CarBrandLogos archive · Saab · 1998
Saab's volume car through the GM years, and the one that argued with its own fans.
Discover the storyPhoto: IFCAR · Public domain
The story
Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Saab 9-3, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.
01
The first 9-3, launched in 1998, was a heavily revised version of the GM-based 900 rather than a new car, with over a thousand changes claimed and a considerably better-sorted chassis. It sold well, and the convertible remained the model that made Saab money in the United States.
2001-2002 Saab 9-3 Anniversary convertible 02 · OSX · Public domain
02
The second generation, from 2002, was the contentious one. Built on GM's Epsilon platform shared with the Vauxhall Vectra and Saab-engineered rather than Saab-designed, it abandoned the hatchback for a conventional four-door saloon, which removed the practical distinctiveness that had defined the brand since the 1970s. It handled better than any Saab before it and drew fewer people to the showroom. A SportCombi estate followed in 2005, along with a convertible and, later, four-wheel drive.
2005-2006 Saab 9-3 Linear 1.8t convertible · OSX · Public domain
03
By then Saab's fate was largely out of its own hands. General Motors sold the company to Spyker in 2010, which kept the 9-3 in production while trying to fund a replacement; Saab entered bankruptcy in 2011, and the electric vehicle firm NEVS bought the assets and built small numbers of 9-3s in 2013 and 2014 before pivoting to an electric version. The 9-3 is the car that carried Saab through its entire General Motors period and out the other side into liquidation.
2006-2007 Saab 9-3 Linear 2.0t Sport Combi 02 · OSX · Public domain
At a glance
Produced
1998–2014Technical specification
Badge at launch
This is the marque emblem that accompanied the Saab 9-3's era. The full identity timeline is documented in the brand archive.
Explore the logo history →Lineage
Contemporaries from the 1990s
Spotted something wrong on this page? Send us the correction — with a source, and we will fix it. How this site is written.
