There’s something joyous about a perfectly-preserved normal car, an unexpected survivor that feels as much like a time-traveler as a museum piece. Case in point? This Saturn SC2 up for sale in California with just 634 miles on the clock. While expensive at $10,500, it just might be the nicest Saturn left in existence. Call it the gold standard of plastic-paneled ’90s economy cars.
Would you just look at it. Perfect paint glistening in the twilight, plush velour upholstery absolutely spotless, a rolling time capsule of Wrangler jeans and petrichor. It’s a bottle of faded optimism, an object from a time when the icy threat of nuclear war was in the rearview mirror.
Through faded Polaroids and Goodwill hand-me-down nostalgia come mental flashbacks of warmth. The twin-cam lettering in the passenger taillamp is a constant reminder of a more mechanical world. Sixteen lifters and IBM Model Ms chattering away to the scent of office coffee. Electric teal paint recalls a distant signal traveling through the wall and across telephone wires, the digital screams and squelches of a 56k modem. Glorious mechanical complications of pop-ups render us merely deer in the headlights. Who could blame us for stopping and staring?
Under the hood of this perfectly preserved Saturn sits a 1.9-liter twin-cam four-cylinder engine pumping out a stout 124 horsepower. While that’s not a huge figure by modern standards, it wasn’t far off power-wise from the 135-horsepower 1.6-liter 4A-GE in the AE92 Toyota Corolla GT-S and actually made more torque than Toyota’s legendary 1.6. Mind you, this particular Saturn twin-cam engine is mated to a four-speed automatic gearbox, which tempers the fun but also possibly ensured this car’s survival. Ever noticed how most manual cars have the absolute piss beaten out of them?
We’ve all heard of speculators stashing rare sports cars away indoors in hope of a profit, but a Saturn SC2 doesn’t fit the typical criteria. I mean this with the utmost respect, but no teenager hung a poster of a Saturn SC2 on their wall, no video game featured it as a hero car, it simply wasn’t an object of daydreaming fantasy in the same way that a Buick GNX or Porsche 911 Turbo was. Instead, it was a great little car, if a dead-end for GM.
Sure, $10,500 is a pretty penny for a 32-year-old GM economy car, but this is one of the few cases where you could earnestly say “find another.” Besides, an original Saturn is so much more than just another inexpensive car peddled by Detroit. From the bespoke factory to the no-pressure dealership experience, these cars were the closest America had to a mainstream automotive cult before Tesla.
Maybe we’ll never visit the beach again. Not while it matters, at least. But for a moment, a perfectly-preserved Saturn can take you back to a time when you knew less about the world. Sometimes there’s comfort in not knowing, but to steal a line from a great Canadian poet, “Sometimes it’s just about feeling good.”
(Photo credits: Seller)
Support our mission of championing car culture by becoming an Official Autopian Member.
-
The Saturn S-Series Was A Good Car But Also A Dead End: GM Hit Or Miss
-
Is This Absurdly Nice 3,913-Mile Chevrolet Tracker Worth $14,495?
-
Saturn Was Truly Something Special: COTD
-
Someone Imported A 2005 Toyota Camry From Japan And I Just Don’t Get It
-
You’ll Never Guess What’s Underneath This Odd-Looking Morris Minor
Got a hot tip? Send it to us here. Or check out the stories on our homepage.
“I mean this with the utmost respect, but no teenager hung a poster of a Saturn SC2 on their wall”
False, though I may have been the only one.
Haven’t seen a nice one in a long time. Really kind of a cool car.
Holy mother of want! I don’t even care that it’s an automatic!
But I would only ruin it.
And I ain’t got 10.5 kilobucks to spare.
It’s still a crappy Saturn, but with decayed hoses and wires, and possibly an altered odometer.
Woah, a Saturn that, PROBABLY, doesn’t burn oil and a driver’s seat that hasn’t disintegrated…
The ad suggests this car was never titled, so technically it could be a “new” car. Maybe this thing has a factory warranty?
It would be kind of fun to drive a “new” 30+ year old car. Although, as someone pointed out below, the value of this car would crater if you drove it since it would become just another used Saturn. So this probably isn’t a good use of $10,500.
Probably a little loose with the language. Title means ownership and surely GM and Saturn can no longer own this car after 32 years or there’d be more of a story that would come out. The story is probably less interesting. But it could mean it has never been registered or inspected in California. There are a lot of collectors for cars like these which are time-period significant but also not really desired. It’ll go there. $10.5k is chump change for them. I am not one of these people lol.
The listing included a carfax report that I didn’t notice earlier. It appears this car has been titled a few times, so I guess it isn’t technically “new” at this point. I figured a warranty was a longshot.
I’m surprised they don’t list this on bring a trailer or another similar website. I doubt collectors interested in a time capsule Saturn are shopping at local used car lots.
In some states the dealer has to title the vehicle in their name if they get the car from another dealer. It looks like the vehicle was only ever titled by dealers and not by an end purchaser.
À philanthropist in the correct tax bracket should buy this and donate it to the Lane Motor Museum. That is the most fitting use-case I can think of for it: prompting my granddaughter’s eye-rolls a decade hence as I gush about the Perfectly Preserved Shitbox Done Mostly Right.
And Torch could revive Jason Drives for the 10th anniversary of March 32nd 2022
Rarely would I critique your writing, but this car is from 1991 (and I had to open the ad to learn that) and 56k modems didn’t arrive until 1998.
