UPDATE: II
These are out there now, so there's no point in having the small ones anymore.
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Djup Strupe does it again.....
These are the first images that I can confirm are original Saab stock. They look more like CGI's than actual photos of real cars to me, but they're authentic.
There's one of each of the sedan and wagon (which is an absolute stunner if you ask me)
I have no idea what spec these cars are (eg. Aero or otherwise).
Also, please remember that no matter what you think of these images - they're most likely CGI's and every car looks better in the metal than what it does in photos.
.....which means the road should melt in the presence of this wagon....
I want one of those wagons - NOW!!!!
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A recap for the unfamiliar:
The 2010 Saab 9-5 is due to come out in sedan form either late 2009 or early 2010. The Motor Show debut will be later this year in Frankfurt.
The wagon is said to be following year after.
The car should be available with a mix of four and six cylinder engines (petrol/BioPower) and a four cylinder diesel. The six cylinder diesel that was planned for the car was cancelled by GM.
Photos of the interior
We also have a full list of colors and features.
SAAB's future looking very bright right now. Most pleasing :)
THAT WAGON is drop gorgeous!!
Have to agree with Swade that the cars usually looks a lot better in the metal, so this surely looks promising.
Let me say it like this:
When i first saw the 9-4X Concept, I didn´t like it at all. It might be the fact that the "new" design language of Saab was showing on that car which turned out to be more or less the final deal. I just wasn´t ready for that design language on a production car... -yet!
The design of the last Concepts has really grown on me and to be honest I now find the 9-4X is one of the best looking crossovers out there. It is really a car I would consider buying if I was to get a new one. Really.
Now back to topic:
This NG 9-5 (if this is how it´s going to look-I guess it is quite on the spot) is georgeous. Especially the SportCombi. I like it a lot. Fact is that I probably will love it when we finally see it in the flesh. What is more important is that- though it still looks alot like a Saab- I truly believe that this car will attract buyers from others brands. The rear of that Combi looks absolutely STUNNING, and still DNA from the old 9-5 estate (which we all loved)is still there :)
Great work Saab!!
I´m starting to imagine this car in an Aero spec... :)
LOVE the clean look and love the front end!
Hmmmm... where do I order a 9-5 SC Konenigsegg R...?
However I'd like to argue that these pictures are not 100% accurate presentation of the real product. At least the length of the wagon behind the rear wheels is not correct. Compare these for example
http://www.saabsunited.com/upload/images2009/06/from_the_saab_showroom_of_the_future/Saab%209-5%20estate%20covered.jpg
VS.
http://www.trollhattansaab.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/2010Saab9-5wagonOfficialSU.jpg
The back in the CGI is clearly shorter...
I really don't like the step towards american\german design, but will be nice to see this car in the flesh. Sometimes car design grows on you...
Regards
Simon
It's been so long since I saw these pics I really had forgotten how nice this car is.
looking at the small picture, I thought it was an Audi A8...I hope in real it will look more Saabish!
A couple interesting things I saw. The rear windshield wiper goes in a different direction on each shot. Also do you think the "MBW" was just an accident? Read B M W:)
But let's wait for the physical steel to get the right impression.
Those rims looks different from the A6 ones which I've seen 2 hours ago.
SAAB should have sent those close-ups a couple of days ago, asking you to show only those and no full picture from any Djup Strupe.
If they would work with you, I think you would be willing to cooperate to show only what they want, won't you ?
http://www.automotorsport.se/nyhetsbrev/news/18711/officiella-bilder-på-saab-9-5/
Arild, AMS gives Saabsunited full credit and provides a link in the article. Photos still there also AMS has a form where they want to collect readers ideas for New Saab, but I figure the Swedes should have their say in Swedish. Also a poll. Saab as niche company with more interesting cars is leading at almost 60%. 'No future' gets 20%. Sounds like the depression rate in Sweden lifts with Midsommer??
Saab should worry less about what Swade is posting and far more about what shows up on news.google every morning. Suddenly, all the positive links are gone, and all the dark skepticism is showing up today.
Concerning the pictures :are those recent internal pics from Saab ? Because why use CGI pics when there are actual finished reallife models in their Showroom of the Future ?
Sedan is very close to that AMS image which we´ve seen. I like the coupeish look (the long rear overhang - like good old C900).
I can´t wait to see them in person. I´m also waiting to see 9-4X. Yes. I can´t believe that I just said that but I´m growing on the idea of big bulky SUV Saab. Maybe not for me, but it may be a cool car anyways.
Thanks Swade. Thanks Saab.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/38481000@N07/3654347803/
As I wrote before, the wagon is my first choice. If you try to blend the CGI with the covered wagon on the showroom pictures, you can't but think it's going to be one heck of a car - and that's true of the sedan as well. Very cool, very clear, very SAAB. That's all I can say.
