As we get closer to the time when Saab Automobile will be finishing their filming of the Saab 9-3x Cross-Combi in Kiruna, Sweden, I think it’s a good time to showcase the 9-3x Concept Car that debuted back in 2002.

This concept car, shown seven years ago was the prelude to the 9-3x Cross-Combi as former President of Saab Cars USA, Joel Manby indicated. We were supposed to see the 9-3x Cross-Combi in 2003, but it was shelved, then launched as a regular SportCombi a few years later, and now we’re going to see the real thing, a whole six years later. I understand through some anonymous Saab History insiders that the AWD system was too expensive to launch at the time, so the entire project was put on hold by GM, what a shame. It’s obvious though especially in the video because they didn’t even have the branding of the all-wheel drive system down at that point, because they called it “AWD” instead of “XWD“. At least the Saab 9-3x Cross-Combi is finally going to be here, and hopefully rightsized and not a V6 as this video indicates.

If you are still unsure what the difference between the concept car and the production car are, I posted a piece on the difference between the two with images.

Anyways, enjoy this film and start visualizing what the next film will look like of the Saab 9-3x Cross-Combi plowing through snow up in Kiruna, Sweden, I can’t wait!

There has been a steady increase in visitors checking out the Saab 9-3x section of this site which brought me to why I think some clarification is needed.

That section reflects the Saab 9-3x Concept Car debuted in 2002, which was a non-production one-off designed to showcase AWD capabilities complete with a C-pillar design that signalled the 9-3 SportCombi that debuted as a production car back in 2005 as a 2006 MY.

Fast forward seven years later, the Saab 9-3x Cross-Combi is an actual production car that will be debuting in March of 2009, that is raised, has the latest XWD system, and has beefier exterior mouldings.

You will see this is why I have separated both vehicles into their respective sections, the first within the Concept Car section, the second in the Production section, listed as Saab 9-3x and 9-3xc, respectively.

To recap, Saab 9-3x is a concept car from 2002, the Saab 9-3xc or Cross-Combi as I call it, separates the nomenclature as a production car. I hope this helps!

As the rumor mill spreads about the Saab 9-3XC Cross-Combi debuting this October, I think it will be a good time to cover the evolution of this vehicle from the very beginning.

This vehicle originally evolved from the Saab 9-3X Concept car, which debuted in 2002 as shown in the video above.

I thought it would be good for those that are not familiar with this concept car, to, after watching the promotional video above, also check out the section I have devoted entirely to this concept car.

As a follow-up to the previous writeup on the past and present Saab designers and their achievements, it was necessary to include a chronological up-to-date listing of Saab projects both production and concepts.

This listing includes each Saab project, year introduced along with each designer and/or engineer that contributed to the given project.

This list is a work-in-progress, so any additions and/or modifications that you see necessary below, please add your comments to ensure correctness and accuracy.

Photo Credits: Saab Automobile

Design Contributions by Model

SAAB Scandia 90 (1946-1958)

Bror Bjurströmer

SAAB 91 (1947-1966)

A.J. Andersson

SAAB 92001 (Prototype) (1946/1947)

Sixten Sason

Gunnar Ljungström

Read more »

Photo Credit: Saab Automobile AB

Michael Mauer was born on July 28th, 1962 in the German town of Rotenburg/Fulda, but grew up in Höchenschwand, in the Black Forest. He studied automobile design from 1982 to 1986 at the Polytechnic in Pforzheim, and from there secured his first job in the Design area of Mercedes-Benz AG in Sindelfingen. In 1989 he was appointed Design Project Leader, and two years later oversaw design work for the first SLK model generation. In July 1995, the company appointed him Head of Department and entrusted him with design responsibility for the A-Class, SLK and SL models.

In 1998 Michael Mauer moved to the Mercedes-Benz Advanced Design Studio in Tokyo, Japan, as General Manager, and was intensively involved in advanced development work on various model lines. A year later, he was put in charge of Design at MCC Smart GmbH. This was where he met up with Anthony Lo, who together for a number of years in the Saab design center.

In June 2000 Michael Mauer took a position with Saab Automobile as Executive Director Design and worked at the Saab Design Center in Pixbo / Mölnlycke, Sweden. Since March of 2003,
Saab Automobile’s Board of Management appointed Michael Mauer as Chief Designer of Saab and Advanced Concept Center General Motors Europe.

In July of 2004, Michael Mauer left Saab Automobile and took a position with Porsche.

