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By
Adrian Imonti on August 8, 2007
Meet the new Saab, same as the old Saab. Or maybe not. In his
online ego wall Fast Lane blog, GM Car Czar Maximum Bob Lutz gushes excitedly about his new favorite car company that's not Pontiac. In a not-so-subtle reference to Ford’s planned ejection of Volvo, Mr. Lutz begins by waxing lyrical about his decommissioned Czech fighter jet. The ex-Marine aviator then shares his newly found enthusiasm for That Other Swedish Automaker. You know, the precious “jewel in the GM crown” blessed with “driving dynamics” that “belongs in the GM family.” Tragicomically enough, Maxi Bob's favorite Swede is the 9-7X Aero, an American-made badge-engineered Chevy Trailblazer SUV holstering a 6.0-liter V-8. Maximum Bob’s beloved two-and-a-half-ton let’s-pretend-it-ain’t-no-Yank tank is the exact opposite of the quirky but crashworthy turbocharged four-cylinder front-drivers that once defined the Saab brand. With “family” like this, can abuse charges and foster care be far behind?
9-7X??? Do they even make those anymore? The money wasted on that pig could have gone to curing the horrible torque steer in the 9-3.
Bob must have forgotten his Alzheimer’s meds again…
Even I find this shameful. This is nothing more than a Trailblazer SS with the ignition key between the seats.
After reading Bob’s blog on the new ‘Bu (what an idiotic shortening of an even stupider name), I added a comment which was without vitriol, but asked questions about why the better GM cars continue to be crippled with switchgear from the 1990’s. I did endeavor to be fair-minded in my post, but perhaps Bob (his editor more likely) understood that I thought he was a fraud, as my comment went unposted.
I was initially thrilled at his ascension to GM “Car Czar” as I thought perhaps it showed that passion would return to the General. The Solstice show car, as his first salvo, offered hope. Yet it came to the market before they took the time and the money to excise an extra 400 pounds from its mass and with a top which is ridiculous for any who actually use a convertible as, well, convertible.
And his “excitement” over the 9-7X Aero Chevrolaab – more bullpoop from a guy who obviously knows machines and does recognize the difference. What GM needs is fewer cheerleaders and more players.
Horrible torque steer in the 9-3? You must have driven a different 9-3 than I did (and Jonny Lieberman did and William C Montgomery did). Perhaps you meant 9-5?
I don’t usually agree with the “too many brands, too many dealers” concern you often here from GM’s critics. But in the case of SAAB, I have to agree. The market stuck a fork in SAAB about 20 years ago, and it’s time GM pulled the plug.
If GM insists on keeping the brand, maybe they could just stick SAAB namplates onto Holdens to at least salvage some sense of dignity.
Sweet! Holden-based Saab ‘utes.
… this isn’t Jalopnik? Where am I?
Horrible torque steer in the 9-3? You must have driven a different 9-3 than I did (and Jonny Lieberman did and William C Montgomery did). Perhaps you meant 9-5?
The 1st gen 9-3 (1999-2002) was based on an Opel chassis and did indeed suffer from some fair to bad torque steer. This is correctable with a $100 aftermarket steering rack brace. The current gen 9-3 (aka the 9-3SS) has virtually no torque steer.
Is it at all surprising that Lutz is pumped over the biggest Saab with the biggest V8? Par for the course with that guy. Too bad he didn’t choose to plug the upcoming 9-3 revision with its way cool AWD system.
If we’re going to use the “Right Landing, Wrong Airport” analogy, I’m going to suggest this for the 9-7X Aero 6.0: supersonic controlled flight into terrain, several hundred miles off course.
Isn’t the Trailblazer an outdated crappy SUV platform, how is this NEW then if it’s based on ancient technology. It’s pretty obvious that GM now has zero money in Saab’s development budget since they can’t even badge engineer one of the newer designs.
Why are they wasting money pumping out more iron for a dieing segment? Especially since no one shops at Saab looking for an SUV, I guess since all the Saab loyalists have gone on to anything but a Saab they have to try and trick new buyers.
They need to figure out what this brand stands for and then build cars for that segment.
Re-badging everything is not fooling anyone.