the 900 in the Saab timeline. We've got the 9000 covered, and now it's the turn of the 9-3 and 9-5. Here's an '04 9-5 Arc Wagon, found in a Denver yard recently (I shot a 9-3 on the same trip and you'll see it in the near future). General Motors took over Saab in 2000, after more than a decade of 50% ownership, and so the 9-5 (or 95 if you prefer) had plenty of Opel/Holden/Vauxhall DNA in its cells. Its closest American-market relative (other than the 9-3) was the Saturn L-Series. However, you couldn't get a Saturn with a proper Saab engine under the hood, and by "proper" we mean one descended from the original Triumph Slant-4. This 2.3T turbocharged version sent 220 horsepower to the front wheels, making this a nicely quick wagon. It appears that this car endured some lean times as it approached the end of its road, with the kind of leaky-side-glass repair you do only when you know you're a car's final owner. You could get the 9-5 Wagon as the Linear, Arc, or Aero models in 2004. The Aero was the factory-hot-rod version, while the Arc was more about luxury. The leather seats in this Arc still look pretty good. Even though this car's ancestry is more German than Swedish, it has the traditional Saab console-mounted ignition switch. When it came time for The General to sell Subaru Imprezas with Saab badging, however, the ignition switches stayed in the non-Saab locations. At least the Saab-badged Chevy Trailblazer had the switch in the Trollhatten-approved location. It doesn't look as quirky as the early Saabs, which were born from Flying Barrels, but it stood up well against the competing cars offered to America's ever-shrinking pool of station wagon shoppers. Built in Sweden by Swedes! Would this have happened with an Audi wagon?   Featured Gallery Junked 2004 Saab 9-5 Arc Wagon View 26 Photos Auto News Saab Automotive History Wagon Junkyard Gems