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• Little Orphan Insanity: Crazy Saab 900 Sleeper Scorches the Texas Mile [Video]

  In Fast Forward / By Tom Anderson / 15 April 2013

  

  Although a Chinese-owned consortium calling itself National Electric Vehicle Sweden is supposedly working on restarting Saab car production with an all-electric version of the most recent 9-3, the quirky Swedish marque is, for all intents and purposes, dead. You can blame GM for poor stewardship of the brand both during and after its period of ownership, blame the Germans and Japanese for doing the whole entry level luxury car thing better, and even blame Ivy League professors for dumping both Saab and Volvo en masse in favor of the Toyota Prius, but the bottom line is the Saab we all knew and loved – the one that brought us giant-slaying two-stroke rally weapons, jet-inspired hot hatches that went on to star in music videos and, yes, rebadged Subaru Impreza Wagons and Chevy Trailblazers – is no more. And there’s still no guarantee that NEVS will be able to revive it, either.

  Of course, no matter what happens with Saab in the future, we’ll always have the cars it made in the past. And what one man has done with an old (but not that old) Saab is incredible. This GM-era 900 (a.k.a. NG900) has been boosted within an eighth-of-an-inch of its life, allowing it to reach 174 mph in the standing mile. And in case that wasn’t remarkable enough, it looks pretty much bone stock. While it might not be the most conventional memorial to Saab, Saab wasn’t exactly the most conventional car company, either.

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• Peter Peter Hughes’ “My God Is An Angry God” Pairs Juan Manuel Fangio with…a Saab 900 Turbo SPG [Video]

  In Fast Forward / By Tom Anderson / 21 March 2013

  

  We have at least a passing interest in alternate history. (Before you say anything, Dungeons and Dragons is still way nerdier.) It’s fun to think about how different the world would be if just one little thing had been different. Example: What if the Internet had never been invented? Instead of reading this text and watch the above music video on our mighty fine website, it (and a whole bunch of other content) might be contained on a laserdisc or something we send you by mail each month. (Hmmm…articles and photos of cars by mail…how has no one thought of that before?).

  See, imagining different outcomes of past events is neat, huh? Now imagine that Juan Manuel Fangio – the Argentine five-time Formula 1 world champion considered by many to be the greatest racing driver of all time – had a second career as a lone-wolf hitman, hell bent on assassinating genocidal 20^th century Latin American dictators and strongmen like Augusto Pinochet. And that El Maestro’s transport of choice for this occupation was that classically-offbeat Swedish hot hatch of the ‘80s, the Saab 900 Turbo SPG. Well no need to imagine, little ones, for Peter Peter Hughes (whom you may recognize as member of the Mountain Goats) released a concept album centered around just that in 2010 titled, quite simply, Fangio. And the video seen above for the third song on the album? That’s Hughes himself playing the role of revenge-hungry, Saab-skippering Fangio, and the whole shebang is directed and edited by our chum Davey G. Johnson, lately of a mystical place called AutoWeek.

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• Gray Design Automotive-Inspired Xhibitionist Superyacht

  In Design / By Freddy Chen / 21 February 2013

  

  While you may not be as intimately familiar with Eduard Gray as you are with say, Henrik Fisker or even Chris Bangle, Mr. Gray has penned a number of striking cars with a design language all his own. Head of Swedish design firm Gray Design, Edward has produced a a few prominent conceptual designs, including the Beach Cruiser and the Prombron Nagel and Jo-Mojo for Latvian automaker Dartz, all featuring polarizing lines and body angles that only a vicious attack with a protractor would produce.

  However, apart from things with four wheels, Mr. Gray also has a penchant for rendering astonishingly good looking watercraft. His latest work takes the form of the automotive-influenced Xhibitionist. While the name of the superyacht sounds like a family relative of a certain host of Pimp My Ride, the Xhibitionist itself is an incredible piece of luxury design that takes visual cues from a number of different automotive works. Did we also mention that it comes with foldaway triple helipad?

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• Review: 2012 Volvo S60 T6 AWD R-Design

  In Road Tests / By Ari Cox / 18 January 2012

  

  Over the last decade or so, Volvo has been a little like an ADHD transfer student, changing schools and trying out different curricula with varying degrees of success, though never really nailing it. In its long and stellar career as an extraordinarily safe and reliable Swedish workhorse, Volvo has recently come through a series of ownership changes remarkably unscathed. Since hunkering down under Ford’s Premium group umbrella in 1999 and then, in 2010, coming into Zhejiang Geely Holding Group’s  possession, this Swedish stalwart is now finally settling down and looking to seriously reestablish itself in the performance arena.

  Back in 1995, Volvo hooked up with Porsche and served up the game-changing T-5R, a turbo-charged version of the 850 which was good for sprints from 0-60mph in 6 seconds flat and topped out at an electronically limited 155 mph. This marked Volvo’s first attempt at targeting the enthusiast segment and was a solid first pass. During the next two years that same vehicle was offered as the 850 R and gave tremendous support to Volvo’s efforts to add a bit of hutzpah to their boxes on wheels.