I missed it. I even missed the AMS pics before they modded them!
I feel sick. Been waiting so long!
Did anyone save them to their computer?? email them to me!!
This photo shop also looks fine.. http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3353/3617829418_a1bb814f09.jpg
http://www.vk.se/Article.jsp?article=288219
but probably not for long.
Looks good, the wagon especially.
http://www.vk.se/Article.jsp?article=288219
but probably not for long.
Looks good, the wagon especially.
i hope the big nose thing is due to the perspective of the photo.
AAAARRRGGGHHH!!!!
The dimensions given are those for the *current* 9-5.
I think the wagon looks stately, refined, but the sedan... that's hot looking.
I am not crazy about the color on the CGI's nor the wheels on the sedan, but otherwise I'd say they look awesome. Both are definitley "head-turner's". Good job SAAB!
The wagon is shockingly sexy, but I'd still go for a sedan. With that 555 hp / 666 lb. ft. torque engine in it. :)
BUT.... Am I the only person is slightly underwelmed by this all? It's a great looking car and I love it but its not pushing the envelope perhaps as much as it should.
available here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wow thats cool design!!! Very very nice!
Thanks!!!
see my comment above!
Chris
The car looks even better in person mind you. ;)
I like what they've done with the mirrors, too, very neat.
i like the greenish tint in the headlights, very cool.
This is more Buzz than I have seen in a while! Far better than the K-Segg announcement. Hope they tease us more and more often!
http://www.vk.se/Article.jsp?article=288219
This is more Buzz than I have seen in a while! Far better than the K-Segg announcement. Hope they tease us more and more often!
The Kombi - holy cr*p is that thing gorgeous. In the flesh its going to be bloody gorgeous.
From both pics it looks like Saab is back in business. :)
Also, I presume this is not the Aero model showing? Due to the front bumper?
http://www.saabsunited.com/upload/images2009/06/internal_show_and_tell_of_2010_saab_9-5_coming_s/Saab9-5WC-3.JPG
Maybe that's for the Aero?
http://photos-b-0.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs114.snc1/5142_95323625757_506630757_1960489_7925436_n.jpg
I just received some info, it seems during the last week, 8 units of the new 9-5 arrived in the GM/Opel Figueruelas plant in Zaragoza(SPAIN). Could be, they are trying to know and catch everything they can before the company changes to a new owner. Internal spionage?? This could demonstrate the big concerns from GM about the good qualities of the car.
The second option is, the launch of the car is coming and is going to be done soon and in Spain.
regards
My god she's beautiful in red!
Saab dreams seem to be moving toward reality! Hey, maybe Saab will partner with Trollspeed for some special performance models (It doesn't hurt to keep dreaming)!!
I am ready to order one as soon as I can. That has to be good news for Saab.
I bet the dealers and their sales people are excited too!
I wonder what the sloping roof is doing to the headroom in the back? Looking at all the pictures floating around I couldn't escape the impression that this is going to be a huge car. Hopefully Saab-K'egg will realize the need for small cars too, a 9-1 with enough space in the engine bay for the 9-5 engine maybe? Worked for my Viggen.
Swade! You made my day!
Thank U.
SAAB WAGONS ARE THE BEST LOOKING WAGONS IN THE WORLD, NOTHING ELSE COMES CLOSE!
AND YES, I KNOW I AM YELLING!
http://www.vk.se/Article.jsp?article=288219
It's a regional paper up north in Sweden. I have seen AMS articles there before. Maybe they have some agreement with AMS to republish some of their material. Weird though that AMS didn't demanded that they change the article to reflect the new one.
Its interesting to see the side view, with those strange holes after the front wheels, let's see if its onlye some sort of new design feautre or some aerodynamic feature.
The front chrome sorround of the lights, in the real view it will look brighter than in those pictures, taking a look at the pitcures with the cover, the chrome its too marked.
regards
Thanx
I love the wagon but, the sedan is really bland. I hope that it will look better in the flesh. I would still buy it but, I am a Saab nut. I am just concerned that if it does not look better than that in the flesh that Saab will have a big problem trying to win converts.
Oh and the rims on the wagon are very HOT!
the front lacks something.......it's too plain ,hopefully the aero version will add some "claw" to it.........also (and i hope) that the cgi and the covered versions differ a little bit,because the covered version seems to be (from what we can see)looking much better than the CGI version...........
If so, thanks for taking one for the team. The 9-5 is definitely a looker! Hopefully they're not too upset about it. Feed the beast, fellas, just like he said. You know it's gotta be done one way or the other.
I can understand better now what a few commenters meant when they said the 9-5 was well-disguised. That's quite different once the checkered pattern has been removed.
