Saab 9-6 Shows Its Face

[Cory Wolfe]

Ever Wonder What the Subaru Tribeca based 9-6 Would Have Looked Like?

[Drew Dowdell]

Not entirely terrible!

...the interior lacks the "Saab" feel though...

[Robert Hall]

Interesting..definitely resembles the Tribeca in profile..I always thought the nose on the original B-9 Tribeca looked like a tribute to the old Saab 96...

[Northstar]

It looks way better than the Tribeca despite the only noticeable difference being the front end.

[thedriver]

That's......not bad really.

[regfootball]

joke, it is. glad this never made the market.

[Robert Hall]

This is the first I'd heard of it..thought it was a concept for an upcoming model, but apparently it's a model that was to be based on the Tribeca and was shelved almost 6 years ago..

[balthazar]

6 years in the saab design timeline equates to about 6 hours for most everyone else.

[Intrepidation]

While much better than the original Tribeca it looks more bland than the refreshed Tribeca, I much prefer the 9-4x.

[Croc]

Not entirely terrible!

...the interior lacks the "Saab" feel though...

No it's pretty bad. The 9-2 was more SAAB than this, which is a complete, 100% badge-job. Grille and logos are the only differences--even the interior is identical.

[Intrepidation]

That's actually not correct. While the interior and profiles are the same, all of the sheetmetal forward of the A pillar is unique as is the rear end compared to the B9. In fact when Subaru refreshed that they used the 9-6's rear end design as well as the front fenders. It also had different rear quarter windows.

Was it enough differentiation? No, but it's not just a badge swap.

[pow]

Too subtle of a change. Hardly worth the effort. Front looks like a Bravada or something.

[Croc]

That's actually not correct. While the interior and profiles are the same, all of the sheetmetal forward of the A pillar is unique as is the rear end compared to the B9. In fact when Subaru refreshed that they used the 9-6's rear end design as well as the front fenders. It also had different rear quarter windows.

...

Was it enough differentiation? No, but it's not just a badge swap.

Honestly, the "different sheetmetal" looks to be no more different than what Ford did with the Milan/Fusion: same panels, certain cut-outs were just bigger in certain directions. At least Ford had the sense to do that but end up with two vehicles that didn't look EXACTLY THE SAME except for the grilles.

Also, you have a couple Tribeca designs there, and the 9-6X seems to have far more in common with the restyled Tribeca...which if memory serves the 9-6X would have launched at the same time as the Tribeca MCE...so the levels of differentiation are even less.

[z28luvr01]

In any event, this is a nicer looking and more SAAB-ish looking vehicle than that other Saab rebadge - the 9-7x. I'd have pushed the 9-6 through and given the 9-7x interior to either the TB or the Envoy.

[Croc]

In any event, this is a nicer looking and more SAAB-ish looking vehicle than that other Saab rebadge - the 9-7x. I'd have pushed the 9-6 through and given the 9-7x interior to either the TB or the Envoy.

Sorry Z...I have to disagree with you. I see zero "SAAB" in the 9-6X other than the badge...and while the 9-7X was pretty abysmal in execution, it quantitatively had more SAAB DNA in its design--they at least moved the ignition from the dash to the center console, something they couldn't have been bothered to do on this Subaru rebadge.

[daves87rs]

While much better than the original Tribeca it looks more bland than the refreshed Tribeca, I much prefer the 9-4x.

+1

[the_yellow_dart]

I think the refreshed Tribeca actually used the exact headlights from the 9-6. Look closely.