2008 Saab 9-3 2.0t Sedan 4-door 2.0l on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Petrolicious keeps our love of the Saab Sonett aflame

German auto designs lean toward function and purpose. Italian designers deliver passion and beauty. The Brits, majesty. American cars, brashness and authority. If you want a funky design, though, you go to Sweden. The land of cheap, do-it-yourself furniture and delicious meatballs knows a thing or six about style and design, and while that character is only now reemerging thanks to a certain string of Volvo concepts, it use to be that Saab was the authority on penning some of the industry's more unique designs.
Take the beautiful Sonett for example - a small coupe whose appearance is a funky mishmash of a Porsche 911 and a Bugeyed Sprite with just a hint of a Citroën DS (it's that convex rear window). It's a positively striking car, made more unique by its two-stroke, three-cylinder powertrain and four-on-the-tree manual transmission. With just 70 horsepower hauling about 1,500 pounds of Swedish style, the Sonett strikes us as an ideal alternative to some of the English sports cars of its day, particularly for those that are looking for something beyond your average MG or Triumph.
For Glenn Roberts, the Sonett was a part of his childhood. His family owned example was originally a special-order item by his parents in 1967. He bought the car from them 13 years later and has never looked back, completing a restoration in 2004. With a story like that, it's not surprising that Roberts and his silver Sonett are the most recent pairing to get some attention from Petrolicious.

Junkyard Gem: 1989 Saab 900 Turbo Convertible

I live in Colorado, where Saabs were loved deeply by residents going way back to the 96 (and I'm sure a few 92s were sold here in the 1950s, though I haven't found any in local car graveyards … yet). By far the easiest pre-GM Trollhattanites to find in Centennial State wrecking yards these days are the 1978-1993 900s, and I walk by a half-dozen for each one that I document as a Junkyard Gem. We admired a gloriously brown 900 Turbo two-door a few months back, but today's 900 Turbo is an extremely rare cabriolet version, the first I've found in a boneyard in at least 15 years. The convertible 900 was available only as a turbocharged version in the United States when it was introduced for the 1986 model year, and that continued through 1991. After that, a naturally-aspirated 900 convertible could be bought here. When in very nice condition, these cars can bring tidy sums. A super-low-mile '87 900 Turbo convertible just sold for $145,000 recently, in fact. This car has more than 843 times as many miles on the odometer as that car, however, and it shows every one of them. It's not terribly rusty, considering, but the sheet metal shows many battle scars, and the interior is about what you'd expect with 33-year-old leather. Last year's film adaptation of Haruki Murakami's short story, "Drive My Car," put the Saab 900 Turbo back into mainstream cultural awareness. However, that car is a two-door sedan; the best-known Saab 900 Turbo Convertible in cinema history is the one driven by Iben Hjelje's character in the film adaptation of the Nick Hornby novel, "High Fidelity." These cars were fairly quick for their time, with 160 horsepower from this DOHC 2.0-liter straight-four in 1989. Having seen more than my share of 900 Turbos going up against same-era BMW E30s and Acura Integras on road courses, I'd put my money on the Saab in a wheel-to-wheel race (that is, in a race short enough to keep the Swede's nervous engine alive). While a three-speed automatic was available on this car, the kind of Americans odd enough to buy Saabs in 1989 also tended to be the type that wanted manual transmissions. In fact, I can't recall ever seeing a (non-Opel-based) 900 with a slushbox. Yes, Opel! Starting in the 1994 model year, the 900 name went on a car based on the Opel Vectra platform. Later on, the Saab 9-5 and Saturn L-Series lived on the same chassis. Given all the luxury features and genuine performance, this car was a pretty good value for the price in 1989.

Boeing, Saab introduce entry for T-X trainer program

This post is appearing on Autoblog Military, Autoblog's sub-site dedicated to the vehicles, aircraft, and ships of the world's armed forces. Boeing and Saab revealed their entry for the US military's T-X trainer replacement program. The new jet, simply called T-X, is like the lovechild of a F/A-18 Hornet and an F-16 Falcon, and as Boeing tells it, will provide "performance, affordability, and maintainability advantages" over the competition. "Our T-X is real, ready and the right choice for training pilots for generations to come," Leanne Caret, Boeing Defense, Space, and Security's President and CEO said in an official statement. And Caret isn't not kidding about the Boeing T-X being both real and ready – Boeing is so confident that it built two examples before the official unveiling on Tuesday. The first jet, which Defense News reports will fly by the end of the year, debuted to media with the kind of pomp usually reserved for automotive debuts. Boeing/Saab will use the second jet – also featured on Tuesday – for structural proof testing. The needs of a training aircraft are quite different than those of a traditional fighter. The T-X features stadium-style seating, so the instructor riding in back has nearly as good a view as the student in front. Student evaluations should be easy, too, as the open software transmits data effortlessly between ground training systems and the jet itself. Functionally, Boeing claims the twin-tail layout provides more agility than a single-tail design – remember, the military's newest jets, the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II both use twin-tail layouts – while the Air Force can mount two weapon hard points on the jet's wings. According to Defense News, four manufacturers – Boeing/Saab, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin/KAI, and Raytheon/Leonardo/CAE – are vying for the contract to build 350 new trainers to replace the Air Force's fleet of aging T-38 Talons. Featured Gallery Boeing/Saab T-X Entry News Source: Boeing, Defense NewsImage Credit: Boeing Saab Military