The Small Saturn Sky By GM Never Went Too Far

An idea that lacked a clear strategy

If you’ve never heard of the Saturn Sky, you will be forgiven, for it is a car that General Motors brought in silently and faded just the way it had come. It was produced for just three model years.

The Saturn Sky is a two-seat convertible produced by GM’s Saturn brand. It was the only sports car and the only convertible that this GM’s subsidiary ever made with the company closing shop in 2009 due to bankruptcy and government-backed restructuring of General Motors.

Before the Saturn Sky happened, there was the Pontiac Solstice which donated its platform. However, the Sky came with entirely different styling, that was designed by Franz von Holzhausen the man credited for the now renowned Tesla Model S electric luxury sedan.

The lines still held lots of aggressive styling, giving it lots of enviable looks. For the powertrain, the base Sky engine was a 177-horsepower 2.4-liter Ecotec four-cylinder engine, that came paired to either a five-speed automatic transmission or a five-speed manual gearbox.

Then there was a more powerful Sky Red Line that used a 260-hp turbocharged 2.0-liter four. This one attempted to be superbly technical and mechanical upgrades such as suspension modifications, traction control, a limited-slip differential, plus various appearance and trim upgrades.

At the face of it, the Saturn Sky seemed like a vehicle that could make a mark for GM. However, there was not a well-thought strategy of how to go around it at length.