Since working with Saab, he was responsible for the design of the Saab 9-X, 9-3X, 9-3 Sport Hatch, concept cars and the wheels for the Saab 9-3 Sport Sedan, the production version of the Saab 9-3 SportCombi and MY2004-2007 Saab 9-3 Convertible design, and the 9-2X.

Image Credit: Saab History

As a follow-up to the posting I made back in November of 2006 on the logo history, it is about time that I compliment this information with the following on the correct capitalization and nomenclature of the models of the Saab Automobile brand. I hope this sheds some more light in our dialog about Saabs, SAABs and all of the great products that have been developed over the years.

I have provided a fairly well written piece already done on Wikipedia that I would like to articulate if I may regarding the correct capitalization and model nomenclature as a guide.

It is my hope that as a result of this posting, others will be able to better articulate their writing and speaking when referring to all of Saab’s products from 1947 until present. I also think that this posting will help to end search criteria that is typically entered in Google as follows: (SAAB 93 XWD, SAAB 92 ABS, Saab 94 Ski Rack, 2001 SAAB 95, 1999 93, etc.) If this search criteria was taken literally, as it should as google can only do just that, we would have had Cross Wheel Drive available in the late 1950’s, ABS in the late forties, and two long production runs for the SAAB Ninety Five and Ninety Three. Let’s hope that this clarifies this naming and model nomenclature once and for all.

1947-1969 (Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget)

The Company: When referring to the company in both written and oral communication where the products were produced between 1947 and 1969, it is proper to use SAAB in all capital letters to refer to these vehicles.

The Models: When referring to vehicles model nomenclature in both written and oral communication that were produced during this time, they are written and pronounced as 92 (Pronounced: Ninety Two), 92 (Pronounced: Ninety Three), 94 (Pronounced: Ninety Four), 95 (Pronounced: Ninety Five), 96 (Pronounced: Ninety Six), 97 (Pronounced: Ninety Seven)

1970-2000 (Saab-Scania)

* Note: Although the merger took place in 1990, the original products continued. (excluding NG900, 9-3 & 9-5)

The Company: When referring to the company in both written and oral communication where the products were produced between 1970 and 1990, it is proper & acceptable to refer to them as Saabs in lower case letters or Saab-Scania vehicles, also in lower case letters.

The Models: When referring to vehicles model nomenclature in both written and oral communication that were produced during this time, they are written and produced as 97 (Pronounced: Ninety Seven), 98 (Pronounced: Ninety Eight), 99 (Pronounced: Ninety Nine), 90 (Pronounced: Ninety), 900 (Pronounced: Nine Hundred), 9000 (Pronounced: Nine Thousand), 9-5 (Pronounced: Nine Five), NG900 (Pronounced: New Generation 900), 9-3 (Pronounced: Nine Three).

2001 - Present (Saab Automobile / General Motors)

The Company: When referring to the company in both written and oral communication where the products were produced between 2001 and the Present, it is proper & acceptable to refer to them as Saab in lower case letters and/or Saab Automobile / GM vehicles.

The Models: When referring to vehicles model nomenclature in both written and oral communication that were produced during this time, they are written and produced as 9-X (Pronounced: Nine X), 9-2x (Pronounced: Nine Two X), 9-3x (Pronounced: Nine Three X), 9-3 (Pronounced: Nine Three), 9-4x (Pronounced: Nine Four X), 9-5 (Pronounced: Nine Five), 9-7x (Pronounced: Nine Seven X)

I leave you with a brief summary from Saab Automobile’s entry from Wikipedia.

Saab / SAAB Correct Capitalization and Model Nomenclature:

While Saab is in fact an acronym, and, as with many other manufacturers, the word “SAAB” appears in all-capitals within the corporate emblem and in on-vehicle badging, the current correct capitalization of Saab when in print is “Saab,” and not “SAAB.”[citation needed] Other manufacturers such as Volvo, Toyota, Lexus, Acura, and Chevrolet employ the use of all-capitalized vehicle badging, but they are still considered proper names and capitalized as such when written. Likewise, Saab is treated as a proper name and not an acronym, despite its origins..”[citation needed]

Furthermore, all current Saab vehicles are badged with a large 9 and a smaller 3, 5, or 7x following the 9, such as “9³”. However, the digits are considered separate, and are spoken as, for example, “nine three,” and written as “9-3.” Nearly every Saab model ever produced has begun with the number 9 (Saab 600 being an exception), and Saab’s two models became 9-3 and 9-5 in the late 1990s, which was likely a marketing attempt at positioning the vehicles as direct competitors to the BMW 3-series and 5-series, respectively.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saab_Automobile

Film Credit: Saab History

The first interview I had at the 2008 NAIAS, was with Saab Designer, Anthony Lo. Anthony Lo, whom I recently chatted with online thanks to GM Next, has worked with with Saab Automobile since 2000. He has been responsible for many Saab concept cars including the Saab 9-X, Saab 9-3X, Saab 9-3 Sport Hatch, Aero-X and today the Saab 9-4x BioPower Concept.

