When GM revealed the Saturn Aura Concept sedan at the 2005 NAIAS with it rolled out a new vision for the brand that didn’t include plastic body work with huge panel gaps and placid shapes. Combined with the stellar reputation Saturn’s dealer network carried it looked as though the General finally had a winning game plan for the brand. Unfortunately the economic melt down of 2008 would unravel all the hard work and leave Saturns destined to be display items for orphan car shows.
And Then There Were Two
It’s hard to believe but there are now two good-looking Saturns on the road. The first was the Sky, which debuted last year to a collective, “That’s a Saturn?” by the automotive press. The suits promised there would be more to come from the reinvigorated brand. Apparently the GM guys just dropped off the “more to come” part because the type of descriptive words that keep coming to mind for the car I’m looking at include handsome, European, taut, expensive looking and refined. Excuse me if I am a little excited, but these are not words I’ve been able to use lately when talking about GM cars—let alone the Playskool-cars-for-grownups Saturn brand. But there it is, the midsize Saturn Aura and its tasteful chrome trim sparkling like jewelry on the Midnight Blue steel body. The days of the function-before-form Saturns are over. From now on, Saturns are going to be stylish. Read more…
