I Created The Saturn Sky Red Line

"Justin Hughes" (justinhughes54)
05/24/2015 at 14:31 • Filed to: saturn sky red line

OK, not directly. And it wasn’t just me. But it’s plausible that I might have had just a tiny bit of influence on how this car came to be.

Back in the day, before !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , there were some small online groups of Saturn performance enthusiasts. One of them, the Saturn Performance Club, consisted of the most hardcore of those and the ones who competed successfully in autocross and road racing. The S Series had a lot of potential, and these were the guys (and gals) who figured out how to unleash it.

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Each year, the group held the Saturn Performance Club Rally. This was not a stage rally or Cannonball Run type of event, but a week long gathering of people from the online group to hang out and play with their Saturns, or whatever else they brought. In 2001, I took my mostly stock 1996 SL2 out to the Chicago area to join them for a week of plastic performance. The trip is well documented !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! by Lane, a long time member of the club who still maintains !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Among other things, we had a dyno day, competed in our own bracket drag race class (which I won, having never done it before), got kicked out of a go-kart track for racing too aggressively (an annual tradition), and had a lapping day at Gingerman Raceway, with a tech day beforehand to get all of our cars into proper condition for the track as I am doing here.

Also joining us, for the first time, were some representatives from Saturn themselves. The factory One Lap of America team brought both their turbo SC1 and the LW300 that they had run in the 2001 event. I actually got a ride around the track in that LW300 with Ken Wasmer, the L Series Assistant Chief Engineer. Todd Christensen, the S Series Brand Manager, also came along, with a pre-production 2002 SC2, to give us a presentation and see what this performance thing was all about.

It was clear, from the presentation he’d prepared, that he hadn’t realized just how knowledgeable we already were about the car, nor the level of expertise with which we had modified them. But he caught on quickly, and wanted to learn all about it. He was adamant that he wanted to meet each of us individually to look at, discuss, and learn about our cars.

Todd was serious, and he followed through. When my turn came along, I told him about how I’d set it up as a slightly more sporty daily driver, since I had a Miata that I autocrossed and took to the track when not attending Saturn events. This was a familiar story among many previous Saturn enthusiasts. I’d installed one of the first automotive MP3 players on the market, and Todd was familiar with the Mazda Protege MP3, which came with one as standard equipment. When we went around the back of the car, he got a good laugh out of the BMW ///M badge I had put there. I attended a lot of BMW club events, and slapped the utterly inappropriate badge on my car just for a laugh. Todd liked it so much he took a picture of it.

Here is where I switch gears into speculation mode. It takes several years for a car to go from concept to production. Todd told us himself that in his world, the S Series was already dead, due to be replaced by the Ion in two years (2003). What if that meeting with the Saturn Performance Club had shown Todd that Saturn needed its own Miata, so that performance enthusiasts could upgrade to one and stay in the Saturn family? The Sky came out in 2006, five years after our meeting, which is enough time to present the concept, realize “Hmm, we’re already turning the Opel Speedster into the Pontiac Solstice, so why not give Saturn one too?”

Additionally, three years after our meeting, Saturn introduced the Red Line performance versions of their cars, first with the Ion, then the Vue, and finally with the Sky. There was even a special Red Line badge to go with these tuned up versions. I couldn’t help thinking about how tickled the Brand Manager was at the concept of a performance line badge on a Saturn, and wondering if maybe his picture of my car made the rounds at Saturn and helped lead to Red Line’s existence in some small way.

(Photo credits: !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , Jamin Cummings, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! )

DISCUSSION (11)

NinetyQ > Justin Hughes
05/24/2015 at 15:25

Clicked expecting insight into the actual creation of the Sky Red Line. Not a bad story, but that title... worse than even a clickbait title. It’s just an outright lie.

Don’t piss your readers off.

Justin Hughes > NinetyQ
05/24/2015 at 15:31

Ok, I’ll change it to “I Created The Saturn Sky Red Line And You Won’t Believe What Happens Next!”

NinetyQ > Justin Hughes
05/24/2015 at 15:41

You could try turning it into a top 10 of the ways you created it, and then say “My Jaw Dropped at #7!”

LongbowMkII > NinetyQ
05/24/2015 at 15:51

OR ELSE!

You can read the first sentence under the intro picture before clicking the link. Temper your expectations.

NinetyQ > LongbowMkII
05/24/2015 at 16:38

Heh, I know. It’s just irritating. Especially when it’s written article-style rather than like an old school oppo post.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > Justin Hughes
05/24/2015 at 17:34

lose belly fat in five minutes?

TheChafing > Justin Hughes
05/26/2015 at 10:30

Ok, I’ll bite.

I actually sort of curious - how big a group was this Saturn Performance Enthusiasts group?

I would have figured a comparable Honda Civic or something would have been easier to go fast with at the time. Credit where credit is due, though, my family had an SL1 (96ish, maybe?) that actually was a decent car, all things considered. It just didn’t really seem like an appropriate starting point for a race car, unless there weren’t any other options available.

Edit: I always desperately wanted one of those Skystices though, but I was fresh out of school when they were on the market, and couldn’t really afford a brand new anything.

Insurance Joe > Justin Hughes
05/26/2015 at 11:02

Seems like a great car. It’s too bad that the top is so frustrating to use compared to its competition at the time. There is no excuse to make it so you absolutely have to get out of the car to raise and lower the top on a 2 seat convertible.

Justin Hughes > TheChafing
05/26/2015 at 11:03

Maybe 20-30 active members, plus a bunch more lurkers? SPC liked to be known as “the club that does stuff,” as opposed to some others that didn’t do so much.

It was definitely easier to tune up a Civic. Everyone was doing it. That was part of the appeal - doing something not so common. A bunch of us might have piled into an SL1 at the Carlisle custom compact show and trolled cruised the Honda and Acura sections cranking Got Rice on the stereo...

Forrest > Insurance Joe
05/26/2015 at 11:58

And essentially no trunk.

The rare hardtop/hatchback Solstice seems usable, though.

Leon711 > Justin Hughes
05/28/2015 at 09:44

Kinja'd!!!

Not Opel Speedster, but Opel GT