It was nice to hear how the distinctive design elements were designed such as the raked grille 3-port fully opened grille, signature lighting in the glass-block inspired headlights & tail lights, the aircraft inspired sleek design, especially with the wrap-around windshield, c-pillars and more.

A thank you to Saab Automobile, General Motors, Saab Colorado, Inc. and of course Anthony Lo for his time and explanations on this new design language for Saab.

In 2000, the Saab Advanced Design Team relocated from within the Saab factory complex in Trollhättan to a facility just outside the city of Göteborg. in Mölnlycke, Sweden.

Today the Saab Design Center facility not only includes the Saab Advanced Design Team, but also the Global Sales & Marketing teams and employs approximately 120 people.

The members of Saab Advanced Design Team that have worked in this facility include Michael Mauer, Anthony Lo, Ola Granlund, Simon Padian and Alex Daniel and others on projects such as the Saab 9-X, Saab 9-3X, Saab 9-3 SportHatch and the Aero-X.

In 2005, the Saab Automobile “Brand Center” was also established as a way to preserve the heritage and scandinavian design cues in all future Saab Automobile models. It has been carefully explained to Saab History that this center is not a physical building or facility but an integrated and iterative design process between the Saab Design Center in Mölnlycke and Technical Development Center & Factory in Trollhättan.

According to David at thedavidreport.com, the “Design” category should be owned by Saab Automobile, hands down.

There are many categories that brands that have owned such as “Safety” which has been long used by Volvo, or “driving” for BMW, but the “Design” category has not been taken by an automobile brand.

With the design category available and the momentous design & development work by Saab’s designers since the turn of the millenium resulting in design concepts such as the 9-X, 9-3X, 9-3 SportHatch, Aero-X, 9-3 BioPower Hybrid Convertible and now the 9-5 E100 BioPower concept, it seems clear that Saab Automobile’s heritage of having a progressive attention to design, positively embodies this category.

The Next Saab Film is going to be up to you, because we have what was the next film in line which was a 16 milimeter promotional film by Saab-Scania that covers the 900 convertible concept (some photographs), SAAB 340 Aircraft as well as the 9000, so I would have to say it was done between 1984 and 1986. The 16mm film below was donated to Saabhistory.com, thanks to long-time former Saab Cars USA, John Moss. This film is about 15 minutes long I believe. Total conversion cost $109 for this single 16mm film. Total time to convert 2 weeks. I have a clip of this film here, take a look at this link.

We also have three new contributions thanks to former Public Relations rep of Saab Cars USA, Dan Prescott. These contributions consist of promotional films of the Saab 9-X, 9-3X and the Michilin Race of Champions. These films are 4:30, 5:30 and maybe about 20 minutes in length respectively. I believe the 9-X and 9-3X films are longer than the films we have in the archive already which are 2:28 and 2:30, so perhaps there is more footage or something altogether different! Total conversion cost $132 for 3 films to be converted. Total time to convert 1-2 days.

Total contributions $115.50, so we have just about enough for either set of films.

From the information we have here about the 4 films total, and a choice beween one group of 3 or one single film which may not be as “exciting” as these newer films may be, I have decided to place place a poll here so that you can cast your vote.

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Below are images of the films that in analog format prior to conversion for your reference.

The original of SAAB using the numerical nomenclature 9, is that this number was an indication that the project was a non-military, but a civilian project.

The SAAB Scandia 90 (pictured above) was the first civilian project, followed by the SAAB Safir 91, then finally the automobile being SAAB 92001 in 1946, and the beginning of production models with the SAAB 92. Here is a list of all of the the projects from the beginning until the present.

For more information about these models, please visit our “Saab designs by model number” reference list.

90 SCANDIA
91 Safir (Aircraft)
92001
92
93
94 Sonett I
95
96
97 Sonett II & III
98 Prototype
99
90
900
9000
9-5
9-3
9-X
9-2X
9-3X
9-4X
9-6X (cancelled)
9-7X

As a little refesher, I thought it would be a good idea to post the 3 most recent videos of the Saab concept cars, the Aero-X, the 9-3X and the 9-X. I do not have a video of the 9-3Sport Hatch nor the EV-1 at this time. Enjoy the promotional videos!