2008 Saab 9-3 2.0t on 2040-cars

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Want one of the last Saab 9-3s ever built? Here's your chance

National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) purchased the assets of bankrupt Swedish automaker Saab in 2012. The next year, NEVS restarted production of the 9-3 sedan that lasted until 2014. In December 2013, the company pulled a silver 9-3 Aero Turbo from its pool of customer cars, intended for crash testing. The crash test never happened, and that silver sedan hung out at the factory for six years. Autocar writes that NEVS wants to find that Saab a good home, and will put it up for auction later this year. The model has a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder with 217 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque, shifted through a six-speed manual transmission. Other than the fact it's spent six years holed up in a Swedish factory, the condition is brand new - there are only 3.1 miles on the odometer. It's hard to predict what such a time capsule might go for. NEVS only built 420 units before ceasing production, so the 2013 9-3 Aero Turbo has rarity on its side. This isn't the only such Saab to roll out of the crypt recently, though. In 2017, a 2014 9-3 Aero popped up in the Netherlands with only 211 miles on the odo. In 2018, a 2011 diesel 9-3 SportCombi wagon with 56 miles on the odo broke through the space-time continuum in Italy. NEVS will put its 9-3 on display in Trollhattan this weekend during the annual Saab Car Museum Festival.

NEVS to build new Saab models in China's Qingdao

National Electric Vehicle Sweden has officially signed a deal with Qingdao Qingbo Investment Company that will see the NEVS build EVs in Qingdao, China. The move is the first step on the road toward eventually selling vehicles in China. Reuters reports that the Chinese company has agreed to invest $307.33 million, after which point Qingdao Qingbo will receive 22 percent of the NEVS shares. Currently, there's no word on exactly when the funds and shares will change hands, but the Swedish automaker has previously said it fully intends to launch its first EV by early 2014.
NEVS has also made waves about potentially building a version of the old Saab 9-3 with a traditional internal combustion driveline. Currently, the manufacturer says it plans to ship the vehicles it builds in Sweden to the Qingdao port and distribute them to the rest of China from there. Later down the line, a manufacturing facility in Qingdao will supply the country with Chinese-built Saab models.

Junkyard Gem: 1986 Saab 900 Turbo

The Saab 900 sold well in Colorado, and owners of these cars tend to hang onto them for decades. For those reasons, I still find 900s while making my rounds of the self-service wrecking yards in the Denver region. The turbocharged models tended to fail more quickly than their naturally-aspirated counterparts, though, so the 900 Turbo can be tough to find today. Here's a 1986 that took its final tow-truck ride into a Denver yard a couple of months back. The 900 received a makeover for the 1987 model year, so today's Junkyard Gem comes from the final year of the 900 with the endearingly 1960s face derived from its 99 predecessor. Most of these cars didn't chug along for quite as many miles as their Volvo 240 countrymen, but that may be attributable more to the differences in driving style between Volvo and Saab owners. The word TURBO had magical connotations during the 1980s, and so most turbocharged cars of the era boasted big, obvious badging. Red car interiors were all the rage during the 1980s and 1990s. Try to imagine the vivid bordellitude of this upholstery before it faded beneath the blazing Colorado sun. Was it a runner when it arrived here? We'll never know. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Born from jets, sure, though the original Saab jet was known as "the Flying Barrel" and wasn't especially graceful-looking. Featured Gallery Junked 1986 Saab 900 Turbo View 14 Photos Auto News Saab Automotive History