From Inside Line, the first photo of the supposed facelifted 9-5, to be officially unveiled in Frankfurt in three months time (i.e. Sept 2005).
Photo: Hans G Lehmann
I’m REALLY not liking the non-3-part grille. The area around the indicator lens looks a little fuzzy, so I’m hoping this is a photoshop hoax.
They went to the trouble of putting the 3 part grille on the 9-2x and the 9-7x. It’s not what makes a Saab a Saab, but it does help make the front end distinctly Saab. I *highly* doubt it’s going anywhere any time soon.
I think this is a photoshop hoax. Look how much the deck lid looks like that of a 9-3 SS.
It is completely possible this is an actual test vehicle, and they have modified the grille for the sake of making the car blend in more.
I hope you’re right about the photoshop hoax thing, as I also suspected, but….
It does perhaps contain some design cues that could be adopted in the future. The big-toothed bucky beaver look with the front grille seems to be “in” at the moment (Audi, Maybach Excelero) and maybe this one-piece with the 3-hole extension at the bottom is Saab’s kow-towing to this trend.
The 3-hole thing also looks a little Suuby B9 too if you squint hard enough and place it lower than where the B9 has it’s hole.
I do hope it’s a hoax though, it looks a little too ‘Camry’ for me.
It looks like a cross between a Chevy Impala and an Acura TL. No thanks!
I can’t believe I missed this line in the article (appears everyone else did too !!!). 2.8T V6 from 9-3 ? Tuned to 280bhp
“In the U.S., the top engine is expected to be a turbocharged V6, while a new diesel is earmarked exclusively for European customers.”