I recently came across an old digital camera, and among the pictures on it were those I took at the 2006 New England International Auto Show, when I was 13 years old. To my amazement, nearly all the pictures I took were of cars and entire brands that no longer exist only seven years later. So I had to wonder: Was my camera a curse?
The first picture is of course a 2007 Mercury Mariner Hybrid. I also snapped one of this red non-hybrid model. Redesigned for 2008, the Mariner faded away along with the entire Mercury brand in 2011. A Town Car and the ill-fated Lincoln Mark LT pickup can also be seen in the background.
Close by was this even shorter-lived Mercury Montego, which was only produced from 2005-2007.
Over at Buick I took some shots of the then fairly-new Buick Lucerne. Despite what critics said about its floaty ride and senior citizen appeal (among other criticisms), I always liked the Lucerne, and still do.
I thought the design was far more elegant and upscale than the Park Avenue and LeSabre it replaced. The rear had a sort of VW Phaeton/Passat-look to it. And the interior was comparable to Cadillac comfort and material quality of that year.
This loaded Buick Terraza minivan really appealed to the minivan-loving side of me.
The de-facto replacement for the Oldsmobile Silhouette, Buick’s brief foray into the minivan segment lasted only 3 years, from 2005-2007.
One of the Terraza’s three badge-engineered siblings (Yes, THREE! No wonder you had to eliminate brands GM!) was the less-plush Saturn Relay.
Look out Bentley! Saturn’s interiors are gonna give you a run for your money!
GM’s branching out of the Saturn brand also included this Saturn Sky roadster. The reasonably-priced Sky did manage to sell over 30,000 units during its 2006-2009 run. Pretty respectable for a roadster. Even more impressive for one wearing a Saturn badge. It was not enough to save the Saturn division though, which was killed as part of GM’s downsizing plan in 2009.
I remember being particularly impressed with the power sliding doors and fold-flat rear seats of the Hyundai Entourage. This closeup is the only picture I took of any Asian car that year. But these not-so-novelty features were not enough to wow U.S. buyers, and the Entourage lasted less then three years on the market.
There is no question that Mercedes-Benz is alive and kicking. Yet with any successful brand, some nameplates don’t stand the test of time as well as others do. This very sexy CLK-Class coupe was dropped when MB reincarnated the E-Class coupe in 2010.
Bringing us back to the General, is this 2007 Chevrolet Malibu Maxx SS. One of the more pitiful pieces of crap to ever wear the once-prouder SS badge.
Rounding it out at Pontiac is this G5 coupe. Although another sad badge-engineering job, the ’05-’09 G5 was at least a styling improvement over the huge chunk of plastic body cladding known as Sunfire it replaced.
Last but not least is the Pontiac Vibe hatchback. Mechanically related to the Toyota Matrix, the Pontiac got its own exterior styling, with plastic body cladding of course! Pontiac was another casualty in GM’s 2009 massacre. Going through these pictures really shocked me. I guess my camera lens had some sort of destructive power to it.
That saturn roadster is more likely badge engineered from Vauxhall not Opel.Vauxhall called it a some wierd alphanumeric name to distinguish it from the Lotus it was rebadged from.easy to see why lincoln,is circleing the drain and Mercury and pontiac are already gone rebadging your own product is not too bad rebadging other’s cars shows real stupidity and lack of engineering knowhow. Only Mercedes &Hyundai seem to have escaped your camera unscathed are you sure you like cars?
Actually you are both wrong..That Saturn Sky is not badge engineered from anything but instead a completely USA homegrown and built car that it shares with the Pontiac Solstice. The Daewoo and Opel Versions were also build in the USA and shipped abroad. This is not based on any foreign made automobile.
Really, Even according to Wiki its based on a Vauxhall who shared Lotus designs and engineering on their sports sedans and roadsters
you need to go back and read wiki. It says nothing of that.
it says “The styling for the Sky, penned by Franz von Holzhausen, is based on the Vauxhall VX Lightning Concept’s design”.
