Saab PhoeniX
Swedish firm's coupe concept gets your vote as a style icon
Why it won...
Concept cars are designed to grab headlines, and Saab’s PhoeniX did just that when it was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in March. The stunner is the first car to be penned from scratch by new design director, Jason Castriota, and its styling gives us a glimpse of what’s to come from the famous brand.
And you, our readers, have given it the thumbs-up. It scooped the Design Award after topping our online poll at the www.autoexpress.co.uk website - and you can see what some readers made of it opposite. The PhoeniX was up against 39 rival concept and production cars, but won by a big margin, securing 30 per cent of the vote. Highlights include its trademark Saab grille, wraparound windscreen and eye-catching turbine-inspired alloy wheels.
Beneath its swooping curves sits a new modular chassis and innovative four-wheel-drive hybrid set-up. This sees an electric motor connected to the rear wheels, with a BMW-sourced 197bhp 1.6-litre turbo petrol engine driving the fronts. In theory, that’s enough for a 0-62mph time of only 5.9 seconds.
Inside, the four-seater uses Saab’s iQon set-up – based on the Android mobile phone operating system – for the navigation and audio controls. Yet it wasn’t the cabin technology that caught our readers’ eyes. Designer Castriota trod a fine line between provocation and tradition as he tried to keep fans of the brand happy, while also grabbing the attention of everyone else. As a result, the PhoeniX uses an aeroplane-style fuselage encapsulating the teardrop shape first seen on the 1949 Saab 92.
This trademark styling cue combines with the aerodynamic buttresses to give a really low drag coefficient of 0.25Cd. And such clever thinking is exactly what the firm needs to ignite the passions of a new generation of Saab enthusiasts.
Runners-up
2nd: Alfa Romeo 4C
An Alfa Romeo to really whet the appetite, and – unlike our winner – the beautiful 4C has actually been given the green light for production. The mid-engined sports car promises just as many thrills for its driver as it does for onlookers.
3rd: Jaguar C-X75
Turbine-powered Jaguar is a glimpse of the future, despite taking its inspiration from the XJ13 from the Sixties. It’s clever, but also drop-dead gorgeous, so it’s no surprise it featured so highly on our list.
