The Los Angeles Auto Show has begun and despite the fact that Bob Lutz and a million other execs are missing, the Saab 9-X Air is there and on show.

If you’re in the LA area then I reckon it’d be well worthwhile getting there to see it.

This is the Saab concept car that has more excited than any other. It’s the best looking concept since the Aero X and more importantly, it contains a lot of elements that we’re likely to see in a future Saab convertible.

The LA Auto Show is on until November 30 at the LA Convention Center.

Here’s a few pics of the car in LA as picked up on Flickr. Keep scrolling down for an interesting little discussion point.

Don’t those lights look awesome?

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The Drive blog had an interesting discussion earlier today about hardtop convertibles.

Most manufacturers are moving to hardtops and I was overwhelmingly pleased to see the 9-X Air with a soft top. I’ve rarely seen a hardtop that looks natural. They almost always look a little stylistically awkward with the roof up.

Add to that the fact that a modern soft top is very well insulated both from noise and the outside elements and I can’t see why you would want to disguise the fact that your convertible’s a convertible.

Drive brought another concern into discussion today, using the Astra convertible as an example:

The neatness of the Astra’s roof, whether in situ or all clamped down, is enough to please even the most Howard Hughes-like obsessive-compulsive personality.

However, it’s enormously complex. On the way up or down, you can see an amazing assortment of panels, arms and levers that spin, swing and pivot like the phases of the moon on one of those bizarre and outrageous mechanical clocks housed in technical museums. The plethora of electric motors that you just don’t want to be responsible for in five or 10 years even extends to the boot.

Sure, soft-tops have to have motors in place as well, but the weight and stress on them has to be a lot less.

Awkward styling. Complexity. Little added benefit.

Make my Saab convertible a soft top, any day!

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UPDATED – see below.

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Last night, I posted here about the LA Auto Show, how it wasn’t far away, and how you should get there if you want to see the Saab 9-X Air concept vehicle.

This morning, I wake up and see this:

General Motors has made the L.A. Auto Show shine a little less brightly.

The cash-starved automaker said today that it would cancel its only news conference at the annual event, originally planned as the North American debut of the Saab 9-X Air BioHybrid Convertible. The executive who was to conduct the reveal of the concept car, Vice Chairman Bob Lutz, also will not be attending the show, which opens to the public Nov. 21.

The company described the cutback as a cost-saving measure. In the third quarter, GM burned through cash so quickly — about $2.3 billion per month — that executives predicted that, without outside help, it would run out of cash sometime in the first two quarters of next year….

…..The Saab concept car had its worldwide debut at the Paris Motor Show in October. Last year, GM debuted three cars at the L.A. show. The fact that it will debut zero vehicles in the single largest auto market in the U.S. is another reminder of the industry’s dire situation.

That’s how bad it’s getting, people.

If you’re in LA, looks like you miss out. I think all the coming US motor shows are going to miss out, too, except for Detroit.

I took that first LA Times report to mean that they’d cancelled the 9-X Air’s appearance all together. when the headline reads “GM Cancels LA Auto Show Debut” you can easily figure it’s more than just a cancelled news conference.

Apparently that’s all it is and the 9-X Air will still be showing. There won’t be any trumpets or marching bands, that’s all. From the Detroit News:

General Motors Corp. has scrapped plans to hold a news conference during next week’s Los Angeles Auto Show and to send Vice Chairman Bob Lutz, a cost-cutting move that comes as the automaker faces questions about its financial future…..

….GM will still have North American premieres of the Saab 9-X Air concept vehicle and Chevrolet Volt electric extended-range vehicle.

The automaker earlier dropped plans to unveil its Buick LaCrosse in L.A. GM will still have vehicles on display during the auto show and is using the same amount of floor space, Fosgard said.

The public “probably won’t even notice a difference,” he said.

I don’t get it, though. They’ll have space, they’ll have the cars. Why does it cost so much to have Bob Lutz come in and say a few words? Does he get an appearance fee, like Tiger Woods at a golf tournament?

Please explain, Bob.

Heck, I’ll come over and announce it. Wouldn’t that be a novelty? Have a complete stranger do your debut announcement for you.

I’ll even fly economy, GM

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GM Europe have just posted a video of the Saab 9-X Air on YouTube (check it out here at Fastlane Daily – I’m still having problems posting video here).

The video is all CGI stuff but it gives a good look at some of the car’s party tricks – the side mounted cameras, the wrapped dashboard – and even a teaser glimpse at the roof!

You’ll have to go to the video to see it in action (and it’s not the full roof mechanism, just the closing sequence) but I’ve chopped up the screenshots here. Not a lot to see, but noted for the record, anyway.