The styling, not the platform or anything else for that matter.
Thank you. My mistake.
I was thinking of the Opel Speedster. I’ve corrected the post.
It is an honest mistake. There was at one time talk of bringing the Opel GT over as a Pontiac…just never materialized.
I was just annoyed at our friend from down under spouting non-sense again.
So typically GM; they spend a pile o’cash on a completely new platform and then ditch in like two years.
Didn’t they bring it over, as the Pontiac Solstice? That was on the same platform, surely.
You are thinking if the VX220 IIRC. The Saturn wishes it was that car, not even close. The VX was in fact Lotus based as you said, but not the Saturn or the Pontiac Solstice which were twins to each other mechanically.
Fair enough at least they imported an engine for it
Sorry Kiwi
Even the engine is made in the USA in good old upstate NY.
It is not the old ecotec developed by Opel in the 70’s.
GM world production of 4 cylinder engines in the 90s was at Fishermans Bend now converted to V6 production
D’oh, thanks Jim, I too immediately confused the Saturn Sky above with the Vauxhall VX220. I see the Opel-badged Sky actually replaced Opel’s version of the VX220, probably where my confusion came from.
Actually the writer noted that the particular model Mercedes is no longer offered. The Hyundai Entourage is no longer offered either. So none of them escaped the camera’s curse.
Revenge for Olds, Mr. Saur? 🙂
As the owner of a 2006 Pontiac Solstice, the loss of these two cars (Solstice/Sky) was the one pitiful downer in GM’s culling of the brands. And, despite the slagging they got i the press when put against the Mazda MX-5, I picked mine up having driven a 2006 MX-5 first (it’s what I was really looking for at the time), and I traded a Porsche 924S in on the car.
Six months later, I’m quite happy with it. Yeah, the Porsche was a bit more subtle, but whatever I lost in Porsche quality was made up in finally owning a roadster. And I actually like the Solstice better than the MX-5, even if the top is more of a pain to put up, and the luggage space is non-existent.
Couldn’t we somehow have rebadged this car as a Buick?
They really should have turned the Sky into a Corvette Jr., like a Boxster to the 911, and maybe turned one into a Z4/SLK for Cadillac. But they just threw it all down the drain.
I never understood why the Skystice was not continued under one of the non-culled brands. Figure in a healthy car market it was good for 10-15k units/yr with whatever badge the general wants to slap on the hood.
Does anyone know where the tooling wound up? It seems like given the sunk costs where all eaten by Old GM there is a sound business case for bringing back this car at a flex plant.
The continued success of the MX-5 Miata and the Toyobaru FT-86 shows that this segment still has plenty of life left in it.
Carmine said: “They really should have turned the Sky into a Corvette Jr….”
(sarcasm) Easy there, Carmine… NOBODY BUT NOBODY encroaches on the Corvette’s turf… (end sarcasm)
Well, it’s not entirely sarcasm. Nobody does play in the Corvette’s turf. Think back to the aborted Pontiac Banshee project (from the 60’s), the Opel GT, the ascendancy of the Trans Am in the 70’s or the various Fiero V6 and GT projects (that were forced to use crap components until the very end…)
(sarcasm) 50,000 Chevy dealers can’t be wrong…(end sarcasm)
Or think of it this way: If the factory would have offered a Super Skystice (with LSx V8 like Lingenfelter or Mallett did) what do you think would happen to base level Corvette sales?
Hmmm….
There is no money in stuff with this low volume, hence the chopping when GM did its belly-up thingy. GM had to rationalise to survive and to a certain extent they have. Like all the big players now, they sell their products globally, meaning if it don’t sell in Mumbai, it ain’t gonna be anywhere else.
A “super Sky” wasn’t what I was referring to, a JUNIOR Corvette, non-V8, more like something with a turbo 4 and a V6.
The Banshee was considered too close to the Corvette, why cannibalize what is already a small market that you already do well in with a car from another one of your divisions? In the 60’s the Corvette had to fight for development dollars, it wasn’t the high performance specialty scared cow corporate flagship it is today.
