Interesting Saab Pic

[Oracle of Delphi]

Now here is an interesting Saab pic I found while reading a Swedish auto magazine online during lunch today.

Edited April 26, 2007 by Pontiac Custom-S

[ZL-1]

I think I saw that pic before. Apparently someone chopped an Aero-X and a Solstice/Sky into this thing. I'd rather see a small FWD roadster (let's call it the Sonnet) based on the Astra platform.

[Drew Dowdell]

I'd rather see a Caddy roadster based on Kappa that looks like a mini-XLR with a ragtop and has the 2.8 DI.... with a turbo 2.8 DI for the V-series version.

[avant1963]

I'd rather GM fixed the Kappa first before basing anything else off of it.

[Drew Dowdell]

what is wrong with it?

[avant1963]

Kappa? Poor roof design that makes the trunk useless (especially with the GM parts hardtop) and a pain to open/close, and various interior tidbits that let the cars lose to the MX-5 as far as everyday liveability. Believe me, I love the two kappas, and almost had a Solstice, but for as many concessions I'd have to make for this as a daily driver, it lost out. If I wasn't a died in the wool GM fan, I would have gone to Mazda since the MX-5 has a real trunk and a little more useable.

I'm looking at this as the devil's advocate - to make GM better, and GM needs to get a second-gen Kappa out soon to fix at least the trunk/top issue to match the cars up to other cars in the class. Yes, the GXP and RL have no real comp for Mazda, but don't think MAZDASPEED won't find it's way. And if Dodge survives, the Demon may around in a few years too.

I just think that GM has to sort this stuff out before it brand-izes more of the same.

[Cadillacfan]

Well.. Kudos to GM for even considering it. For a domestic automaker, it was an extremely risky(or stupid, depending on your opinion of the solstice and sky) to devote time and money to two niche vehicles. It's easy to see that when designing the vehicles, they were focusing more on style over substance and that clearly worked for them especially Saturn which had a ton of new products to back it up.

When the next generation comes out, they'll have no excuse when it comes to trunk space and drop-top tech and overall practicality. They have a perfect vehicle to help lead them in the right direction: The Corvette. So it's not like a cheap, class-leading, entry-level roadster is unattainable.

On the saab chop, I think a roadster is the last thing Saab needs at the moment and I doubt GM would actually consider sending this into production until they boost the brands volume to a decent level first.

Edited April 28, 2007 by Cadillacfan

[HarleyEarl]

If Saab gets a clone of the Solstice/Sky/Opel GT, GM has finally lost it.

They have almost made the Saab brand a complete joke already.

With all the silly rebadging of suvs and Subarus.

It's become an embarassment.

[PurdueGuy]

It's just a photoshop, guys, and not a terribly good one. Look at the entire left side of the nose... just because someone photoshoped it, doesn't mean GM even considered it. You guys get so easily worked up sometimes...