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If anyone had asked my what my favourite Saab concept car was prior to last weekend I probably would have tossed a coin between the Saab 9-3x concept and the Saab Aero-X. I’d find it very hard to split them and rightfully so. The 9-3x was exciting, full of utility, good looks, speed and promise. The Aero-X was just flat out amazing – and both cars were much better in the flesh than in pictures.

Now, having seen images only of the Saab 9-X Air in it’s natural surroundings (the Saab Museum in Trollhattan), I think I might have a new favourite.

The Saab Aero-X

The Saab Aero-X is a stunning vehicle and if I’m to be objective, it probably deserved the mantle as Saab’s best concept car prior to this. The Aero-X was so unexpected and so radical that it literally took the world by storm and for a brief period, it put Saab’s name front-and-center before the entire automotive world.

The car’s sweeping, aggressive lines and that brilliant canopy top were truly a sight to behold. There isn’t a single angle from which you can view this car and avoid melting like a silly, hormone driven teenager.

The Aero-X is all the more significant because the styling used on that car will define much of the visual language we see from Saab in coming years. It will be the mother of all Saabs for some time to come.

But the Saab 9-X Air is coming to mean more to me. And here’s why…..

The Saab 9-X Air…a message from the future

The Saab 9-X Air incorporates all the important styling cues from the Aero X concept car and takes them a step further, incorporating new interior elements from the 9-X BioHybrid concept.

It’s got the Nesbitt nose:

And the Aero X’s signature tail lamps across the back:

Above all that, it’s also got a brand new roof system that Saab have been working on for some time now. We haven’t seen it yet, much to our own dismay, but I first heard about (and mentioned) this new convertible system around mid-2007. This is something Saab have been working on for some time and are serious about bringing to market. Only they know when it’ll be ready for viewing, and I hope it’s soon.

…..and a nod to the past

One of the things that I love so much about the 9-X Air is that it combines two elements that have bought a great deal of success to Saab in the past: the convertible vehicle and Sixten Sason design.

To say that one of the world’s most popular convertibles coming from Scandinavia is a surprise would be an understatement, but Saab made the convertible their own back in the 1980s and it’s been an iconic model for them ever since. To see the Saab convertible range continue based on this concept vehicle in a few years from now would be a dream come true.

Not only does it look fantastic (I mean, seriously, is there any way you could resist driving one of these if you had a chance. Seriously.) it continues the tradition of the ragtop. This is just my humble opinion, but a cloth top is what a convertible’s supposed to be and it brought me undiluted joy when I first saw pictures of the cloth top on this car – even if does look a little like it’s wearing a hairpiece.

And the Sason thing? Let me show you those two photos again. It’s actually there for all to see in the background of this first one:

That red car you see in the background is Sixten Sason’s proposal for the Saab Sonett II, a car called Catherina. Several people have commented on it in comments, and I can only assume it was intentional that the rear end of the 9-X Air shares the same rear characteristics with the winged rear deck (you Saab designers reading this will have to forgive my lack of design vocabulary).

There’s not many images of the back of Catherina on the web and sho wasn’t on display when I visited the Saab Museum last year, so you’ll have to make do with this small shot. The 9-X Air’s rear deck and it’s similarity with that of Catherina, even on this small thumbnail shot, is quite pronounced and I’d find it very hard to believe it was accidental.

This, to me, is a wonderful gesture from Saab’s designers toward the pioneering work that Sason did in defining the Saab design language. That they’ve been able to combine it so fluidly with the Aero-X’s design cues make it the perfect blend of past and future – and all tied up in one of Saab’s iconic model lines – the convertible.

But maybe even more important than that……

The Saab 9-X: very buildable

The Aero-X, as much as we all wanted one, was always going to be a million-to-one-shot to get built. It was a statement, a commitment, a pointer to the future. The 9-X Air is something else all together.

The 9-X Air employs a real-world convertible mechanism that Saab have been working on for ages and it’s my understanding that it’s one they’re serious about bringing to market.

The 9-X Air was designed to be a convertible compliment to the 9-X BioHybrid, which was originally conceived as a smaller Saab, most likely to be built on the Delta architecture and called the Saab 9-1. Since then, we’ve learned that the 9-1 is up in the air, somewhat, and that the 9-3 will be ‘rightsized’ down from Epsilon to Delta. The 9-3 must have a convertible, so I can easily envisage the 9-X Air being re-size to suit and added to the range.

The bottom line: where the Aero-X was designed purely to inspire, the 9-X Air has its roots in a realistic need for Saab and therefore must be a real possibility for production.

The Saab convertible of the future?

Only time will tell. Saab don’t have a great track record for bringing concept cars to production. It’s my sincere hope that that record improves with the 9-X Air.