The Opel GT was a cheapie eco sports car that used base Opel mechanicals, it was never intended to compete with the Corvette.
The Fiero was “forced” to use “crap” components because a base Fiero was a $7000 car in 1984, not a $24,000 car like an 84 Corvette was, the Fiero was never really supposed to be a “sports car” it was pitched a low priced sporty high MPG commuter car. Later they started to make it more performance oriented, but they had to stick with what they had in the car already and work with those components until more money was available.
I can’t believe you didn’t snag an Isuzu!
When I look at that Entourage it’s really amazing how far Hyundai has come in such a short time. It’s also really amazing how large the headlamps are.
I got stuck with a Saturn Sky once as a rental and it was one of the worst cars I’ve ever driven. Weird handling, awful visibility and the worst engine sounds since the Quad 4. Complete junk.
Stuck with a Sky? Interesting, I can’t say I’ve ever seen one that was a rental.
Complete junk is a little strong. It beat the Miata at SCCA races most times. The 2.0 turbo was very quick, and most 2 seater convertibles have horrible visibility. Not quite sure what you are comparing it to…
Comparing it to the Miata. You are right, complete junk is a bit harsh and my bad experience wasn’t all the car’s fault. I was in a hurry and needed a sedan for all my stuff (at airport). But there was some mix up and all they had was the Sky.
My first reaction was hot damn a convertible! Then couldn’t figure out how to open the “trunk”. Finally did only to find enough room for a my smallest bag. When I finally sat in it it was like sitting in a hole.
The drive was even worse. The sound of that engine is not something I will forget – similar to the Iron Duke in the Fiero but not as bad as the Quad 4. The tires felt super grippy but you could feel the body swaying side to side in most high speed maneuvers, in the opposite direction of the tires.
I’m sure with mods it would make a decent race car but as a commuter car it totally sucked. The Solstice/Sky is a good example of something that looked good on paper (and in FRP when they made the Solstice show car) but they did a hurry up job on the platform and it showed. Not one of Lutz’s best ideas though I love the guy and give him most of the credit for where Cadillac is today.
The car they should have done off of the Kappa was the Chevy Nomad. So nice looking that everything else would have been forgiven and that’s saying a lot.
Fair enough, you were pissed off, in a rotten mood after getting off an airplane, not really wanting a small sports car to drive around.
I’ll bet if you hopped in a Sky Redline on a nice summer day and wanted to drive a car like that you’d probably have a very different opinion.
I’ve made the same decisions on a car under the same circumstances only to go back and totally change my mind after getting a second shot under a better mindset.
Pissed off is an understatement so yes not all the car’s fault. A few days later on the way back to the airport I could be more objective but still found things like the engine noise, bad seating position and odd handling feel to be disappointing. A Miata would be much nicer to live with every day.
The press really played up the Solstice, I believe to help get it green lighted. Then they must have felt obligated to like it because the actual car was much worse than the reviews suggested. Feel the same about the Mustang SVO 4-cylinder.
That or they only drove prepped Redlines and never the base car that daily rental fleets got.
I felt similarly, if not so strongly, after driving the Kappa twins–after a Miata, a lot of things about it were disappointing, and I’d had high hopes.
The non-turbo Four had no ‘zing’ to it at all (to be fair, the NC Miata went backwards in this regard as well). The gearing was too tall, so 2-3 upshifts dropped it in a hole. ‘Sitting in a hole’ described the driving position, too–the doorsills were around your ears. And while the steering was firm and responsive, the chassis felt like it mostly got by on its wide, flypaper-sticky tires–there was none of the delicate, adjustable feeling of the Miata in a corner.
Properly set up, I can see how such a car would out-hustle a Miata on a racecourse, but it never felt as much fun on the road. Add in the practical compromises calibrick mentions, and the Solstice/Sky was a hard sell.
have to agree. I had a 01 Miata, I went and test drove a Solstice when they were new. The top was up and I literally couldnt see to the right rear at all without using the mirror. Changing lanes was an adventure.. Couldnt see all that well forward either. Was not impressed, and I wanted to like it.
