2004 Saab 9-3 Convertible

It was logical that the first Saab automobile, a 1946 prototype, looked like an airplane wing with a little passenger bubble on top. At that time, the Swedish aircraft maker had only a small group of wing designers available to tackle the proposed car project. Since then, Saab cars have progressed from noisy, bathtub-shaped, two-stroke-powered automotive eccentricities to modern turbo-powered works of engineering excellence.

The new 9-3 convertible is three times stiffer than the car it replaces and boasts virtually no soft-top shake and shimmy when the road gets rough.

Saab built its first convertibles—six Sonett two-seaters intended for European rally racing—in 1956, but the first production Saab 900 convertible did not arrive stateside until 1986. Quirky but competent, the 900 ragtop quickly became a bit of a cult car. Following a 1995 redesign, it peaked at just over 14,000 units the following year.


A new 9-3 model replaced the 900 in 1998, and 9-3 convertible sales hit 18,700 in 2000. An all-new 9-3 sedan, based on GM's excellent global Epsilon platform—which also underpins Chevy's new '04 Malibu, the coming '05 Pontiac G6 and the European Opel—arrived for 2003, and the convertible version soon followed as a 2004.


We've always liked soft-top Saab convertibles, and this $40K '04 is easily the best one yet. Top down on a warm summer evening, it's as handsome and pleasant as any on the market. Top up, it's as quiet as lesser sedans. And, except for the Saab-icon console location of the electronic key, it's also less quirky than past examples.


The padded power top retracts in 20 seconds into an expandable boot in the trunk, protected by a hard tonneau cover, leaving 8.5 cu. ft. of cargo room—provided you've unloaded your luggage first so the sensors know there's nothing in its way. That's enough for one large bag and several smaller ones. Top up, the trunk offers a respectable 12.4 cu. ft. of usable space.