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Just point it towards my place and let it go!

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The Saab 9-X Air concept car came home this weekend, showing at Saab’s beautiful museum in Trollhattan.

The following photos were taken by Toni H – known as Tripolar over on Flickr – who got up early, made the long drive to Trollhattan and was right there when the doors to the museum opened at 10.00am.

A nice car to make the drive in, too. This is Toni’s 9-5, waiting outside the museum for it to open:

Of course, once inside, the main attraction was the 9-X Air, which looks like it was parked proudly in the long foyer area just prior to the main museum display.

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Toni’s thoughts in brief after seeing the Air in person:

It was a windy but beautiful fall morning spent eagerly waiting to see the 9X Air in real life. The atmosphere is great at the Museum and its surroundings, that Saab-feeling really permeates the whole place.

Regarding the car itself its a real gem. I love all the pictures I’ve seen on the web so far, but I have to say the car is even more fantastic up close.

This one can’t hit the market soon enough… It is pure design genius in my humble opinion. If I start writing I’ll ramble on and on, so I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves – I hope I captured some of the magic I felt being there

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My goodness, this is tasty!

Seriously, has there ever been a car with a tastier rear view than this? If they can get the usual convertible scuttle shake sorted with this, it’d be hands-down the best looking ragtop (or hartop) convertible in history. It’s that good looking.

Another perspective on that rear:

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Here’s some stuff that I’m not sure we’ve seen in such detail before now:

And more photos of the dash in action. This is a recorded electronic loop, but it’s supposed to demostrate how the real thing might work (at least in the designer’s mind – the reality would be far more mainstream, methinks)

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Note the ambient lighting in the rear, too:

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Exhaust pipe detail:

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Toni also snapped a couple of non-9-X Air photos, including this overview of the main museum……

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……and a few shots of the Saab 9-4x concept vehicle, which was also in attendance.

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My thanks to Toni for getting in touch with me prior to this event and providing a great set of photos for me to share here at Trollhattan Saab.

You can see these – and more – at Toni’s page over at Flickr.

But wait, there’s more!!

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Here’s a quick slideshow of the Saab 9-X Air at the museum. These shots were taken by Nikul Savasadia, whose brother Dippen is a reguar commenter here.

The originals can be found here, at Flickr.

What a car.

Thanks to all for bringing this car to us from such a magnificent setting.

I wish I could have been there myself.

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Whilst Saab’s concept cars may seem a natural for showing at the Saab Museum in Trollhattan, the sad truth is that they’re often employed as showponies for the brand at motorshows all around the world. It can take ages for the car to get back ‘home’ and be seen in Trollhattan.

This weekend, the Saab 9-X Air convertible concept will be on show for the first time at the Saab Museum in Trollhattan. The brief advertisement I received this morning from Peter Backstrom at the Saab Museum reads as follows:

Saab 9-X Air Concept Car Weekend
Saab Car Museum, Trollhättan Sweden, October 25-26.

Take the opportunity to see the concept car Saab 9-X Air when it lands in Trollhättan after
the premiere at the Paris motor show!

Open Saturday-Sunday 10.00-17.00. Free Entrance!

That’s Saturday and Sunday and FREE entry both days. Excellent!!

Maybe they’ll do another photoshoot a-la the one they did a few months ago with the 9-X BioHybrid and the 9-4x concept? Those two 9-Xs would look very smart posed together, I’ll bet.

Anyway, if you’re anywhere near Trollhattan, you have no excuses. And even if you’re not near Trollhattan, just jump on a cheap RyanAir flight or something and say hello to the staff at the Swania for me.

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And in response to Peter’s email about this exhibition, I replied to him asking if there’s any word yet as to dates for the 2009 Saab Festival in Trollhattan.

2008 is drawing to a close and I’d have thought the program would be set by now.

I’ll let you know as soon as I hear something.

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A week or so ago I bought you a fantastic bit of photoshop work from Z. You all left your thoughts and comments about it and Z’s taken those comments on board and produced two new versions of the same image.

Here’s the original image, a 9-X coupe:

In the following image, Z’s taken his first effort and grafted in a bit of the early Saab shape – the classic hockey stick from the 99 and 900.

And just to take things that little bit further, why not add a bit more of the 900 in the form of the rear window spoiler?

I’m probably a bit more partial to the first effort, but it’s interesting to try and blend some of the old and the new.

Thanks again, Z!

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A quick one, from Z.

He’s taken one of the 9-X Air shots from Auto Motor and Sport and done a little photoshop work on it.

Of course, there’s the 9-X BioHybrid concept as a hardtop alterntive to the Air, but there’s just a certain something i like about this.

Thanks, Z!

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