Aside from the usual family gatherings (my mum hails from this island) I had an ulterior motive this year. Tromsø also happens to be the home of one of the very few 2012 9-5 SportCombis ever made. #10 to be precise. Of course we had to pay our respects.
I met with two very enthusiastic brothers, the Østbø brothers, who ended up buying a 9-5 combi as well as a 9-4x during last winter’s auctions. They are second generation Saab aficionados and the older sibling has not one, nor two, but three Saabs. A 900, a Sonett and finally the 9-5SC.
A Swedish colleague tipped them off early on and preparations to buy the 9-5 started immediately. Harald was not a 100% certain he would be able to get the car road legal, but after making some inquiries a possible solution emerged: Norwegian authorities are willing to bend the rules in case a vehicle has been deemed to be of historic significance.
It was not a done deal however. When picking up the car in Sweden, all he had was a red sticker that works as a temporary license plate allowing people to import cars prior to registration. One of the sales guys looked at the sticker, his eyes filled with amazement, “Is that really legal..? Will they let you drive it across the border?”. Months would pass until the Norwegian DOV finally cleared #10 and issued proper plates. Harald inquired every four weeks or so, making sure they hadn’t forgotten him while taking care not to annoy anyone important to this delicate application process. In May, the proper plates finally arrived. Being a vehicle of historical value, the registration is granted on the sole condition that no modifications are carried out.
Harald says the 2012 9-5 has a more pronounced DriveSense implementation. The Sport mode is peppier and Comfort mode is a must in the winter time as the road gets severly worn down by ice and heavy trucks. Certain elements of this MY12 appear unfinished though. The cargo cover will retract as soon as the car hits a little bump. The plastic notch that is supposed to hold it in place seems too shallow (or possibly slanted the wrong way) to function properly.
Being a true Saab, this one also has its own set of quirks. The cruise control no longer shuts off when changing gears. Harald appreciates the convenience, but I cannot help but think that somewhere along the way, someone swapped the cruise control ECU with one designed for an automatic transmission.
“How about the 9-4x?”. The brothers both agree that the rare 9-4x, one of maximum a handful in Norway (if not the only one) is fantastic to drive. The 2.8T engine pulls everything they throw at it, but the seats are not quite up to Saab’s usual standards and the ride becomes a tad uncomfortable after a few hours. They had not brought the 9-4x along for our improvised rendezvous so unfortunately no pictures this time.
Another part of this saga is that Harald, a few months ago, posted a nasty picture on facebook. A man in an Opel plunged straight into the 9-5 Harald was driving. Harald had stopped in front of a pedestrian crossing and the Opel guy was looking elsewhere. Fortunately it was his dad’s 9-5 and not the start of a frantic hunt for a part that simply does not exists. “I would have killed the guy, had he hit my SportCombi”. As the Opel guy lost his driver’s license, there is now one less kamikaze-driver for Harald to worry about.
The community of 2012 SC owners is tightly knit and well connected with each other. Harald told me that, unlike their Norwegian counterpart, the Swedish DMV refuses to touch anything concerning the MY12 9-5s. Some had hoped that getting the car registered in Germany would make it possible to re-register it in Sweden, but no luck so far. Usually EU regulations tend to override national interests, but the Swedish DMV believe they alone are the authority over what gets to roll on Swedish roads. That the 2012 9-5 is loads safer than the average car from the last five years matters not. This bolsters my belief that logic and reasoning are not qualities to be associated with bureaucrats.
Gorgeous, gorgeous cars !
Nice collection. Owners can be proud.
I never thought I would say I am suffering from “wagon envy”!
Beautiful car
An amazing car!
If they only had had the dashboard ready for the initial 9-5 launch. I really think many motor “journalists” just used the interior to write bad reviews of the whole 9-5. The dashboard was the only thing that i felt was a little out of place. Nothing wrong with the handling or anything else.
So sad that the sportcombi never came to the market. Many people waited for it (including me).
Harald is truly worthy of his royal name. 🙂
Harald’s Sonett looks very similar to mine. But he is very fortunate to own a classic 900, Sonett and the 9-5 sportcombi! As an American whose ancestors came from Norway, I am glad to hear one of them is on the road in Norway.
What’s with the Swedish DMV? They should want this car on Swedish roads.
The new 9-5 SC is such a glorious automobile, and very decidedly, utterly Saab. I am so glad that at least a handful are on the road. It has become a dream of mine to get my hands on one someday!
Gorgeous car! But I think it’s very hard (or even impossible) to get it registered in Sweden. The authorities are almost as strict as the Finnish authorities. I’d like to buy a 9-2x Aero and import it to Finland. So I’ve done quite a lot if research whether it can be registered in Finland. Results: 1) the car has no EU certification 2) the car has no TÜV certification for European market. In other words, no-one who has imported the car to Europe has got it TÜV approved. 3) it doesn’t have side blinkers which are needed in Finland 4)… Read more »
https://www.facebook.com/Saab952012Sportcombi¨
http://www.9-5sc2012.com
if you like the sc
Even the production version of the 2011 9-5 sedan has flaws and shortcomings.
Antsy engine, turbo off, does not normal operate the climate control, water flow in the legs, flowing water with the trunk lid, etc.
But the size of driving pleasure overrides all these flaws 🙂
“This bolsters my belief that logic and reasoning are not qualities to be associated with bureaucrats.” There’s no room left for any additional bolstering for me. Bureaucrats are the ruin of great civilizations.
Such a beautiful car!
Had production continued this would have, without hesitation, been my vehicle of choice to later replace the 2004 9-5 Aero SC I currently drive. Hopefully NEVS will produce a nice large family SC in the future. One can at least hope and dream…
Great to see a 9 5 SC on the road, albeit it seemed quite a process to do so, but worth it for such a great car. There was a customer clinic here in the UK ahead of it’s launch (which obviously didn’t happen) featured in the “What Car” magazine, so I thought there must be some cars available, so it was fantastic to hear of one in Norway. I have a MY11 9 5 saloon (sedan) which I love, but just think the estate (SC) looks even better…with all the current news from Trollhattan, let’s hope it’s the start… Read more »