Posts from ‘Saturn’
Forgotten Concept: Saturn CV1

Saturn CV1 Concept
This is an installment in a series of posts looking back on show cars that we feel deserved a little more attention than they got. If you have a suggestion for a Forgotten Concepts topic, please shoot us a line or leave a comment below.

198? Volkswagen Scirocco
Apart from being the home of Consumer Guide Automotive, Lincolnwood, Illinois is a rather ordinary municipality. Adjacent to Chicago’s Northwest Side, Lincolnwood is a middle-income community of 12,000 citizens, most of whom appear to be in their seventies. I intend to retire someplace with less traffic, but I digress.
Selling Saturns in Japan

In 1997, Saturn began selling cars in Japan. A right-hand-drive SW2 is seen here.
Saturn executives had reason to feel confident in 1997. In just six years on the market, the fledgling brand had accrued 1.5 million customers and was on pace to sell another 300,000 cars in the coming 12 months. Saturn was on fire, and the division’s management was eager to continue making good news.

The Saturn Ion’s removable roof rails were meant to entice young buyers interested in personalizing their cars.
Introduced for 2003, the Saturn Ion was the long, long overdue replacement for the brand’s popular, but seriously dated, SL sedan and SC coupe.
One and Out: The 2008 Saturn Astra

Too little, too late? Imported from Europe, the Astra was meant to help lift the Saturn brand upmarket.
By now, you know the story. In a post-apocalyptic haze, driven by Wall Street pundits, the UAW, and the federal government, General Motors killed three brands in one fell swoop. Just like that, Hummer, Pontiac, and Saab were transformed from viable sales channels to discount retailers, peddling their remaining inventory in limited variations and at steep discounts.

1994 Isuzu Oasis
This year, American new-vehicle shoppers will snap up about half a million minivans. Now, while that may seem like a lot of people-movers, it’s worth noting that minivans accounted for more than 1.2 million annual sales as recently as model-year 2000.
Ugly Vehicles, Part 3: 2005-2014

Saturn Vue
You hear often enough that ugly vehicles are the product of “design by committee” thinking. I can’t help but wonder, in the case of the five cars and trucks listed here, why no one on that committee raised his or her hand and noted, “Dude, that thing’s nasty.” But, be it too many or too few decision-makers in the design studio, these are some unpleasant-looking machines.