Junkyard Gem: 2007 Saturn Sky
The Pontiac Division didn't have long to live when the Solstice first appeared in 2005 as a 2006 model, and Saturn's head was inching toward the chopping block at about the same rate. Still, optimism reigned — at least, it did until the global economy fell apart — and so Saturn Dealers got a rebadged version of the Solstice to sell: the Sky. Available for just the 2007 through 2010 model years, slightly more than 34,000 Skies rolled out of showrooms before the doors were nailed shut. Here's one of those rare cars, found in a Denver-area self-service yard a few weeks ago.
I've found a handful of discarded Solstices in car graveyards during the past few years, mostly with crash damage. This Sky endured a medium-hard impact in the right front corner, which sent it to this place.
The 177-horsepower, 2.4-liter Ecotec still resides under the battered hood. The Sky Redline version had a turbocharged engine rated at 260 horses; we can assume that such an engine would be yanked and purchased by the first junkyard shopper that realized what it was.
The base transmission in the Sky was an Aisin five-speed manual, but this car has the optional five-speed automatic.
The Sky had its own nose and some different badging, but otherwise didn't differ much from the Solstice.
For the South Korean market, the Sky got Daewoo G2X badges and was advertised as the ideal vehicle for high-speed chases through Seoul traffic.
The same car went to Europe as the Opel GT. Sadly, GM ran out of money to make right-hand-drive Skies, so we never got to witness Holden or Vauxhall versions.
Here's Bob Lutz describing the new Sky. Lutz really hated car names molded into plastic bumper covers, so he takes great care here to describe the genuine glued-on emblems.
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