Rare Saab 9-7X Drags Challenger SRT Hellcat, Someone Gets Stunned Into Submission

If you compare them, it's easy to say that Chevrolet wins the day by quantity alone – Bolt EV and EUV, Trax, Trailblazer, Equinox and Equinox EV, Blazer and Blazer EV, Traverse, Tahoe, and Suburban. By the way, those were just the crossovers and SUVs; we left the Malibu and Corvette passenger cars, plus the Colorado, Silverado, and Silverado HD pickup trucks, out of the equation.

Meanwhile, Dodge only has the Hornet, Charger, Challenger, and Durango to show for itself. In fact, the Stellantis-owned brand is shrinking even further because the old-school L-bodied Charger and Challenger ended production last year in December, and now they're just clearing out the inventory left over from the dealer stocks.

Alas, when you are presented with the perspective of selecting a winner for a traditional quarter-mile dragstrip race between any SUV and Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat, no one is going to bet on the former, right? Well, here's the catch – the brawl between a supposed Chevy SUV and a mighty supercharged Mopar actually involves a Saab 9-7X and not the Chevy TrailBlazer, the original mid-size SUV produced by Chevrolet between 2001 and 2008.

It was derived in countless related models – Buick Rainier, GMC Envoy, Isuzu Ascender, Oldsmobile Bravada, Saab 9-7X, and Isuzu MU-X over just two generations, but we are fairly sure this black example that we are about to see does not have the Chevy badge on it, despite the title of the video embedded below. But then again, someone in the comments pointed us in the right direction, and now it's best to call it a Saab 9-7X rather than a Chevy TrailBlazer, even if they were deeply related back then.

Anyway, the videographer behind the Drag Racing and Car Stuff channel on YouTube is back at Palm Beach International Raceway for a quick sports car vs SUV brawl; that is all that matters. So, the mid-size crossover SUV doesn't look like much in the dim light of the night, whereas the burgundy-shaded Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody is certainly unmistakable.

This is a very short and sweet video, but one note is still in order. In case you like to wager, we would recommend abstention from placing any bets – this is one of those instances when we remind everyone that all is fair in love and drag racing and that surprises are always in order at the local quarter-mile dragstrip. The first (positive) revelation was that the Mopar driver performed a very clean start – these monsters are notoriously finicky, and it's hard to tame them into a great reaction time plus drive-off performance.

However, it was nowhere near enough because this Saab 9-7X was secretly a 'sleeper,' and the big SUV just lifted its nose in the air, tucked the rear down low, and took off like a rocket on its way to a surprising 10.45s versus 11.01s victory (at 133 mph versus 126 mph). That's kind of crazy, right? So, here's your average, rare Saab SUV rocking the American quarter-mile dragstrip and defeating one of the best muscle cars ever made by one of the Big Detroit Three. That certainly defeats expectations!