I’m pleased to host another article by Lance Cole in this last week of service here at Trollhattan Saab.
Lance, as many of you will know, is a UK based journalist and writer, and the author of Saab 99 and 900: The Complete Story.
Today he’s writing about a model that’s very close to my heart – the Saab 9-5. It’s a model that gets a lot of flack, but has never failed to bring a smile to my face with some great performance and some of the best seats in the business.
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Life in the old dog yet…..Or fine wine and a long finish…
Lance Cole on the approaching sunset days of Saab’s still-brilliant 9-5 range.
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Some say that when Saab stopped making the classic, boat tailed, beetle browed, original model 900, Saab died with it.
Those people have the right to their opinion but neither I, nor Saab, happen to agree with them. They are wrong. And as a former 900 Classic owner – one who would take a 900 classic hatch to my desert island -just to stare at it, please don’t tell me I am not a Saabist for believing in life after that first 900.
So, Saab lived on – albeit the New Generation 900 was not totally on target first time out, it soon became the 9-3 and that was spot on as a Saab and had the spirit of Saab within it. And then there was the 9000 – again a Saab that was revised and grew into a great car of great character. Ok, so it was a Saab-Fiat hybrid type cousin of a car, but it was a superb tool.
Then came the 9-5 – and the whingers whinged once again – for it shared parts with a Vauxhall/Opel car. But history has shown that the 9-5 was a better than brilliant Saab: It remains so.
Yes, there were some early quality glitches which disappointed me, you, and some other people – glitches that really should not have been there. But all these years on, the 9-5 soldiers on beside newer equipment.
The current fashion for 9-5 knocking is partly based on age rather than ability, although we should admit that some things have moved on….
The media and in consequence, some of their readers, have become conditioned into knocking the 9-5. And alongside the new Opels, the new Audis’ even the new Volvos, the Saab 9-5 is indeed an old stager. And I love it.
The clamshell bonnet, the roof turret, the swept rear end, it’s all aero style Saab stuff and it is all a unique down-the-road-graphic in design terms.
The cabin design has that rare thing – a sense of occasion, which is what we are told supercars deliver. This is premium class travel, open the door and you know you have been upgraded from the norm. Think, front of the plane, on Lufthansa, American Airlines or Qantas. This is cocoon land.
I guess I think of the current 9-5 as a 40-something year old brunette (or hazel blonde if I have to): The first proper lines are showing, things maybe beginning to slip slightly, and the handling is sometimes affected by the ravages of time – but (and it’s a huge but (butt?)), put her in lightly applied make up, remove the spectacles, choose the right colour for the silk dress attire, and you have a very classy lady.
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