Saab 9-5 mules have been quite scarce and with the new version expected on display in Geneva early next year, AMS are starting to get twitchy. Someone from AMS spotted a car with an Opel Insignia face and a lot of tape on it. When he looked closer, past the Opel badge on the steering wheel, the shape of the dash gave away the possibility that it might have been something else all together.
The original article with more pictures is here at Auto Motor and Sport. You Swedes should go there and read it in your native tongue.
Here’s the main image of interest. It’s grainy and there’s a LOT of reflection off the glass, but this could be the best close-up glimpse we’ve got of the new 9-5 so far.
What we can see here is a departure from Saab’s traditional all-green interior lighting. The lighting on the console seems to be green with the exception of the controls on the left. The lighting on the steering wheel appears to be red, which may be because it’s an Opel wheel (or maybe because that’s how it’s going to be). It’d be very odd to see two different colors in there, though.
What’s leading people to think this is a 9-5 interior, of course, is the shape of the dash. It’s certainly not the Insignia dash shape, so the badging on the car doesn’t accurately reflect what’s inside.
The mind boggles, but the body’s tingling with the thought that this could be the first genuine glimpse we’re getting of the car.
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Following is a Google translation of the bit on AMS that pertains to the interior.
Again, for more images and the original story from Par Brandt, in Swedish, click through to Auto Motor and Sport.
Some rumors claim that the 9-5 is being tested in the U.S., where it does not arouse much attention. Others argue that Saab carries out testing and mask the car as an Opel Insignia, which we believe we have demonstrated for a few days ago. Lars Ryefalk were coming over from Denmark on the ferry when he quoted a closet Insignia, which is a bit odd given that the car has been out for a long time now.
When Lars looked into the car he saw the Opel-wheel first, but then thought that the interior looked “Saab” out. A few quick pictures with mobile camera, then it was time to run out of the ferry. Lars waiting to hear what engine it was in the car, but “Insignian” refused to start and therefore it was not possible to determine whether it was gasoline or diesel. Lars thought that backdoor makers saw joins out and wonder if it can be a Saab-chassis hiding behind Insignia-chariot? Maybe!
Woohaa!!!
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Yummy, and now we must all keep our eyes open for odd Opels & Vauxhalls. The Insignia is no longer covered up, I mean I saw over 60 all together last weekend and drove two of them, so it could be a Saab under the wraps from here on in.
if this round thing near transmission is start/stop button, than it is SAAB
It’s difficult to see any details but still exciting to see pictures. I’ll need to keep my eyes open for any suspicious Buicks driving around GM’s winter testing facilities in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan this winter. I’ll just have to make sure to always have my camera in the car with me.
When I used to live in Milford, MI, there were always interesting camouflaged vehicles to be spotted around town.
As far as I know, Saab never had any lighted steering wheels controls because it distracts too much.
9-3 SS SW & CV have steering wheel controls that are lit
As usual Swade, TS is THE place for breaking Saab news. I reckon its the real deal. Cant wait to take a really close look in Geneva.
Definitely a standard Opel wheel there – same as the Insignia pic, along with red lighting but the dash is the characteristic 9-5/9-3 cowl – and looks multi-button (yeah!). The left-side of the wheel controls look like a straight lift from the Insignia too, but maybe the central dash is what is being ‘tested’.
Can’t wait to see some more shots in the coming weeks.
good to see pictures start to surface! can’t wait for more. funny though that in the write up he states that the car was parked but in the picture obviously the dash is lit-up. maybe this is why the car wouldn’t start – they left the lights on by mistake.
It looks like the Saab 9-4x interior:
http://www.geting.se/image.php/130985-9-4-spied-5.jpg
http://www.geting.se/image.php/130984-9-4-spied-4.jpg
/Anders B
Added:
Click for larger pictures in the comments below:
http://www.automotorsport.se/news/16004/fråga-var-gömmer-saab-den-nya-9-5/
Maybe the dash will be the same?