The Kappa quadruplets did outsell the Miata during its years of production. I guess tastes are quite subjective.
Go back and drive another one, preferably when you’re in a good mood. Those cars are nowhere near as bad as the press slagging made them out to be.
I’m convinced part of the bad reviews were because of the “if it’s GM, it’s got to be crap – until proven otherwise” attitude of the automotive press at that time. Back then, TTAC was only in the forefront of the “GM must die” attitude. They weren’t the only ones.
And, low and behold, they did die! Must be the media’s fault. Their cars were always so good, dealer service, too!
Wow I forgot the Buick Terraza and Malibu Maxx SS even existed. Even the G5 is a rare sight now.
Your Pontiac hate is coming through loud and clear…but I don’t happen to see any plastic body cladding here?
What do you call that ribbed stuff all over the bumpers?
I would call that a plastic bumper, just like anything else made since 1990. And absolutely not any worse than the Toyota sister car
No one could ever accuse me of being a Pontiac fan (or GM in general), but I always thought the Vibe looked way better than the Matrix.
Me too, but the solution is at hand – Go to Mexico where Toyota sells the Vibe body as a Toyota Voltz!
We get the Vibe body badged as a Toyota Voltz here in New Zealand too – except they’re all RHD ex-JDM used imports.
Despite the same piece of plastic, the Pontiac has extra bulges and grooves. I’ve always referred known that as cladding. I guess we just have a difference of opinions on the subject.
Bendan, as I understand it the “cladding” that everyone always dumps on Pontiac for is the plastic that would go from the rocker panel to about mid door.
This is a Grand Am after the “cladding” was removed
This is the Grand Am before the restyle with the ribbed cladding
It became trendy to use the cladding as an excuse for not liking the brand. As you know, many if not all companies have some form of cladding that is just as bad (Honda Element, various Mitsubishis, a couple of Toyotas…)
Similar to the whole “badge engineering” people try to use as an argument against brands…
I see the difference now. I haven’t seen many “uncladded” ones like that. Even when they restyled it they kept the ribbed cladding on the GTs. It’s hard to get that image out of one’s mind. It is “cladded” onto my brain.
Cladding. The other complaint alongside “hard plastic” where a lot of so-called auto-journalists tried to show how hip and knowledgeable they were.
Heh, cladding…
I specifically look for older used Pontiacs that have it because I know I piss off a certain segment of the motorhead population…
Too bad my new (to me) Aztek Rally didn’t have more!
I always thought the 1st gen Vibe was by far the better looking twin. 2nd gen it blobbed out as bad as the Matrix. And the dashboard became hideously cheesy.
I rented a Matrix (not by choice) a few months ago. Strictly a soulless appliance. My last-summer Corolla rental had far more character…
I see a once great name debased with the Montego(I’m talking about the original Mercury and not the British Leyland abomination!)
Lol, we didn’t get the original Mercury Montego here, we only got the Austin model – and a friend even owned one for some years, I didn’t mind it but it was not the world’s most superb vehicle. So I looked at the Mercury Montego pictured above and immediately thought “Gee, why’d they use the Austin’s name?”.
A guy my brother played pool with bought an MG Montego Turbo new.After numerous visits to the dealer to get it fixed under warranty it was working finally and then to considerable amusement was stolen.Even more amusement and disbelief came when it was used as a get away car in a jewellery robbery.Needless to say it broke down and they were caught,by now he’d had enough of it and used the insurance money to help buy a BMW
A fruitgrower locally I used to pick up from has a Montego Turbo and loves it he may have the only good one ever made but he hasnt sold or dumped it yet.
And the interior was comparable to Cadillac comfort and material quality of that year.
Well it should have been, the Lucerne was built on the same platform as the Cadillac DTS. I always liked the DTS and V8 Lucerne but the Northstar still makes me nervous.
