Michigan wllz

Much has been written about why Saturn was somewhat of a success through much of the 1990s.

Even though General Motors starved the brand for new products, those who bought Saturns back then loved them.

Sure, buyers enjoyed the no-haggle deals and the fresh approach to selling cars. They loved it when dealer employees clapped as they drove their cars away for the first time.

But what they really loved was that the cars were good, possibly the best cars GM has made since the 1950s when it ruled the American market.

So, it’s always surprising to me when I read some pundit dissing the brand as did Paul Ingrassia, former Detroit Bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal.

The cars were pretty ordinary, causing Honda engineers to scoff when they disassembled one. But the engineers couldn’t see Saturn’s emotional appeal, reinforced with advertising about labor-management cooperation amid the down-home values of Spring Hill.

The problem with that statement is that the cars were actually fairly sophisticated. The original Saturn SL had one of GM’s most advanced engines. The car’s interior was as good as any small car from the Europeans or Japanese at the time.

But the real reason owners loved those cars was because they were tough as rhino skin. I know many people who drove their SLs for years before finally trading them in. Many of those folks will tell you that their Saturn was not just the best car they ever owned; they’ll tell you that it was the best thing they ever owned, period.

One of the constant topics people out here in the real world talk about is how companies make products  poorly, ensuring that people will eventually have to come back to replace it. Build the perfect toaster and you’ll never have to buy another one.

That may have been Saturn’s problems. Those original SLs were not fancy, but they were so well built, GM most likely wasn’t able to make much on them. They were built so well, there were no reasons to replace them.

Since those original SLs were finally phased out in 2003, Saturn hasn’t been the same. Instead of being a special, separate entity within GM, the brand was folded into the company, becoming a division no different than Chevrolet or Pontiac.

The cars weren’t as good either. The SL’s replacement was the goofy Ion, which wasn’t anywhere near as good as the SL. The LS sedan was panned. Saturn’s latest round of cars, including the Saturn Aura and Outlook are better. But for every home run, GM still whiffs on others including the  Sky (drop-dead gorgeous, but plagued with ergonomic issues) and the Astra (European transplant with too much of the Old Country left in the recipe).

There are plenty of folks out there who would flock back to Saturn if it were to build cars with the spirit of that old SL. Is it realistic to sell an overbuilt car and peddle it from dealerships where the employees clap as you make your way out the door? That’s a hard question to answer.

It looks like we’ll never find out if folks want a car like that after Penske Automotive backed out of its deal with GM