WHAT IS IT?
Saturn was the “Different Kind of Car Company” launched by General Motors in the late 1980s as an effort to compete head-on with import brands in the small car space. As a wholly owned subsidiary of GM, it was run differently indeed, with a different dealer organization in which owners operated geographic areas rather than single stores that competed against each other in the same city. The labor force was still organized by the United Auto Workers but with a far different and far more cooperative agreement. Their first cars launched for the 1990 model year (the SL, SC, and SW) sedan, coupe, and wagon variants, respectively, of a single and unique car platform which used a Saturn-made exclusive powertrain. The brand was a hit, with marketing focusing on their new factory in bucolic Spring Hill, Tennessee, a no-haggle sales process, friendly dealers (called “retailers” in Saturn-speak), and small fuel-efficient cars with dent and rust-free polymer body panels. They sold over 300,000 cars per year for a while there in their early days.
Alas, General Motors continued to sell that first generation car for nearly 12 years… meanwhile their competitors like Honda and Toyota sold 2-3 generations of their Civic and Corolla… the company desperately needed new products. This led to the L-series midsized cars which were based on the Opel Vectra and built not at Spring Hill, but at the General Motors Wilmington, Delaware, factory. The end of Saturn’s independence was nigh, and their small car replacement for that S-series, the Ion, was based on the GM Delta platform, later shared with Chevrolet and others, but with strange styling, cheap interior finishes, and an unusual and unloved central instrument cluster. Around this time, manufacturing lost its independent UAW operating agreement (which hadn’t been in place in Wilmington), Saturn corporate employees were now brought into the “mother ship” at GM, HQ moved to Detroit while Spring Hill manufactured the aforementioned Ion. The design of the early Delta platform Ion was so controversial that Chevrolet opted to delay the introduction of their Cobalt replacement for the long-in-the-tooth Cavalier by two years so it could be reworked.
There was also a forgettable minivan model and small crossover SUV in the mix there for a few years as well. Saturn shoppers in California and Arizona in the late 1990s were even treated to the General Motors EV1, the first modern electric car which was sold and serviced through the brand’s retailers in those states. The later L-Series replacement Aura wasn’t a bad car but wasn’t much different than it’s counterpart at the Chevrolet dealership. They tried to keep the brand alive but the General Motors clones just never seemed to again grab the attention of the import-oriented audience they once enjoyed.
Before the brand was fully shuttered following the great recession of 2009, however, there was a last gasp of fun in the form of the Sky roadster. Built on an unusual small rear-wheel-drive platform referred to as Kappa. This was also the basis for the Pontiac Solstice. The styling for the Solstice, Sky, and the European Opel Roadster are credited to Franz von Holzhausen, who later went on to lead design at Tesla. The Saturn and Opel cars were essentially identical other than the brand badges and to some, it’s more attractive and aggressive than the Pontiac’s rounded body.
First released for the 2007 model year, the Saturn and Pontiac roadsters were only available for two years before the brands were both shuttered during GM’s bankruptcy in 2009.
WHY THIS ONE HAS BEST ONE ON THE PLANET CHOPS
There were two engine choices for the Sky. The base model was a 2.4 Liter normally-aspirated 4 cylinder that produced a reasonable 177 hp. The “Redline” variant had a 2.0 Liter turbocharged four with a far more serious 260 hp output. This example is the turbocharged Redline trim with the preferable manual transmission. Additionally, showing only 16,000 miles of use since new and seemingly flawless in condition inside and out and in an attractive silver color, this certainly fits the bill in terms of its slightly used but not pickled condition. It’s worth noting that there seem to be many examples of the Solstice and Sky with low miles, likely due to the car’s essentially nonexistent cargo space that made long tours unlikely.
The styling, performance, and history of this car as a showcase for Bob Lutz’s philosophy as the head of product at General Motors make these an interesting and often overlooked collectible. Here’s a great example, is it the Best One On The Planet?
Before the brand was fully shuttered following the great recession of 2009, however, there was a last gasp of fun in the form of the Sky roadster.
The Redline is a strong little car. I think of it as a two-thirds Corvette with half the space.
I reviewed one of these back in 2007 and it’s stuck with me. I remember a little turbo four that didn’t seem to want to boost in first gear, but the car was still quick and agile. Visibility wasn’t great, but it wasn’t any worse than what you’d find in a Miata.
The main issue was as stated here: the only real storage was a little compartment between the seats (which wasn’t large enough to hold my fleece coat — so I handed it to my passengers each time). The small trunk was basically all used up by the top assembly, so this wasn’t any sort of grocery getter. But if you could get over that, this was a great little sports car that just came out at the wrong time.
As for this one, it looks as clean as the press car I drove back in the day — a car with less than 2,000 miles at the time. That said, I imagine there are a good number of these in this shape today. Too bad, because they’re great drivers.
Nevermind the best one, this might be the ONLY one. ~18,000 Redlines made, but there are sooooo rarely seen. All 18,000 might still exist, but when is the last time you saw one? I’d bet $.05 they got used up by their 3rd owner, and not having the race car afterlife of the Miata, met their fate at the crusher.
This one HAS to be the Best on the Planet, because lacking evidence to the contrary, it may be the ONLY one on the planet.