![]() A furniture store was used to show the similarities in modern design. ![]() Saturn Chief Designer Dave Smith (R), along with General Motors Chairman Bob Lutz, shows the Saturn Sky concept car to the media 2/5 at Luminaire, a contemporary furniture store, prior to the opening of the Chicago Auto Show. But unlike the majority of prototype vehicles that come onto the show car circuit to test public reaction, the SKY concept did precisely the opposite. What better than a spicy convertible? At least that's what Saturn thought when they dreamed up their latest concept. You know, that key element that gets people talking. But despite its all-new ION sedan, forthcoming 4-door ION coupe (figure that one out), funky VUE sport utility and slow selling L series, the brand lacks pizzazz. Saturn is a car brand with a great image, comprised of a low key sales experience, an excellent reputation for owner satisfaction and those awesome scratch and dent resistant composite exterior panels. Maybe Cadillac wants some of those.2002 Saturn SKY Concept - A Halo Car in the Making?Īnne Asensio presents the Saturn Sky Concept vehicle at the Montreal Auto Show, Palais Des Congrès, November 21st, 2002. But the idea is an interesting one - to take the C7 Corvette that just went out of production and turn it into a sports car with the engine over the front. These revival renderings by Kleber Silva honestly don't do the original any justice. Its designer, Franz von Holzhausen, is now working at Tesla and is responsible for the sexy new Roadster II. We think the Solstice GXP is a particularly sexy-looking roadster that might have out-gunned the BMW Z4 if given the chance. The newly re-established DeLorean brand wanted to buy the Wilmington Assembly plant and even showed sketches of the re-branded DeLorean Solstice. However, in 2009, GM announced it would kill the Pontiac and Saturn brands. You could also buy an engine tune right from the dealer to get 290 hp, and for the last two model years, the Solstice was also available as a Targa-style coupe. This model claimed a 0 to 60 mph (97 kph) in 5.5 seconds or less (7 seconds for the 2.4L) and is probably still the most power-dense engine ever offered by GM in America at about 2.1 hp per cubic inch. The Solstice GXP had a 2-liter turbo making 260 horsepower and 260 lb-ft of torque. But the definitive version came out a year layer. The normal model was equipped with 2.4-liter making 177 horsepower and cost about $28,000. Safe to say even Pontiac surprised by the result. ![]() Within 10 days of the reveal, Pontiac had 7,000 orders, which was supposed to be their total yearly production number. Not only did the motoring press love this slim European-style roadster, but so did the customers. You probably remember one of these cars as a lame Autobot in the Transformers movies, but it was pretty cool. The Pontiac Solstice entered production in 2005, about a year after being previewed as a concept. Because they didn't survive to this day, it's only natural to assume that they weren't good or didn't sell well, but you'd be wrong on both accounts. ![]()
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