Saab is gone and it's never coming back. This may sound somewhat brutal but it's true. Unlike Volvo, this other Swedish carmaker couldn't find a parent company that truly cared about it. Saab was bought by General Motors back in 2000 mainly as a hasty response to Ford's purchase of Volvo for its now-defunct Premier Automotive Group which also included Aston Martin, Jaguar, and Land Rover. GM didn't want to be left behind, but it never knew what to do with Saab. One option came from Subaru.

At the time, GM also owned 20 percent of Subaru's parent company, Fuji Heavy Industries, so taking an existing Subaru and rebadging it as a Saab was not a half-bad idea. After all, GM literally invented badge engineering. The result was the Saab 9-2X Aero. It's impossible not to recognize it as a second-generation Subaru Impreza wagon.

Sold for the 2005 and 2006 model years, the 9-2X Aero featured Saab-designed front and rear fascias, fenders, hood, and tailgate. The interior is pretty much 100 percent Subaru though Saab did apply additional sound insulation. Buyers could also get two-tone seats. Safety-wise, Saab made some key upgrades. Instead of the Impreza's fixed headrest seats, Saab added its own active head restraints. Engineers applied unique bushings to the suspension, recalibrated the dampers, and improved steering response virtue of the WRX STi's steering rack.

Power came from Subaru's 2.0-liter turbocharged Boxer four rated at 227 horsepower and 217 lb-ft of torque. All-wheel drive, of course, was standard and buyers could opt for a four-speed automatic over the standard five-speed manual.

The base 9-2X (non-Aero model) had a naturally aspirated 2.5-liter four with 165 hp and 166 lb-ft, also sourced from Subaru. For its final model year, Saab upped the base engine's output and replaced the turbo four with the more powerful 2.5-liter turbo with 230 hp and 235 lb-ft. And that was that for the 9-2X Aero because GM sold part of its Subaru shares to Toyota and the rest back to Fuji.

This 111,300-mile 2006 9-2X Aero up for auction on Cars And Bids may not have classic potential, but it's definitely cool. Offered at no reserve, its silver exterior and black and beige interior shows some age but looks generally okay. As of this writing, the highest bid reached $6,300 and the auction will end on April 27.