The Saab 9-7X Aero Is A Corvette-Powered SUV That Beats Ferraris
Few automotive mysteries are more satisfying than a sleeper — and the greatest sleeper Saab ever built is one most enthusiasts have completely forgotten about. The Swedish brand, which is alas no longer with us, had plenty of quick cars over the years that made its name. Saab is probably best known for its four-cylinder turbocharged 900 models, which helped bring forced induction to the mainstream in Europe. But fast as they are, these quirky hatchbacks only needed around 185 horsepower to hit 60 mph in a respectable 8.5 seconds — pretty brisk for the ’80s and ’90s.
Then there was the Saabaru, which was basically a Subaru WRX with a Swedish nose job. The 2.0-liter turbocharged flat-four in that car produces a handy 227 horsepower and 217 pound-feet of torque, which betters the old turbocharged 900s, but it’s not exactly groundbreaking.
None of those models come close to the fastest Saab in history, which also happens to pack the most horsepower of any car to wear the Griffin badge. That honor belongs to a far bigger Swedish bruiser — one fitted with none other than the engine out of a Chevrolet Corvette. If you ever spot one at the lights, consider yourself warned: this is a European sleeper capable of embarrassing exotic supercars.
The Saab 9-7X Aero Is A Limited Edition Corvette-Powered Monster
Saab is alive and well today and still making interesting machines — that is, if you’re into things like submarines such as the Saab Kockums Gotland Class. But cars? No, those are long gone. After the company’s 20-year merger with Scania-Vabis ended in 1989, General Motors took a 50% share of the Saab car business. GM bought the company outright in 2000, ushering in an era of GM underpinnings wrapped in Saab’s trademark styling. This is when the Saab 9-7X arrived.
The Early 2000s Was The Dawn Of The SUV Era
In the early 2000s, car buyers were getting bored with choosing between a sports car and a big cruisy SUV. Manufacturers were answering these frustrations with a raft of upmarket trucks that could give traditional two-seater performance machines a run for their money. Saab, now under the umbrella of GM, jumped on the SUV bandwagon and launched the 9-7X in 2004 for the 2005 model year. This was essentially a Chevy TrailBlazer with a bit of Scandinavian tailoring. Underneath the suave Swedish looks was a midsize American SUV with a truck-based, body-on-frame design.
Unusually for Saab, there wasn’t a turbocharger in sight, with the choice of either a 4.2-liter inline-six or a more muscular 5.3-liter V8. But with SUVs getting ever faster and more powerful — the Porsche Cayenne and Mercedes-AMG ML63 questioning what most people thought was possible from an off-roader — GM wanted a slice of that pie too. The TrailBlazer SS was a Corvette-powered Chevy SUV with an eye-watering turn of speed, but GM apparently felt it was a touch too brash for the architects and wine enthusiasts who traditionally bought Saabs.
The Chevy TrailBlazer Would Be The Starting Block For The World’s Most Powerful Saab
The decision was made to use the TrailBlazer SS as a basis for a hot Saab SUV that, on paper at least, could poach a few sales from Mercedes and Porsche. The Saab 9-7X Aero was launched in 2008 and, despite its sophisticated Euro looks, it had some serious American firepower under the hood. This Saab packed a 6.0-liter pushrod LS2 engine, with an aluminum block and heads, pumping out 395 horsepower and 400 pound-feet of torque. This is the same LS2 V8 found under the hood of the C6 Corvette, Pontiac GTO, and Cadillac CTS-V, so it was clear that Saab — or rather GM — wasn’t messing around.
The Saab 9-7X Aero Could Keep Up With Ferraris
To avoid too direct a comparison with the TrailBlazer SS, Saab went to great lengths to highlight the differences. The 9-7X Aero came with a limited-slip rear differential and a lowered chassis tuned for more responsive and balanced handling. Front stabilizer bars are approximately 10% larger in diameter, and a heavy-duty rear axle adds further structural rigidity. GM also fitted larger, 12.8-inch (325 mm) front disc rotors and iron twin-piston calipers. The 9-7X Aero also comes with automatic all-wheel drive as standard.
Saab Made Sure The 9-7X Aero Stood Out From Its Chevy Stablemate
While the engine was almost identical to that in the Chevy TrailBlazer SS, Saab pointed out at launch one feature unique to the Aero: a composite intake manifold designed “to help produce balanced torque and horsepower.” With nearly 400 horsepower on tap, the Saab 9-7X Aero is no slouch. This Swedish-ish SUV could hit 60 mph in 5.5 seconds — quicker than a 1990 Ferrari 348 TB (5.6 seconds) with its 3.4-liter V8. A 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX would also be trailing the big Saab, reaching 60 mph in 5.9 seconds. The Saab, combining a refined Swedish interior with a massive American V8, seemed like the perfect marriage — like IKEA selling McDonald’s burgers near the tills. Who wouldn’t love the best of Swedish and American know-how in one package?
What Went Wrong For The Saab 9-7X Aero
Not that many people, as it turns out — or Saab really did keep the 9-7X Aero extraordinarily limited. Some estimates suggest that around 500 examples left GM’s Moraine, Ohio, assembly plant. The pricing didn’t help matters either: the Saab carried a sticker of $45,690 at launch, while a Chevy TrailBlazer SS had started around $33,600 — a significant premium for a thicker front stabilizer bar and a new intake manifold. In the end, a seemingly hastily rebadged Chevy wasn’t enough to save Saab the carmaker, and then came the economic turmoil of the late 2000s. During this period of uncertainty, GM began looking to offload the Swedish brand. Saab was sold to Dutch carmaker Spyker in 2010, but it seemed like the damage may have already been done. Saab Automobile AB filed for bankruptcy in December 2011.
Getting The Keys To A Saab 9-7X Aero In 2025
If all of this has you intrigued by the idea of owning a rehashed Chevy TrailBlazer SS from a brand that no longer builds cars, here’s what you need to know. The bad news is you’re not likely to see one of these on the market very often — they are extremely rare. The good news is that if you do find one, you probably won’t pay much for it. The average price of all Saab 9-7Xs is around $10,984, according to Classic.com, although a rougher example can be had for half that. As for the Corvette-engined Aero version, we found a decent-sounding example on Autotrader going for just $6,500, while another sold on Mecum Auctions in 2025 with 147,818 miles on the clock for $9,900.
Sources: Classic.com; Mecum.com.
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