While the C70 received its fair share of votes, the Saab 9-3 vert was the clear victor in this week’s Showroom Showdown. Personally, I’m a big fan of these cars. I think the new front clip looks great, and I’m happy Saab hasn’t been sucked into the retractable hardtop nonsense. The Saab 99/900/9-3 has always been one of the best balanced FWD sports sedans out there, and the convertible version is just plain cool.

We’ve actually gotten a bit of sun in Seattle in the last few days and I’ve seen a few folks cruising around with the top down. So, in honor of the sun and our city’s significant Nordic heritage, this week’s Showroom Showdown features two topless Swedes. The Saab comes in the extra cool Aero version, but to keep it fair we’re gonna compare the Saab 9-3 2.0T vert to the Volvo C70–both cars come in right around $40k. Both cars are FWD and have fairly modest hp numbers (the Saab’s turbo four banger makes 210hp, the Volvo’s turbo inline five makes 227hp). The Volvo sports a retractable hardtop while the Saab has the conventional cloth top. Neither of these cars will be terribly reliable or hold their value very well, so I would suggest a lease. But it would be a fun lease. So, which would you choose, the Saab 9-3 2.0T vert or the Volvo C70?