Right alongside it in the same factory. The 3800 has enough power if you ask me (a Lucerne driver). I too fear the Northstar. I actually returned one identical to the one pictured above and opted instead for the best engine ever–the 3800.
Am I the only one who never from day one could understand what a Saturn was supposed to be?
Import fighter although some might argue that Saturn was another way of saying RIP Oldsmobile.
Saturn had a clearer mission at its start than at its end. “Beating the competition at their own game” was Saturn’s mission, through a combination of technologies that were not available in the J-cars (a 16-valve engine, plastic panels attached to a space frame) and better handling. Of course, the company also prided itself on second-to-none customer service.
And, for the first few years, it worked. The SL and SC weren’t particularly special in hindsight, but they were better in almost every way than a Cavalier or Sunbird, never mind an Escort. As importantly, if not more, Saturn’s customers not only loved their cars, they loved the company, in a way not even Toyota or Honda could engender. That was really Saturn’s biggest victory – if you could call it that – over the imports.
Things began to go awry for Saturn, IMHO, with Chrysler’s introduction of the Neon in 1994. That car out-Saturned Saturn in its quirkiness and fun-to-drive qualities. Things continued to head south with the 1997 SL redesign, which shared more componentry with other GM products, though it was still a unique (and old) Saturn platform.
Things went off the rail in 2003 with the Ion, which was even worse than the subsequent Cobalt on the same platform. Everything after that was merely a badge-engineered product shared with other GM brands. The Aura, Sky and second-gen Vue (and even the Outlook and Relay) were decent cars, but they were only GM cars – they weren’t Saturns.
There biggest failure was those rabid fans. They kept asking for a car to “move up to” and when they offered them yes many of those fans did buy them. The problem is that meant that they were still selling the same amount of cars but now were spread across many models making none of them profitable and eliminating any possibility of keeping them up to date.
You forgot the L-series and the Vue, which came to late. They were hit and miss, mostly miss, though the Vue was still sort of uniquely Saturn, still all plastic, the L-series was supposed to be Saturns Accord/Camry, the 2nd act if you will, but unlike the unique S-series, Saturn had to dip into the GM corporate gene pool for the L-series, using an Opel/Vauxhall sedan, the Vectra, I think. The L-series was kinda nice, it even had a wagon, but it really didn’t quite cut the mustard.The S-series cars were unique until the end of their first run, but they were pretty old by then.
Subaru fans remind me of the early-days Saturnistas.
I thought the Saturn Outlook was the best looking of the tribe when GM brought out the line. Pricey as hell though.
My wife and I owned at 2007 Saturn Aura XR and a 2008 Saturn Outlook for a while. We were both making a lot of money at the time and we both loved the new Saturn lineup before the end. Both were the most expensive cars either of us would own, but we really liked them. As you said, they were re-badged GMs, but in my opinion, they were the best versions to have. They were some of GM’s better cars, and by buying Saturn, you had the added benefit of their customer service.
They weren’t perfect, but if we had a problem, the Saturn dealer took care of it no questions asked, and returned it washed. Having to deal with the Chevy dealer after Saturn was done, played a big part in why we don’t have them anymore.
“And, for the first few years, it worked. The SL and SC weren’t particularly special in hindsight, but they were better in almost every way than a Cavalier or Sunbird, never mind an Escort…”
The original versions of the Saturns were released during the middle of the 2nd gen Cav/Fire’s production run. Seeing that the J’s were a (heavily) revised 1982 car, I would expect it to be better.
By the 1995 re-fresh of the Cav/Fire, the tables had turned. The J’s had been extensively refreshed with many thoughtful touches throughout the car. The only real advantage the Saturn had by it’s 1996 refresh was the fact that it had a great reputation. And plastic body panels.
