![]() ![]() Production Pontiac Solstices hit the road in 2005, followed by the Saturn Sky in 2006. It’s a pretty advanced piece of engineering, with hydroformed frame rails, hydroformed body panels, and a double-walled driveshaft tunnel, not unlike a Corvette. General Motors’ engineers rectified that with the Kappa platform. As Car and Driver notes, General Motors last had a platform like that in 1987 and the car that rode on it was the Chevette. These cars called for a compact front-engine, rear-drive platform. There, Lutz reportedly boldly proclaimed “the North American market is ripe for an affordable, pure roadster executed to top global standards on perceived quality, both inside and out.” GM In 2002, the Solstice concept was revealed at the North American International Auto Show. This time, Lutz would see his dream become reality. Over at Chrysler, Lutz’s roadster dreams were realized in the Dodge Copperhead and the Plymouth Pronto Spyder, neither of which reached production. While a top-down coupe, its front-wheel-drive layout didn’t quite hit the mark. During his tenure at Ford, this roadster idea became the Ghia Barchetta concept, which would eventually morph into the Mercury Capri. One way Lutz achieved this was by striking a deal with Holden to send us some sweet rear-wheel-drive Australian muscle.Īs Hagerty writes, Bob Lutz long sat on a dream to bring an affordable American roadster to market. The General’s portfolio at the time had some great cars in it–the Chevrolet Corvette was in its fifth generation and the Cadillac CTS was right around the corner–but one of Lutz’s goals was to reinvigorate GM with fun cars. When Lutz joined General Motors in 2001 as product vice chairman, he had some big dreams. The Pontiac Solstice, Saturn Sky, and their siblings are a set of vehicles that could have only happened thanks to someone like automotive legend Bob Lutz. Now, let’s take a gander at these roadsters! A Bob Lutz Dream Those came from an 11th-generation Ford F-150. Those of you who guessed that the coach was a Forest River Georgetown 359 were correct! I also asked you about the motorhome’s lights. If you remember, that Parts Bin Puzzle involved guessing the model of the RV used in the movie RV. Instead, let’s poke around a GM parts special! GMīefore we get to the Solstice, I’ll give you the answers to the last Parts Bin Puzzle, which I published back in November 2022. I’ve been thinking about having all of you run down a gauntlet of RV lighting that I’ve seen at RV shows, but that might be mean. Welcome back to Parts Bin Puzzle, the Autopian challenge where we give you a vehicle and you figure out where its bits came from! We haven’t done one of these in a while, so Parts Bin Puzzle has been overdue for a new entry. In bringing them to market, Pontiac and Saturn robbed the parts bins of their comrades, and you might be surprised by how many parts came from other brands. The Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky were two bright spots in a difficult era for the General. Whether it's a performance exhaust system from Magnaflow, or an air intake from AEM, we'll help you increase the performance of your Sky as easily as possible.Yesterday’s Shitbox Showdown was a wonderful reminder that in the 2000s, General Motors offered up a pair of low-slung roadsters meant to be affordable fun for enthusiasts. We've got a huge selection of performance parts to kick your Saturn Sky into high gear. But that's not enough is it? You want more, and that's where comes in. With those 18" wheels and the Ecotec LE5 straight-4, you're producing 177 hp or if you have the direct-injected turbocharged version, you're kicking out a whopping 260 hp on a 2,900 lb. ![]() Built in Wilmington, Delaware, and based off of GM's Kappa-platform, it also shares the same architecture as the well-known Opel GT. The only roadster ever built by Saturn, the Sky's aggressive styling garnered it positive praise and attention when it was released in 2006. ![]()
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