I cannot buy it unless the V6 petrol does 40MPG and I am not buying a 4 cylinder diesel for a car this size.
Saabinsegg..please put a decent size diesel in this car. I know a 4 cyl will do the job but it is the way it does it that counts for a vehicle this deserving.
Other thing: the grill of new 9-5 is too big (This is what I meant in the other place writing about an American cousin). I like Saabs with more "sporty" front (9000, 9-5 "classic", 9-3ss.)
New 9-5 is not a bad car, it looks OK... but...too much GM influence. Good thing is that when it is on sale the second hand current 9-5 will get cheaper - maybe I'll buy one...
The grille is a bit massive for my taste. It looks as if it has been bulked up for no good reason. Again: Does this serve any purpose? The 900 and 9000 were quite narrow at the front. My MY08 9-3 is more narrow than this, and that too feels too massive for me.
Remember Jeremy Clarkson's cockometer? http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/jeremy_clarkson/article589163.ece
I fear that the 9-5 sedan is at risk here. I crave driving the best Saab, but don't feel the need to brag about it. Well... I'll brag to my dad, who also reads this blog, but that's about it. :D (To dad: If I manage to buy the new 9-5, you can borrow it any time -- no problem)
Let's patiently wait for the real pictures of real vehicles.
I don't suppose there's any way that I can stop people from speculating, but these were in no way, not in your wildest dreams, leaked deliberately by PR staff at Saab.
My current main complaint with my 9-3 SC is that the rear window gets dirty very fast. Hirsch says their rear spoiler diverts a portion of the air downwards, thus counteracting the turbulence that normally trails the SCs. The result is a cleaner rear window.
From the shape of things, I guess they are setting the new 9-5 wagon up for some serious Hirsch action too.
To the rear spoiler, the Hirsch Spoiler, as I can see on the pictures at the Hirsch site has a slit between the roof and the spoiler. Some of the Air coming from the roof of the car, gets sucked though this slit and goes down parallel to the rear window, this diverges some of the dirt coming from the road. On the 9-4x and 9-5SC I can't see this slit, this would make the spoiler more effective in terms of aerodynamics, but you get more dirt on the rear window.
So, I had to have a better look at the spoiler to tell.
-The low-air-intake at the front doesn't match the fuzzy images supposedly to go into the marketing brochures posted
earlier this week.
-The side mirrors are totaly generic, and can not be the actual ones.
-The front hood doesn't have any of the curved dent
that any of the concept cars have or even the latest 9-3, making this look like something from 2005 not 2010.
-The B-pillar in black between the doors seems too
petruding, the saab designers must have been smarter
than this.
-The airintake on the side of the door seem totally
wrong, it neither follows the aero-x style or the 9x biohybrid/air. Whats going on?
-The rims look really ordinary on the first photo, and on the sportswagon they look like something from nicked Aero-x.
Besides, if everyone else drives an Audi... Then I will smile even more while driving my Saab.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3660/3382434630_70594ef649.jpg?v=0
The overall look has a bit of an Audi A8/American/German feel to it. (The Skoda comments can not be taken seriously)
But then again, it doesn’t lack that "plain" but refined Scandinavian Saab design, either. I must say it looks rather smart, especially when you take a closer look at the designing of the front lights, vents, mirrors the c-style, and the beautiful window. Impressive, to say the least. Hopefully it looks even better in real life. Omens sure make me hopeful.
wonder how costly it would be to streamline that front-end tooling before launch?
Audi's are just four ringed VWs anyway.
I've looked into these photos more thoroughly and compared them to previous photos from the Saab museum and carscoop stuff. I uploaded the result here:
http://www.picamatic.com/show/2009/06/27/07/44/4149102_900x425.jpg
http://www.picamatic.com/show/2009/06/27/07/45/4149103_900x600.jpg
http://www.picamatic.com/show/2009/06/27/07/45/4149104_750x870.jpg
Seems like CGI are really very close, for example the transition from black to chrome bevel on the rear door windows. Exactly like on the actual car! The images are very accurate on details. However there are some differences, the mirrors are the example, and there were no air vents behind the front wheels on the test-drive cars.
My opinion is that both test-drive and these images differ slightly from what's under the cover, but you can get the point.
no, did not climb in for driver-eye view. tempted.
But this makes me question why my 9-3 has the grille it has. There is the obligatory opening in the middle... Then it has those two small black areas on the side, that looks like similar openings, but are instead just for show. (I think Hirsch said that a balance must be struck between getting air inside to the engine and keeping dirt on the outside - - but I could easily remember that wrong)
As for the sidevents down by the front tire, won't it get incredibly dirty? There is already lots of slush being kicked up by the wheel in winter, but now all that slush will be even more directed towards the sides of my car?
ck1x: Have you seen the new 9-5? Are those sidevents even active?