In 1996, my BIL’s 1992 Saturn had been wrecked, enough for him to get a rental car for the week or two it was in the body shop. I should explain – he loooooovved that car. He bought the whole anti-car company car BS lock, stock and barrel. He went to the reunions, joined the Saturn AOL groups, and was a charter member of his local Saturn Fan Club. (He still has his original car, and a three or four other ones, although two of them are parts cars)
Having spent time in his Saturn and then the Cavalier he got as a loaner, I thought the Cavalier was more functional and user friendly than the SL2. At that time, I was NOT a GM fan, I was much more in love with Mopars. That version of the J may have not been the best presentation, but for sure easier to live with for (a then 6’0″ 220 lb) guy like I was back then. I’d often thought the SL cars were a domestic copy of the Universal Japanese Car, but especially targeting Honda products of a contemporary vintage. I never really got comfortable with the whole “sitting on the floor with really large windows” era of Honda styling. Not that I love the rolling pillboxes we call cars today, but that was way too exposed.
The 1997 Saturn refresh was bad. They took a distinctively styled car and managed to make it dumpy looking. Not unlike the 1996 revision of the Taurus… I never thought the originals were beautiful, but at least they were decent looking; the 1997 versions were just awful. The poverty special ones with the skinny tires, plastic wheel covers and gray bumpers were phenomenally ugly.
I don’t know if the “Empire” (Chevy dealers in particular) had struck back, or if integrating Saturn further into GM just f*cked the division up (as an already bad idea) further, but the small Saturn car never recovered again. At least until the Astra came on line.
By then, too little, too late.
The problem with Saturn was, that is was a “very GM” way of trying to solve a problem, it took a billion plus to launch, imagine if they would have just spent that much creating a kick ass J-car replacement instead of launching yet ANOTHER division within company that was starting to look like it had a couple too many.
I had a Lucerne V6. It was the most expensive car I’ve ever bought.
IMO, it did fine against the 300 Touring, Amanti, and Montego. The Avalon was way more money. Azera might have been the best value at the time though.
Still, when you can buy a good condition Oldsmobile Regency for about $3500, I’m not sure that the Lucerne really justified it’s price premium.
The Lucerne was also hard to sell, just because interest in it was pretty low, and I couldn’t sell it for really cheap like I can with a lot of my other cars.
Difficult to compare a new Lucerne to a used Regency isn’t it? It that case it is difficult to justify just about any purchase if you are willing to go for a $3500.00 Oldsmobile.
The Lucerne wasn’t new.
I guess my point is that it was 3.5 times more expensive than a Regency, but in my mind it wasn’t 3.5 times better.
The Lucerne was probably 3.5 times newer, hence the expense. Not really a good comparison.
Personally, I can’t even really concede that point.
I don’t think I clearly made my point earlier. The Lucerne is a decent car, but I couldn’t justify what I spent on it. Anything additional it brought to the table over the prior generation just didn’t do it for me. Hence why I used “in my mind” in my previous comment.
It wasn’t the right car for for me. I’d rather have an old car-newness and warranties don’t give me any joy. I should not have bought the Lucerne in the first place.
That’s why I didn’t have it very long and older vehicles are now in my possession. That’s my wheelhouse. It’s what I enjoy. Lesson learned.
Maybe in 9 years after depreciation has taken its full toll I’ll look into owning another one.
Understood. Too much $ on a car. I’d enjoy an older car if I didn’t live in a rust zone. Hard to find “cheap” used cars.
You had….interesting taste in cars for a 13-year-old kid (minivans!?!)
I’ve always loved minivans. My guilty pleasure.
One lasting memory of the Solstice — wife and I returning from NYC and stuck in afternoon traffic on the DC Beltway. Black Solstice in front of us with top and windows down. Man driving it is holding a cigarette in his left hand dangling outside the car, as smokers seem to do these days when not taking a drag. His elbow is about even with his head, because of the absurdly high beltline.
You had very obscure tastes in cars for 13! I’m sure there were alot of sexy, sporty cars there to photograph. It really is amazing how much the market has changed in just 7 years. Thanks for the insight.
The front of the Lucerne reminds me of a Ford Taurus..When Ford was in it’s Oval phase..Sorry don’t know the model years.
