Special feature: A farewell to Saab 9-5
All good things have to go. After 12 years and half million units sold, the final 9-5 finally rolled off the assembly line in Trollhattan, Sweden.
When Saab introduced the current 9-5 back in 1997, it was hailed as Sweden’s contender against benchmark mid-size luxury sedans dominated by Germans. Even though its based on previous Opel Vectra, or unremarkable Saturn L-Series, it feels nothing else like those chassis silbings. Instead, it feels every bit as fun-to-drive and Swedish as every Saab does. Anything else from the entry-level 2.0t S to flagship 2.3T Aero with manual gearbox, these are the luxury sports sedan that handle as anything else in its class with comfort to boot.
The 1st facelift bought out “boost control” on Aero with revised trim levels. Instead of calling S, SE and Aero. Saab renamed those Linear, Arc and Aero. It also brought a higher quality interior and better performing powertrains to the party. Saab’s awesome seats remain intact during the revision. The facelifted version is definitely the best Saab and 9-5 ever produced back in those days.
When Audi came out with the current A6 in 2004, BMW came out with current 5-Series in 2003; we were wondering when will Saab bring out its new 9-5. GM’s beancounters decided not to give Saab enough funding to develop a new 9-5, instead, they gave it a poor nose job in 2006. Its not only the styling is ugly, 9-5 is no longer competitive in that segment. Although Volvo’s S80 is one of the worse cars we have ever driven in DirectShift in the last 3 years, it remains a more competitive car than the granddaddy 9-5 which already on the market for over a decade.
The next 9-5 looks to be a very promising entry into the mid-size premium segment, just like its predecessors do. Both 9000 and 9-5 were wonderful cars to begin with, it was just Saab (especially GM) have milk them too long before a complete rehaul. Even at the end of the lifecycle and one very ugly facelift, we still love 97-09 9-5 today. We only hope we will love the next 9-5 even more. 