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• Koenigsegg Agera R Heads for Geneva, Complete with Ski Caddy

  In Auto News / By Tom Anderson / 27 February 2011

  

  Swedish hypercar maker Koenigsegg doesn’t seem to be content to languish in Bugatti’s shadow; why else would it have facelifted and tweaked the CCX/CCR model family extensively enough to create the Agera? But even the Agera takes a back seat to Molsheim’s Veyron Super Sport in terms of both engine output and outright speed.

  It’s probably not a coincidence, then, that Koenigsegg is going to introduce the Agera R at this week’s Geneva Motor Show. As is the case with most cars branded with an “R” designation, the Agera R has been fortified with vitamins O, M, and G, if you catch our drift. What exactly does that entail?

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• VIDEO: Koenigsegg Agera Does Its Thing at a Private Airstrip in Ängelholm, Sweden

  In Car Videos / By Zack Klapman / 23 November 2010

  

  A few years ago a car maker named Koenigsegg blew 13 year-old gear head minds everywhere when their CCX hurled Jeremy Clarkson around the TG test track like a tetherball. It sounded like a Corvette that was poked with a cattle prod, and had a top speed very close to the almighty bug. And all that from a Swedish company that insisted its name used every letter of the alphabet. A few years and 8 million gallons of spent fuel later and Koenigsegg is about to unleash their newest hyper-car underdog; the Koenigsegg Agera. When it debuted at the Geneva Auto Show this year the number of kidneys on ebay went up 1000%.

  The Agera’s 4.7L V8 produces 910hp and 811ft lbs of torque, making it one of the most powerful cars on terra firma. Like its older simblings its shape is 100% appropriate for both the category and price called “hyper car.” While the closest we’ve been to one is a T1 line, our friends at 0-60 mag got invited to look at where the magic happens. They went into the factory, watching Ageras being built like the Orks in LOTR. As much as I respect mechanics and titanium bolts, they don’t make the best car porn. That’s why they took an Agera out to an airstrip, and showed the lucky SOBs of 0-60 what it can do (even in the wet.) Make the jump to watch the video…

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• Strand Craft Offers Deal of the Decade: Buy a Yacht, Get a Supercar Free?

  In Auto News / By Tom Anderson / 5 June 2010

  

  One of the best ways to announce to the world that your ship has come in is to, er, buy one. But you come to Sub5Zero to read about cars (and perhaps the occasional helicopter), not boats. Besides, even if you do have a luxury yacht or other fancy vessel and a berth in the Hamptons or on the French Riviera, you’re going to need some way to get around on terra firma. What if there was a way to get a cool car that matched your cool boat? Better yet, what if you could carry said cool car inside said cool boat so you’d have wheels wherever you dropped anchor?

  Strand-Craft is proposing just such a watercraft, the 122 Open. Measuring 38 meters (124.7 feet) in length, the 122 Open will feature a pair of MTU diesel engines sending a combined 9,400hp through a pair of Rolls-Royce jet drives. Not enough, you say? Strand-Craft will install a third “booster” engine good for another 5,100 ponies if you so desire. The company says that will help the 122 Open reach a top speed of 55 knots (63 mph), which is very quick for a 120 ton motor yacht…with a garage.

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• 2010 Geneva Motor Show: Koenigsegg Agera

  In Auto News / By Zack Klapman / 7 March 2010

  

  What if you could take the punching power of Mike Tyson and fit it into the body of Bruce Lee? That seems to be the motivation behind Koenigsegg’s newest hypercar, the 2011 Koenigsegg Agera. Koenigsegg chose the 2010 Geneva Motor Show to display it’s new creation, which was made as a celebration of the Swedish manufacturer’s 15th anniversary.

  Koenigsegg is calling it a new car, but it’s really just an improvement on the CCX. And that’s fine, because I thought the CCX was a great car. Classic supercar looks, eargasm soundtrack and performance nipping at a Veyron’s heels.

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• “Volvo – The Game” Puts You in the S60 Concept Car (VIDEO)

  In Auto News / By Ari Cox / 21 May 2009

  

  Volvo has teamed up with award winning Swedish game studio SimBin Development Team to release Volvo – The Game, which will allow you to transform into one of five racing legends and take the wheel of various Volvo cars. The highlight, of course, is the new Volvo S60 Concept, which the company is actively promoting. There are some other standout models available  including the Volvo C30, which is running in STCC this year, as well as the racing classic Volvo 240 Turbo Group A.

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• Volvo Using Green DRIVe Technology in New STCC Racing Cars

  In Green Autos / By Ari Cox / 29 April 2009

  

  Typically, it has been the motorsport divisions from the car manufacturers that advance the new technology that eventually makes its way into production vehicles. Volvo is switching things around by using the same eco-friendly technology from their production cars to look for competitive advantages on the race track. Beginning in 2007, Volvo made the call to move over to E85 bioethanol fuel for all of its racers, becoming the first official brand in the world to make the transition.

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