I have seen all of the crossover sport vans here in NYC – actually, even the Montana SV6, which was only sold for one or two model years. The Relay is the most handsome of the vans and even though its just an obvious nose job on an old van, I don’t find the CSVs too repulsive.
The Montego and Five Hundred were handsome cars. No weird feature lines, no insanely high belt line. They are very practical looking. But a 3.0 V6 and CVT? No thanks. They fixed it when they renamed them Taurus/Sable. I feel like the Fords on that Volvo platform didn’t get a lot of respect.
The Mariner is easily one of the most handsome small crossovers ever.
The Lucerne is a car I wouldn’t touch with a V6, but would love with a V8! 197hp in a full size sedan? Soft and spongy handling? Blech. But tizzy it up with nice wheels and chrome bladed fog lamps, put in a Northstar and add Magnetic Ride Control and you end up with a very nice cruiser with handling that isn’t embarassing. An updated Aurora, if you will (although, oddly for an early 2000s GM product, the second gen Aurora has a very classy and upscale interior that looks even nicer than the Lucerne’s!). If I were buying a used car here, a Lucerne CXS would be at the top of my list, along with a 2003 Seville STS (only year with MRC and reliability had improved by then) or a STS V8
Sounds like you’d love the 2005+ Bonneville GXP, then (if you haven’t tried one already). Relatively low sills and good visibility, clean exterior, Northstar punch, and surprisingly tight, confident handling (unless pushed past the point of inevitable messy understeer). That car was supposedly one of Lutz’s pet projects, and with Chrysler’s 300C stealing its thunder when new, I think it was highly underrated.
One caveat: the interior is deeply silly.
Hey, any G-body FWD Bonneville would be good. I’d had them as daily rentals on occasion, even the cheapo SE seemed to drive like a much smaller car. The SSE’s that I drove were even better.
The Hyundai minivan was a badge-engineered Kia Sedona that was a new design in 2006. My 2012 Sedona is the tail end of that series, and it was discontinued after the 2012 models. So it did not escape the curse. I think the Hyundai version had nicer trim and a more attractive grille. When those were new, they struck me as being priced quite high for a Hyundai.
“Bringing us back to the General, is this 2007 Chevrolet Malibu Maxx SS. One of the more pitiful pieces of crap to ever wear the once-prouder SS badge.”
While I would agree that this iteration of the Malibu and the Maxx should have been a RS model instead, I take exception to the thought that the Uglibu is a piece of crap.
Epsilon I has been around for 10 years now, racking up a rather respectable record as a good car. I’m in my second one, my daughter on her first. They’ve been good cars, albeit with a few niggling problems but nothing serious. Never left stranded, and no major repairs.
I would agree that the SS version as released in 2006 was not the sparkling performer it should have been, especially in the vein of recent contemporary SS badged vehicles, like the Camaro SS, Trailblazer SS and Cobalt SS Supercharged or Turbocharged.
I think what Chevy is doing with the Cruze RS (making an RS version rather than a SS version which would encroach upon the Turbo Verano) is what should have happened with the Malibu SS.
At the time, they should have left the “hot rod” Epsilon body to the “Performance Division” (i.e. Pontiac). They did do it right with the “premium” Epsilon, the Saturn Aura XR, as that thing is as sweet as Epsilon I comes.
But no, the Uglibu SS and Maxx SS’s are not a ‘piece of crap’. Just terribly mislabeled.
Agreed about the Saturn Aura XR being the top of the Epsilon platform. We had a 2007 XR and it was one of the coolest and quickest cars we ever owned. Only complaint was it’s penchant for needing the intermediate steering shaft replaced yearly, for the first 3 years of ownership. My brother in law bought this car from us and loves it – still has it.
I also had a 2011 Malibu 4cyl, which was a total lemon though and I got rid of it before I owned it a year.
Pretty sure I went to this show. A neighbor has a G5 coupe in the same color as this shot, only one I’ve ever seen.