The eagle-eyed Swedes over at Trollhattan Saab have managed to catch what would appear to be the new 9-3X out in the wild, completely unburdened by camouflage. The new crossover is pretty much exactly what you’d expect from the current 9-3 design language, adding skid plates and a few inches of ride height to what looks otherwise like the 9-3 Sportcombi wagon.

With the new 9-4X currently in the product development pipeline—with a far more streamlined design according to the latest spy shots we’ve seen of that CUV—it will be interesting to see just how far Saab is willing to push its small premium crossover offerings. Click through the link below for a closer (still low res) look at the 9-3X mule.

+ TrollhattanSaab.net

NextAutos caught one of GM’s Buick LaCrosse mules last week on a freeway in Plymouth, Michigan. The second generation of the four-door sedan, based on the Epsilon II platform and set to launch next year as a 2010 model, was undergoing durability testing near the company’s Milford Proving Grounds. Please excuse the grainy phone camera shots, but sometimes a good opportunity to take a spy photo can't be undone by the limitations of your equipment.

We followed the Buick down a freeway near Plymouth, Michigan but were unable to take a picture of the front of the vehicle. However, matching our side view of this car (particularly the roofline and C-pillar) to shots that appeared on Autoblog last week indicate a match.

Note the trapezoidal exhaust pipes and the relatively high trunk height, signaling a more refined design statement that should have the LaCrosse looking like a front-drive alternative to a Lexus GS—visually, at least, although in messaging and price point it will continue to go after the smaller Lexus ES sedan. We’ll learn more about the LaCrosse when it launches at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November.

Make note of the Buick engineer’s keen sense of non-verbal communication. Perhaps he was just using numeral values to tell us which brand is #1 for American buyers of the age 55.2 years?

Ferrari’s full-house grand tourer, the 599 Fiorano, looks like it’s about to flip its lid. The folks over at UK publication Auto Express have evidently caught a mule that appears to have a false hard top and an ill-fitting rear window, lending credence to the idea that Maranello is readying a drophead version of the range-topping model. From the looks of the panel seams on the roof, Ferrari has fitted this mule with a folding hardtop mechanism that’s likely similar to that employed in the company’s forthcoming California.

According to the folks over at Car Fanatic, you’re looking at an undisguised spy shot of Chevrolet Cruze’s interior. Or, more exactly, judging by the Daewoo logo on the steering wheel boss, you’re looking at the Korean version of the same car, the Nubira.

These new photographs of the Land Rover Range Rover Sport preview and SUV that looks to be a bit more streamlined, but mostly unchanged from the current (attractive) vehicle.  Seen here at the Nürburgring, our spies seem hopeful that Range Rover will be able to pull off increased fuel economy for the Sport, as well as a bit more power. Fingers crossed. Read the shooter’s words below.

Godzilla has arrived. In tidy rows of primary colors—red, white, black, and silver—topped in protective plastics. They’re arranged at a port in Jacksonville, Florida, waiting to be handed over to dealers and delighted new owners who pre-ordered.
 
Nissan’s venerable GT-R debuts here in the U.S. as a 2009 model. The approximately 1500 GT-Rs allotted for the U.S. will continue to arrive throughout the year. Look for Godzilla to be thundering out of dealerships across the country in the coming months.