SAAB

Saab 9-7x / Chevrolet Trailblazer – Separated at Birth

Lots of cars share components. But for these ostensibly different cars, the differences are only skin-deep. Underneath the sheet metal, they’re alike.

Business students the world over will be discussing the death of Saab, an innovator in safety, emissions, performance, and style.

Saab 9-7x

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One of the lessons they’ll learn will come from the failed rebadging of the grossly overweight, low-tech truck-based Chevrolet Trailblazer as a Saab. It was a feeble attempt to upgrade the interior materials and differentiate the Saab 9-7x from the Chevy, GMC Envoy, Oldsmobile Bravada, Buick Ranier, and Isuzu Ascender rebadgings of exactly the same truck. It did not impress or fool buyers.

Here’s the opinion of one of Saab’s connoisseurs: Many of us Saab die hards, scoffed at this vehicle when launched. But i have to say the amount of reengineering and refinements Saab did to the platform are most remarkable , there was no feeble effort to badge engineer at all, millions were spent , and Saab used the 9000 ride as the benchmark for the 97X they completely tranformed a vehicle in one year what GM could not do in 10. The ride and handling still exceed many new SUVs today. The Aero is a Beast. With its 6.0 LS2 V-8 , beefed up Transmission and Straight mechanical Torsen T-3 Differential , 6500 lb towing , it is the pick of the Litter.

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Goran Aničić
the authorGoran Aničić
For over 15 years, Goran Aničić has been passionately focused on Saab automobiles and everything related to them. His initial encounter with Saab cars took place back in 2003 when the first Saab 9-3 and sedan version were introduced. At that moment, he was captivated by the car's Scandinavian design logic and top-notch engineering, and everything that followed stemmed from that first encounter. Later on, through his work at the editorial team of the Serbian automotive magazines "Autostart" and later "AutoBild," he had the opportunity to engage more closely with Saab vehicles. In 2008, he tested the latest Saab cars of that time, such as the Saab 9-3 TTiD Aero and Saab 9-3 Turbo X. In 2010, as the sole blogger from the region, he participated in the Saab 9-5ng presentation in Trollhättan, Sweden. Alongside journalists from around the world, he got a firsthand experience of the pinnacle of technological offerings from Saab at that time. Currently, Goran owns two Saabs: a 2008 Saab 9-3 Vector Sportcombi with a manual transmission, and a Saab 9-3 Aero Griffin Sport Sedan from the last generation, which rolled off the production line in Trollhättan in December 2011.

5 Comments

  • But… the 9-7 made money for Saab and allowed them to bring over the “non-profitable” cars from Sweden, or so I was told by a Saab employee in the late 2000s. So we owe the Saablazer that much I guess. :) So is that a failure? I wish we had one like that now!

  • I used to own a 2004 Bravado which i think is closest to Saab 9-7x and after my Bravada was totaled i bought a 2009 Saab 9-7x 4.2 and then my mom bought a 2007 Saab 9-7x and it looks like Bravada or Trailblazer but feels like completely different truck. Rides and handles much better, finish quality is better and standard equipment was amazing. To those that complained about overpriced Trailblazer look at that Trailblazer was at bottom of those SUVs and Saab was top of the line. My Bravada was 41k when was new and nobody complained about overpriced SUV and Saab 9-7x starting was about the same so it was priced as luxurious equipped Bravada which just like Saab had everything Standard.

    • This confirms everything I have heard previously. The SS was too fast and too hard riding, and the trailblazer was too cheap. The SAAB rode right, looked right, and had the right equipment.

  • who can I go to I have a 2006 Saab 9-7x and I drove the car yesterday now today its its showing the lock sign on the dash

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