CarBrandLogos archive · Saturn · 2006

SaturnSky

A rear-drive roadster from the division founded on sensible plastic hatchbacks.

Photo: IFCAR · Public domain

The story

A defining chapter in Saturn history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Saturn Sky, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

Nothing about the Sky followed from Saturn's founding logic, which is exactly why it exists. GM built the Kappa platform for a small front mid-engined, rear-wheel-drive roadster, gave the first version to Pontiac as the Solstice, and then handed Saturn a second body on the same hardware to lift a showroom full of economy cars.

2006 Pontiac Solstice interior · No machine-readable author provided. Sfoskett~commonswiki assumed (based on copyright claims). · CC BY-SA 3.0

Design and engineering

The styling came from a team including Franz von Holzhausen, who left shortly afterwards to shape the Tesla Model S, and it was sharper and tauter than the Pontiac. The base car used the 2.4-litre Ecotec; the Red Line took the 2.0-litre turbocharged LNF and turned the Sky into a serious small sports car, with a five-speed manual or automatic and the engine set well back behind the front axle. Both were built at Wilmington, Delaware alongside a version sold in Europe as the Opel GT.

2006 Pontiac Solstice trunk · No machine-readable author provided. Sfoskett~commonswiki assumed (based on copyright claims). · CC BY-SA 3.0

2009 Pontiac Solstice GXP coupe rear -- 11-13-2009

In production

Practical it was not. The roof was awkward, the boot vanished when it was folded, and cabin storage barely existed. But it handled properly and looked expensive, and for two or three years Saturn had something people wanted for reasons other than the purchase experience. Production ended as the division was wound up, and the Kappa cars remain the cheapest way into a modern American roadster.

2009 Pontiac Solstice GXP coupe rear -- 11-13-2009 · IFCAR · Public domain

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Produced

2005–2009

Units built

65,724

Engine

2.4&nbsp

Designer

Franz von Holzhausen (2001)

Technical specification

The Sky, in detail.

Production: 2005–2009; 65,724 produced
Class: Sports car
Body style: 2-door Roadster (automobile); roadster ; 2-door targa top; targa Coupé; coupe
Layout: Front mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive
Engine: 2.4 L GM Ecotec engine#LE5; Ecotec LE5 Inline-four engine; I4 (Petrol engine; gasoline) ; 2.0 L GM Ecotec engine#2.0 LNF (Z20NHH Opel); Ecotec LNF Turbocharger; turbo I4 (gasoline)
Transmission: 5-speed Aisin Seiki; Aisin AR5 manual transmission; manual ; 5-speed GM 5L40 transmission; 5L40-E automatic transmission; automatic
Designer: Franz von Holzhausen (2001) ; Vicki Vlachakis ; Wayne Cherry
Assembly: United States: Wilmington, Delaware (Wilmington Assembly)
Manufacturer: General Motors