The Carlisle Import and Kit Nationals is only 6 or so weeks away, and this is as good time as any to take a look at some highlights from last year. The 2013 edition of the only classic car event in the US of A where you’re likely to see a Tatra 613 just a few feet away from a Citroen XM and a Peugeot 604 will take place in Carlisle, Pennsylvania from May 17th through May 19th.

Each year up to 1,300 foreign (or furrin’) cars make their way to Carlisle in what is the nation’s largest gathering of foreign automobiles. And almost every year the farthest-traveled award often goes to a resident of Canada’s western provinces, which should give you a clue to this event’s prominence. While I do not recall who took that award in 2012, I did see a BMW E34 Alpina B10 at the show on British Columbia plates, which should give you a further clue to the level of sheer awesomeness that is normal for Carlisle Import Nationals. So let’s start off slowly, with something that won’t make you spill your coffee on the keyboard or make your contact lenses pop out.

The Saab contingent at Carlisle Import & Kit Nationals has continued to dominate the show grounds for I can’t count how many years, and every year they steal the show with a ridiculously huge turnout and a wonderfully choreographed roster of events, all under a huge tent. To say that Saab appears to be the most organized car club at Carlisle would be an understatement. For the past few years their level of entertainment and organization made me wish that I had a Saab to bring to Carlisle just so that I could enjoy the barbecue they offer. Showgoers who have seen the Saab crowd at Carlisle will nod knowingly and confirm this – Saab completely dominates the scene. And here’s one Carlisle participant’s Saab 9-4X, number 38 out of 457 off the line that were shipped to dealers before GM pulled the plug on the Saab that by many accounts was  either just right or pretty close to being just right, for its segment and demographic anyway.

Diehard Saab 900 enthusiasts are likely to disagree with me on this, but the 9-4X was arguably the car that could have saved Saab’s sales in the US alongside the new 9-5 at least for a little while longer, especially after duds like the Trollblazer and arguably the Saabaru.

Saving that argument for another day (I’m going to get hatemail from Saabaru drivers now), example number 38 which visited Carlisle in 2012 was in fantastic shape, and I can only hope that its current owner will maintain it in the great condition that I saw it in. There aren’t too many of these around, and for a while a local dealer had a couple of these on his lot in addition to three dozen 9-5s that just weren’t selling for months on end. (By the way, if anyone is interested in buying up and sending three dozen brand new Saab 9-5s to Bucharest or Minsk for retail, I’ll send you a link to the Connecticut dealer’s inventory).

Built alongside the Cadillac SRX in Ramos Arizpe, Mexico, the 9-4x was mostly bought by people who ended up getting this car because their offer on an (inevitably champagne-colored) Lexus RX fell thru for some lame reason. And they came out on the other end of this deal in a car that exists in less than 500 examples by this point, and many of them are coming off lease.

The ill-fated 9-4X came with a duo of pretty capable V6 engines, a 3.0 making 265bhp and a 2.8 liter turbo making 300bhp. Diesels were allegedly planned, but production never really got that far, so the 9-4X is available only with those two powerplants. But hey, who cares about what engines they came with? Twenty years from now you’ll still be seeing pickled examples with 5K on the clock and a huge poster alongside explaining just what this car was and how many were made. And I suspect that 20 years from now it’ll be this model, with a trashed interior and 200K miles on the clock, that hoons will be searching for on the Sir Craig’s Listings and Suggestions.

See you in Carlisle!

[Images: Copyright 2013 Hooniverse/Jay Ramey]