Saab 9-3 SportWagon V6
Price:
£28 295 (about R305 500).
Maximum speed:
245km/h, 0-100km/h 6.6 seconds.
Combined fuel consumption:
10.24 litres/100km.
Things were looking decidedly wobbly for Saab a couple of years back. I feared for it, I really did. Parent company General Motors was in terminal decline and had little use for a quirky, low-volume European prestige brand draining more resources than the space programme.
Saab had lost its design mojo and was churning out boring, blobby saloons in fewer and fewer numbers in countries that barely knew where Sweden was. Anxious black polo neck-wearing, home-coffee-grinding, naming-their-children-Olivia-and-Luca-type residents of Highgate formed action committees to see what could be done.
GM remains in dire trouble, of course, and there are still those who predict Saab still could go the way of Rover, but the last year and a half has seen a heartening - and rather startling - renaissance.
Last year saw Saab chalk up record sales and the company became Britain's fastest-growing premium brand. North London is once again clogged with new 9-3 convertibles; and, look, here comes another fresh, cool model: the SportWagon.
Just in case we get too carried away, I should start by admitting that, judged rationally, the new 9-3 estate is not really as good as its chief rivals, BMW's 3-Series Touring and Audi's A4 Avant. With tedious predictability, the Germans are too well engineered, too well built and, in the case of the BMW, too interesting to drive.
They have more room in the back, too.
But, of course, the Saab is not German, which has long been one of its chief selling points. And this particular Saab is actually rather lovely, which is another. It looks great, for starters, with its "iced-look" rear lights; dynamic Nike-tick carriage line; and earnest, chiselled front.
Saab has rekindled its Saabishness but, instead of looking faintly orthopaedic as its cars used to, this one is svelte and sexy. As with all Swedish cars, the seats are very supportive, it steers with reasonable precision and, depending on which of the seven engine options you choose, it has impressive thrust.
Mine had the - admittedly costly - 2.8-litre V6 which was fantastically quick and smooth with none of the turbo lag and torque steer that made old Saabs such a fruity handful. But if you stick to the lower end of the range, you can get a SportWagon in your driveway remarkably cheaply (prices start at £17 995), something that never ceases to surprise about Saabs. Best cup-holders in the business, too.
Saab persists in harking back to its aeronautical heritage but, really, talk of fighter jets is rather preposterous when their cars are based on Vauxhalls and most are made outside of Sweden.
Tiny straw
Then again, when you're sharing a platform with a Vectra, you've got to find your personality somewhere and it is nice to see that the classic cliff-face dashboard survives, gently wrapping around the pilot, sorry, driver.
And, of course, you still turn the thing on by sticking the ignition key in a hole behind the handbrake. Which is silly but, again, a tiny straw of quirkiness to clutch at in a globally homogenised world.
Saab expects the SportWagon to be its best seller in the UK. If you ask me, that's the least a car this stylish and well priced deserves. - The Independent, London
- With thanks to Gatwick Aviation Museum.