In late 2025, a familiar name in European automotive journalism turned its attention to a car that has quietly aged into relevance. AutoWeek, through one of its most experienced editors, published a fresh road test of a 1997 Saab 9000 CS 2.3 LPT – a car long absent from comparison tests, showroom debates, and collector shortlists. Yet the tone of the piece, written by Marc Klaver, was not nostalgic indulgence. It was analytical, occasionally critical, and unmistakably respectful.
The 9000 has often lived in an awkward historical corridor – too modern to be romanticized like a 900 Turbo, too old to benefit from 9-5-era reassessment. What makes this AutoWeek test notable is not the verdict itself, but how an experienced, brand-agnostic editor now reads the 9000 CS as a mature concept, judged on its own terms nearly three decades after production ended.
This article is our contextual response to that test – placing Klaver’s observations within Saab’s engineering philosophy, market reality, and the evolving status of the 9000 as a serious youngtimer.
A Late 9000, Seen Without Rose-Tinted Glasses
Klaver’s test car is a late-production 9000 CS, built in 1997 – the final full year before the arrival of the Saab 9-5. That timing is critical. By then, the 9000 was no longer Saab’s technological frontier. It was a fully amortized platform, refined rather than reinvented, carrying solutions conceived in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
This perspective informs the entire AutoWeek piece. The 9000 CS is not presented as an anachronism or a relic, but as a product at the end of its evolutionary arc. Klaver repeatedly frames the car as Saab’s outgoing flagship – competent, comfortable, and quietly confident, yet unmistakably from another engineering era.
That restraint is important. There is no attempt to elevate the 9000 through mythology. Instead, the article reads like a recalibration: this is what the 9000 actually is, once the noise fades.
Tipo Quattro, Saab-Style: Collaboration Without Conformity
The AutoWeek test revisits the well-known “Tipo Quattro” (Type Four) origin story, but without dramatization. Saab’s partnership with Fiat, Lancia, and Alfa Romeo is acknowledged as pragmatic, not romantic. The key takeaway – subtle but firm – is that Saab diverged further from the shared platform than many casual observers assume.
Klaver notes that while the Saab 9000 shares structural DNA with the Fiat Croma and Lancia Thema, the Swedish interpretation leaned decisively toward long-distance usability. The liftback body, retained when others chose sedans, is treated not as eccentricity but as intent.
For SaabPlanet readers, this aligns with long-standing understanding: Saab used shared architecture as a starting point, not a limitation. The AutoWeek test quietly reinforces that the 9000’s identity was shaped less by the platform and more by Saab’s priorities – visibility, ergonomics, and sustained high-speed comfort.
The 2.3 LPT: Modest on Paper, Convincing on the Road
One of the most revealing sections of Klaver’s review focuses on the 2.3 LPT engine. On paper, the figures are conservative: 170 hp, 260 Nm, no Aero badge, no overboost theatrics. Yet the driving impressions tell a different story.
Klaver is openly surprised by the engine’s behavior. Under hard acceleration, the car exhibits wheelspin in second gear at highway-adjacent speeds, suggesting torque delivery well beyond what the specification sheet implies. His criticism is not about power, but about control – the wastegate intervention is described as abrupt, producing a noticeable jolt under full load.
This is a telling observation. Saab’s Low Pressure Turbo philosophy prioritized accessible torque over linear perfection, and in a late 9000, that character remains unfiltered. Klaver’s reaction reflects a modern calibration mindset, while the car responds with distinctly 1990s turbo logic.
When driven more gently, however, his tone shifts. At cruising speeds, the engine settles into a low-rev, high-torque rhythm that defines the 9000’s real strength. At 100 km/h, the engine turns barely 2,000 rpm, reinforcing the car’s role as a continental mile-eater rather than a sports sedan.
Interior Logic That Still Makes Sense
AutoWeek’s interior assessment avoids fetishizing Saab quirks. Instead, Klaver approaches the cabin as a working environment. He praises the seats explicitly, calling them above average even by modern standards – an assessment few Saab owners would dispute.
Electric adjustment with memory, seat heating, effective climate control, and restrained use of materials form the core of his approval. The wood trim, described as unusually chosen, is noted more for its distinctiveness than its luxury connotations.
Where criticism appears, it is contextual rather than dismissive. The absence of a glovebox – sacrificed to accommodate an early passenger airbag – is presented as a reminder of the 9000’s developmental timeline. This is not framed as a flaw, but as evidence of a car designed before airbags were a fixed architectural assumption.
Notably, Klaver does not dwell on the ignition switch’s placement on the steering column, a deviation from classic Saab convention. This omission is telling. For a non-Saab specialist, such details fade into usability once the car proves coherent as a whole.
Road Manners: Stability Over Sharpness
Klaver’s verdict on the 9000 CS’s handling is precise and measured. The car is described as directionally stable and reassuring, but not engaging in the way modern sport sedans are expected to be. Steering assistance is judged well-weighted, though clearly tuned for ease rather than feedback.
This assessment fits the 9000’s original brief. Saab did not engineer the CS to chase apexes; it engineered it to hold a straight line at sustained speed, fully loaded, across long distances. The AutoWeek score reflects that alignment: competent, confidence-inspiring, but intentionally restrained.
Importantly, Klaver does not penalize the car for this. Instead, he treats it as an honest expression of purpose – an approach increasingly rare in contemporary road tests.
What the Author Praises – and Why It Matters
Klaver’s praise clusters around three core areas:
- The engine’s real-world torque delivery, which contradicts its modest output figures
- Long-distance comfort, driven by seating, gearing, and suspension tuning
- Overall coherence, the sense that the car’s components work together without internal contradiction
These points matter because they reflect criteria shaped by decades of testing experience. This is not enthusiasm born of nostalgia, but appreciation grounded in use-case clarity. The 9000 CS succeeds because it does exactly what it was designed to do – without apology or embellishment.
What He Criticizes – and Why That’s Fair
The criticisms are equally instructive. Klaver notes:
- Abrupt turbo control under full throttle, likely exacerbated by age or calibration
- Lack of modern safety and convenience integration, visible in interior compromises
- Limited dynamic engagement, especially compared to contemporary benchmarks
Each of these criticisms can be explained through historical context. The 9000 was never re-engineered for late-1990s expectations; it was allowed to age naturally. Klaver’s perspective reflects modern standards, not a misunderstanding of Saab’s intent.
From Used Car to Respected Youngtimer
At the time of the test, the featured car was offered for €7,450 with 156,664 km – a figure that would have seemed implausible a decade ago. AutoWeek does not speculate on collectibility, but the subtext is clear: the 9000 is no longer disposable.
For SaabPlanet readers, this test serves as external validation. When an experienced editor from a major European magazine revisits a 9000 CS without irony – and ends his drive daydreaming of a trip to Trollhättan – it signals a shift in perception.
The 9000 is no longer waiting to be rediscovered. It is being re-evaluated, calmly and credibly, by those with nothing to prove.
A Saab That Ages on Its Own Terms
Marc Klaver’s AutoWeek test does not canonize the Saab 9000 CS. It does something more valuable: it treats the car seriously, without sentimentality. For SaabPlanet, that approach resonates deeply.
The 9000 CS was never about spectacle. It was about sustained usability, mechanical honesty, and a refusal to chase trends it did not believe in. Nearly thirty years on, those qualities read not as limitations – but as character.
And perhaps that is why, after a few hundred kilometers behind the wheel, even a seasoned editor finds himself imagining a quiet drive north, toward Trollhättan.
