2006 Saab 9-3 SportCombi By Jim McCraw, New Car Test Drive .com

Swedish stalwart Saab has had squarebacks and hatchbacks and has had the luxury-class 9-5 wagon for many years, but this fall a wagon version of the entry-luxury 9-3 range will be introduced with the awkward name SportCombi.

The new sportwagon is a standard 9-3 back as far as the B-pillar, but after that, there are 695 new parts and a real, working station wagon body, a body decorated with an integral rear roof spoiler housing the CHMSL lens (that's center high mounted stop light), an aluminum tailgate, and vertical white taillamp lenses containing two rows of 15 red LEDs each (except in California and Canada, where local rules permit only red rear lenses).

Saab says the wagon body has the same overall stiffness as the sedan, about twice as much as the last five-door hatch version of the 9-3.

This sporty-looking wagon comes with 25 cubic feet of storage behind the second-row 60/40 split folding rear seat with ski hatch (these are Scandinavians, after all). With the second seat stowed, there is 60 cubic feet of storage in a nicely squared-off, highly useable space. The storage area has a hidden sub-floor storage bin with a locking, folding lid, and there are enough cupholders for three Big Gulps as well as a 12-volt power socket.

There are two large, bright cargo lamps on the side walls, and the familiar cargo cover is, in this case, unique. Not only is it flexible and longer than normal to cover larger loads, it also has a Park position halfway back so the user doesn't have to reach all the way to the second seat to retrieve it.

Options for the cargo area include either a 10-inch subwoofer for the sound system or a cargo net system. The load floor has four handy tie-downs for large or heavy cargoes.

While the 9-3 SportCombi will be sold around the world with as many as eight engine choices, the North American version will come with only two, the familiar 210-horsepower 2.0-liter turbo four-cylinder or, in Aero models, a brand-new 2.8-liter turbocharged V6 generating 250 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque, enough to propel the wagon from rest to 60 mph in seven seconds flat.

Both will be available with either six-speed manual or automatic transmissions.

The wagon will get a new rear subframe with better isolation, and a new ESP system with a Hill Start Assist function for manual-transmission models.

The Saab 9-3 SportCombi goes on sale in the fourth quarter of 2005 as a 2006 model. Prices should be in the range of $37,000.