/Anders B.
Its the same I thought, it look identical to the 9-4x dash. The light controls are identical to the Opel-9-4x and the steering happend the same.
regards
There is a 9-5 SW MY2006-2007 in front of the 9-5mule??
its one of the first thing I saw
regards
If this is the NG 9-5′s interior for real, then my confidence that the car will be what I hope it will be has quadrupled. it has the wraparound driver-focused shape that the old 9-5 had. It has the button-heavy layout that the old 9-5 had, and when you remember that the production version will likely have an all-green lighting scheme. it just looks even more like an aircraft cockpit. All it needs is a big ol’ slab of wood on the dash and it will be perfect.
Looks like it’s time to start saving…
Man, I’m trying to contain my hopes for the NG 9-5 but having found this site a few a month ago, the news I’m seeing here is getting me very hopeful that when it’s time to replace my ’99 9-5 I will be able to look to stay in the Saab family. Let’s hope that GM is able to weather the storm and let the 9-5 be the car we all hope it can be.
Yepp, that interior has got to be the Saab 9-5 with all the green glowing yummieness!
If you see something that looks like a testmule Insigna-9-5´s you aught to see an encreased wheelbase and width to confirm from the outside.
Welll I guess it´s just a matter of hour or days until we get better pictures of the interior.
Cheers fellow Saabers!
Looks very Saabish – the layout, the green-lit buttons, the fonts used on the speedo, the start/stop button in the centre console.
And it cannot be a diesel, you can see this one revs up to 8,000 rpm.
just look at the gauge cluster, it looks like a saab, you have the speedo in the middle and random smaller needles on the side for turbo gauge, gas, and temperature.
Can’t wait for Geneva – Looks so promising !!!
Look at the little button thingy at the left lower corner at the foot of the gear stick. It actually looks more like the 9-4x concept than the 9-4x production vehicle! But the screen seems bigger than both 9-4 versions. It’s either real or a really cunning fake…
Someone commented on the AMS website that this car is registered to SAAB as a 260hp (gasoline) Opel. Apparently, it was spotted on a later occasion also. This time the dashboard was all covered up with newspapers. Why bother to disguise an Opel Insignia though? This just draws extra attention to the vehicle.
Hmmm, looks like the “old” style button based Saab dash. What happened to the dials? That would be a waste of all the great designs we’ve been seing in the 9-3 facelift, as well as the Aero-X, 9-4, and 9-x. Wonder if the $ crisis is so bad that GM had to dust off an old 9-5 from the attic and call it new.
Hey at least the speedometer is in the middle of the dashboard. Very saab-ish I’d say. The Speedometer from the Insignia is not.
DMR,
Actually, I think the mid part of the console is identical to 9-4x (production).
There are diods in the dials too, so everything that glitters isn’t button
Look at the original picture, and you can almost make out the chrome trim of the dial.
…and compare to this pic of the 9-4x
looks like a rebadge with green lighting. look at the interior pics of an Opel Insignia, the shifter and the area around it are identical. I remember when platform sharing didn’t involve sharing ALL the parts, case in point: Saturn L-series, 1999 Saab 9-5. that was a good platform share.
Curtis,
Are we looking at the same picture? I’m seeing something that is 80 % 9-4x (haven’t heard any rebadge moanings about that interior) with the GM standard steering wheel.
There is something that concerns me. If the Insignia could be fitted with that interior, then the 9-5 has the same size than the Insignia?? how much synergies??
regards
I’m not saying this is the case, Edu, but remember The Toad. All may not necessarily be as it seems.
