A cool V8 against the zeitgeist - a new Saab 9-7x!
The ultimate antidote to the zeitgeist? A real American V8! Exotically delicious garnished and dressed in Swedish clothes. A combination that was only available from Saab. The Saab 9-7x was originally intended to be an Oldsmobile Bravada and shared its genes with the Buick Rainier and the Chevrolet Trail Blazer.
The big family of the Saab 9-7x
The relationship also includes the GMC Envoy and the Isuzu Ascender, which makes for a fairly extensive family. The technology is more or less the same for all derivatives, it is the subtleties that count. GM really tried and approved Saab a few extra dollars to make the Bravada look like a Swedish car.
The ignition lock went where the fans would like to see it in a Saab. On the center console, of course. The dashboard maintains the typical Saab style, the filigree cup holder is known from the 9-5. Those who enter the 9-7x for the first time will find their way around straight away. Everything is clear, self-explanatory, the log book could have been saved.
Of course, the Saab 9-7x can never deny its GM roots. It doesn't matter whether there is a Saab logo on the steering wheel, the leather is more valuable and the furnishings more loving than that of the relatives. Many details come from US shelves. This is not a real disadvantage and helps today with the search for spare parts. Much to keep a 9-7x alive is available from dealers across the pond for little money.
A cool V8
The Saab 9-7x with the V8 under the hood is really fun. Even the small block from the Vortec family pours a lot with 5.3 liters. 300 HP and 447 Nm are completely sufficient to create a feeling of sovereign locomotion. There would then be a 6 liter engine, also with 8 pots, like the one found in the Corvette back then. But it really doesn't have to be.
A fabulous specimen has now appeared in Italy. A new Saab car with only around 500 miles (approx. 805 km) on the clock. A US specification 9-7x 5.3i sold by a Saab partner of many years. Zanetti Omero is a fixture in the Saab scene in Italy and one of the companies that is still not thinking of catching the flag with the griffin. The company has a real showroom in the Saab Unlimited style, for this reason alone you would have to travel across the Alps immediately.
A new car for less than € 15,00 a kilogram
The new car has the right color combination, dark outside, light inside. It has a sliding roof and its equipment leaves nothing to be desired. The 9-7x was also preserved, so the worst problem of all 9-7x, rust, should no longer play a role.
The price idea is less than € 15,00 for a kilo of Swedish-American sheet metal. In one piece at exactly € 32.000. Not too much when you consider what new cars you could get at this course. A short-range electric car from a company on the Mittelland Canal, for example.
Lean furnishings and an interior quality that the accountants at GM would have rejected as too poor.
From today's point of view, the Saab 9-7x 5.3i is politically highly incorrect. Even the thought of an Ami V8 is reprehensible. It easily consumes its 15 to 16 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers, but it offers a lot in return. If need be, the Saab pulls almost 3 tons from the field and the technology has the potential for an eternal life.
As long as there is a gas station somewhere, or a pharmacy that sells the owner some gas, he will do his job. Unshakable and without great demands.
Such a V8 would have its appeal, an ideal train car to bring the 96 to one or the other remote meeting if you don't want to drive on your own
gas plant
Not only reduces costs, but actually also reduces CO2 emissions - at least marginally.
Methane (CH4) is THE hydrocarbon of all hydrocarbons with the highest possible proportion of hydrogen.
If it were biogas, you would even be CO8-neutral on the road despite the V2. But we decided otherwise. So the future belongs to China.
@ Tom: there we have no dissent, the usual rust prevention is necessary is beyond doubt, I've already visited a grotty 9-7x with a lot of rust. With the bonnet, however, special attention should be paid to the front edge with precautionary measures.
Fine car from another time. I think the 9-7x is still based on a ladder frame, like all the GMC models back then. You really can't break something like that. Recommended to everyone who is really annoyed by the electronics fuss today!
When it comes to rust, you should keep an eye on the bonnet, this is the only place where problems arise. Otherwise, a Kenwood navigation system would be recommended, which harmonises with the steering wheel buttons (fits through double DIN slot). This enables Apple Carplay and Android Auto, + Dashcam, reversing camera and / or sensors, you are almost up to date. ;-). At the front it is a bit confusing, sometimes I would have liked sensors, but you get used to it over time. always reliable, otherwise it is the workhorse in my fleet, saved my life, you rarely come across another 9-7x and presumably the only positive product that came across the pond from the GM-SAAB marriage. Oh yes, with a gas system, the fuel costs are only half!
@Bergsaab I don't like to disagree with a passionate 9-7x driver. Rust is an issue, especially because a number of vehicles have been severely neglected. Then the 9-7x rusts everywhere, a rescue is financially beyond the vehicle value. Particular attention should be paid to well-tended previous ownership, if you don't accidentally stumble across a new car.