The 900 had something near the rear that looked like air intakes. Big sports cars at the time needed more air for their engines, and scooped it from the side. For all I know they still do. But on the 900 it was all show AFAIK. And that is a bit cheesy.
My next car will undoubtedly be a Saab, I just want to learn more about it first.
We currently own an Audi, but my wife and I agree that it'll be the last one we ever purchase.
I'm not going to have opinions until I see real pictures.
The design of Audis at one time were very unique and beautiful, but i think they are getting outdated and ordinary. I live in the Northeast United Stated and BMW'S, Mercedes, and Audis pretty much dominate the luxury market not because of their quality, design, or they are the ultimate driving machines, they dominate because they are status symbols. As Saab was in the late 1980's with all the Yuppies.
I do not know if the same is true for the rest of the world, but most Americans that purchase luxury/near luxury automobiles, do not know the difference between the engine and the steering wheel. Most people driving Mercedes, BMW'S, Audis are women who use their cars to go get their nails done, go to the country club, and need to impress their neighbors!
As a SAAB enthusiast, I prefer Saabs not to be a status symbol, but a reflection of someone who is intelligent, concened about safety, and has a passion about their cars. As an American I am embarrassed what GM has done to Saab, but it is typical of American industry, the Europeans are and always will be much more advanced in the Automotive indusrty. I have owned 4 Saabs, all pre GM, and i will finally purchase the first non GM product available in Saab showrooms!
It is a very exciting time for this wonderful car company, just be patient, and Saabs will once again get the respect they once had!!
actually, Stansaab, you forgot to include Lexus.
from the female former 'yuppie' living in the Northeast U.S. who has been driving ONLY Saabs since 1976 because of my intial concern about safety, and then passion combined with a designer's appreciation of the pre-GM dash and control designs. CanNOT stand looking at the current showroom Saab dashboards.
The Audi TT is a nice looking sports car (not that I would ever buy one), and I stand by my designer's assessment of the TT dash I saw up close today.
Let's all try to get the other 49.9999% of American women to at least consider walking into a Saab dealer when this 9-5 arrives, sassuming they can find one. Or at least keep them from talking their husbands out of looking at Saab.
What would be wrong if 100,000 new buyers bought Saab because it is a status symbol?
Makes me wonder, if they are from Saab, why where they made? And when?
They don't look too bad, but don't start believing that they represent the real car in any deeper sense.
It makes sense, I guess: they never loose the element of surprise from the actual presentation.
If you follow those grilles from the 900 till the latest 9-3 you will see a evolution and not a revolution. But since the 9-3SC concept, the central part of the grille has become independent. For example on Maurer 9-X the lower lines of the central part and the side parts of the upper Grille were on the same height, but since the Aero-X the side parts of the upper Grille end at the height of the Chrome Bar at the middle of the central upper Grille.
You can believe me or not, but the 9-5 upper Grille size is only stylistic, lets say the Aero-X DNA. most of the Air the car needs comes though the lower Grille, in every modern car.
In fact, you could in Norway close the upper Grille of your 9-3 without having no overheating problems. As I don't think 40°C - 50°C are usual in Norway ;). You should then have a better mileage, but this also depends on how you drive.
I'm afraid, but I still can't imagine the side vents do really serve a purpose, so I also expect them to be design driven. They are a nice design feature, imho, they give character to the side view, but that is all, and anybody who has seen the real flesh can teach me wrong.
Ck1x - thanks for clarifying the purpose of the side vents. I was kind of suspecting that, but good to get a second opinion.
But no, I'm not satisfied - you are right about that. :)
-I can only hope that the aerodymics is good, despite these huge inlets, and that this strange hole on the side serves an aerodynamic purpose.
-I cannot believe that the wagon is for real, since that would mean that upon every minor contact of the rear with a different car, you might well have a dent in the tailgate, which in the image is flush with the bumper. That would be a bad design decision, even worse than to get rid of these (though ugly) black plastic protectors on the side and bumpers. (I can hardly image how many more scratches I would have without them)
I'm hoping SAAB didn't go too crazy with the snout design as in these CGI's--it's just too overkill. Makes more sense on the SUV design but not on a refined euro sedan.
I am loving the rear-end design and we now have a really good sense about.
The one thing that I'm worried about is the interior. Those earlier photos scare the crap out of me. I just don't feel they are SAAB-ish at all. I'm hoping those spy shots are not even close to the real interior.
As an current Aero 9-5 wagon owner, I'm hopeful and excited about Saab's future.
I like how they are revisiting the sedan-coupe Saab - I think the rear will be quite interesting.
AutoCritical
http://www.autocritical.com/blog/
look at the nissan maxima, it looks good on picture, but not in person.