Saab 9-3 SportHatch

The Saab 9-3 SportHatch was a concept car from the Swedish marque Saab, shown at the Frankfurt motor show in September 2003. It broke with the usual split between hatchback and estate bodies, taking its fastback shape from the 9-3X concept shown in 2002, and was a five door, four seat car of sporting character with a flexible load area. Work on it had begun in 2001. It stood on sports suspension with the ReAxs rear steering aid and had a touch screen, a glass roof, an electrically operated tailgate with an integrated bicycle carrier and a compartment under the load floor, and 20 inch wheels with 245/40 tyres. Power came from a front mounted, transverse, aluminium, turbocharged four cylinder petrol engine of 2.0 litres and 250 PS with direct injection, variable valve timing and a twin scroll turbocharger, driving the wheels through a Sentronic automatic gearbox with buttons on the steering wheel. A lightly modified version later appeared as the estate of the second generation 9-3.