LOS ANGELES — Saab will present the North American debut of the 9-X Air BioHybrid Convertible Concept at the 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show. The concept is notable for its power-folding fabric "canopy top" that makes the car a fully open-air design. It made its world debut earlier this fall at the 2008 Paris Auto Show.
The car is intended to show the possibilities for a future convertible Saab, the company says. Saab's 9-X Air BioHybrid has C-pillars that it calls "buttresses." They curve upward to hold the canopy top in place, and a "surround glass" greenhouse with a separate rear screen retracts automatically. The canopy top ("patent pending," Saab says) folds flat into three small sections that nest under a tonneau cover in the trunk. Under the taillights, there is a slide-out, spring-loaded storage compartment sized to fit two golf bags.
The 9-X Air was designed by General Motors Europe and the Saab Brand Center in Sweden alongside the 9-X BioHybrid Concept and shares its 1.4-liter Saab BioPower turbo engine, which runs on E85 and makes 200 horsepower and a low 107 g/km of carbon dioxide emissions.
Inside, there's a driver information center with five display screens set atop the driver-side door molding instead of a center console. Bluetooth car-to-portable-device connectivity and navigation, data and entertainment streaming are showcased in a design developed with Sony Ericsson. The system can be programmed to let portable devices remotely lock and unlock the car, raise and lower the top and change preset functions in the car.
Inside Line says: Looks and environmentalism make a very appealing couple. — Laura Sky Brown, Correspondent
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