CHaracta, actually I can’t see that the 9-5′s speedo is in fact in the middle. I see the tach clearly on the left, then mostly darkness in the middle, then what looks like the speedo (with some green perimter lighting) on the right.
http://www.automotorsport.se/bigpix/2008/Saab95Insignia_inredn.jpg
So doesn’t that seem to match the layout of the Insignia here ?
http://www.automotorsport.se/bigpix/2008/DRIVERSEAT_DARK_big.jpg
Maybe I’m the only one but I was hoping for something a little more Aero X or 9-X Biohybridish… It’s not bad, just not what I was expecting. Remember the SAAB guy grinning about how great the new SAAB interior was going to be in the 9X videos and how they had stuff up their sleeve that others weren’t ready for? Of course I don’t know what kind of technology there is in there but…. The 3-D lasers are pushing it I guess (Aero X). Again, it’s not bad!
If the car was not started, how come the interior is all lit-up? Did someone just leave it in the “on” position?
I wish someone had brought a polarizing filter!!
slightly easier to make out the centre console here:
unless insignia’s also have the key next to the hand brake, it might be a saab
Picture Here:
http://
www.
upload.mn
/files/
6cq7bnyarjjsb7gc9ir1.jpg
for some reason it won’t let me post the link
Curtis – I agree. I thought the same exact thing – it’s simply the Opel car’s dash. They are the same.
Is it me, but it’s not a different car. Nothing to see here…..
yeah seems like a rebadge in the vien of the Trailblazer/9-7x. look at both cars and tell me im wrong
hmmm dont quite agree with the two comments above, i just cant see how this is the same as the insignia at all really, apart for the steering wheel etc. But hey ho, i guess we will see soon enough.
I agree with you, Dan.
I’m usually a whining bastard because I don’t think Saab has designed a good exterior for like 30 years, which makes me suspect the old 900 was a stroke of luck. But if this is reusage of anything, it’s the 9-4x interior! And we haven’t seen even that in the flesh yet.
So, do you all think the 9-4x interior looks like the Insignia?
Swade, I remember one thing. Did you know the “module” design/development method used by Audi in its new models as the A5, and its going to be used in VW??? This could be the reason of some interchangeable parts as the 9000 with Fiat/Lancia/Alfa, but the quality are totally different. That is more usual in the module construction. And could be that the Insignia and 9-5(EpsilonII) is following this idea quite usual nowadays, the module construction. For this reason is easier to adapt the new 9-5 interior to the Insignia.
One thing. The door panels, basically the door handles from the 9-4x, 9-5 mule and Insignia, are too much similar.
as a reference……..
http://www.km77.com/00/opel/insignia/gra/111.asp
http://www.trollhattansaab.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/saab-9-4x-interior.jpg
I read the firsts reviews of the Insignia. The space at the back isn’t quite good, worse than the previous Vectra. The quality of materials and fit of the dashboard and interior are as the rest, the first units has some fit defects. The ergonomy isn’t quite good(about the controls), managing the gearbox is easy to touch some dash controls and with the elbow the armrest(I read this in various reviews) there isn’t many space. About the chassis and engines, quite good impressions, except of the new 2.0 diesel engine, the new flexride adaptive suspension it works quite well, but the comfort could be better. There is an option with the sport version of 20″ wheels, too much for this car, basically in terms of comfort. The 4×4 system, works well but too much understeer in some situations.
regards
well the key is clearly next to the hand brake. Do insignia’s have this feature or not?
“well the key is clearly next to the hand brake. Do insignia’s have this feature or not?”
Who cares?
If it does, is that a good thing because Saab influenced Opel, or is it a bad thing because Saab will be like Opel?
Look at the big picture: this is a Saabish dash! As Saabish as Saab has ever been. Let’s leave it at that. Saab has always designed good interiors (the problems has been the materials, not the styling…)
Let’s worry about the exterior instead, since this is the part where Saab has gone so wrong in the past. If they repeat what they did with the 9-3, the new 9-5 will look like the current Vectra. Now there’s something to worry about!
Clearly like 9-4X, clearly not like Insignia.
And yes, a bit disappointing that they didn’t have something more revolutionary, but I’m willing to settle for evolutionary but still Saab-ish at this point.