True dat: in ’91 a 14.4 kilobaud modem would’ve been the ticket to connecting to a BBS at best, or perhaps Compuserve.
14.4 would be a nice modem for 1991 at that.
Most people would be rocking 2400bps-9600bps, neither of which were PPP-capable.
Ah, memories. My mother’s first new car (replacing a red K-car wagon) was a 1994 SW1, blue, manual, tape deck, A/C, ABS, and nothing else (all manual locks, crank windows, no cruise control). Took my driving test in that car and passed first time! It went 278,000 miles on the original engine, clutch, and transmission before it got an engine rebuild and fresh clutch at 10 years old. It survived hitting a deer shortly after that (crumpled the hood, the one metal panel, and maybe a headlight?) and made it to 343,000 miles / 12 years when the timing chain guides finally went and killed the engine.
My parents went on to have a used manual 95 SL1 and a manual 93 SL1 as commuter beaters after that. I got myself a fully-optioned manual 94 SL1 in college, put about 40,000 miles on it but had to replace it with a manual 2002 SC1 when I moved to MD and fixing it up to pass MD inspection was going to cost far more than it was worth.
Somebody rebuilt the engine but skipped the timing set?
One would think after nearly 300,000 miles you would replace anything that wears out.
Maybe they used a crappy aftermarket one, instead of an OEM one?
A decade or so ago I had a ’96 SW1 that I purchased from the estate of a dead older neighbor of my parents. I was living in a big city and didn’t need a car, but how could I resist paying a whole $200 for one? It needed, well, everything, and once it spontaneously started belching smoke in a Chick-fil-A drive-thru somewhere in North Carolina (coolant leak, easily fixed), but damned if it didn’t get me back and forth for a year, and I kinda liked the swoopy greenhouse design. Better than taking the bus!
That’s what you get for going to Chick-fil-A. 😉
> Maybe we’ll never visit the beach again. Not while it matters, at least.
Well that was bleak
I drove a 2002 SL2 with a five-speed for 16 years. I ponied up for the better motor but that sucker still had crank windows. The motor and transmission combo was more than adequate, if unexciting, and the car functioned quite nicely as a basic transportation appliance. The interior held up amazingly well and the only real problem I suffered was that common GM issue where the security module would malfunction on the car so I would have to reset and wait for 10 minutes to restart the car. Two collisions finally did it in, but had it not been wrecked I would have kept it longer. Count me in as part of the Saturn “cult”. I still wouldn’t mind owing a Sky in Red Line trim.
A funny “kids these days” story: one of my daughter’s best friends was in the back seat immediately behind me and at a stop light complained that her window wasn’t working. I reached back, cranked the window down and said, “whaddya mean?” She had never seen crank windows before and the consternation was hilarious.
That’s so sad AND hilarious at the same time!
90’s period correct GM plastic panel gaps! Be still my heart! /s
Lol @ the listing saying dual airbags and CD/DVD player in the features and options.
My first car and the one I learned stick on was a ’94 SC2 5-speed in the same blue-green on tan combo, but different seat fabric by then. For 94, the “geartooth” alloys were replaced by “sawtooth” but IIRC SC2s couldn’t have those (SC1 could), I had 4-spoke teardrop alloys.
Mine was actually equipped sort of inverse of this one. I had a spoiler and sunroof, no cruise, manual windows and locks. I did have the cassette stereo, but the load style was different from virtually every other car cassette deck so a cassette adapter for a CD/MP3 player didn’t work because the cable was fed in on the sides.
Mine also proved to be a POS. There was a 93/94 SL1 auto next to it that my dad initially was drawn to when we were shopping, but I was naturally drawn to the better looking coupe. We had bought several Saturns before it, went to look at it in a VUE, and this was even from a Saturn dealer we knew, so kind of a disappointing experience. I dumped it after about a year but still got some amusing stories out of it as any first car should.
A monument to GM’s failure. A true relic of a bygone era when automakers cared about offering affordable cars that were unique and had actual thought put into them. Saturn’s design language and dealership experience were so, so far ahead of their time. My grandma had a Saturn sedan from this era that I rode in as a kiddo that was the same flawless shade of teal.
Was it fancy? No. Was it fun to drive? I wouldn’t know but it was an automatic so “no” is probably a safe bet. But it was unique. Even as a kid I thought the futuristic alien space ship type designs of Saturns were cool and as a grown ass man I still think they’re cool today. They’ve aged surprisingly well and I’d say they were way, way ahead of the curve in a lot of ways.
Then GM unceremoniously killed them, like they do with every good thing they unintentionally make. Saturn deserved better. So did Pontiac. And don’t get me started on Saab. BRING BACK WEIRD AFFORDABLE CARS YOU COWARDS! WE ARE READY!
In conclusion….GM can proceed to the all you can eat dick buffet. I spent my Friday afternoon fondly remembering that Saturn existed then remembering GM massacred my boy. My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined.
I grew up with Saturns, even went to the second Homecoming as a kid, so I have nostalgia for the brand and what it stood for and could have been.
But as far as the discontinuation, I get why they were easy to chop – starting in 2009 they had 420 dealerships (nice), and GM had to scale back the number of dealers they had as part of the bankruptcy deal. That made a quick and easy way to scale back the number of dealers.
The cars were never really the star even if they were better than a J-body, because they were still didn’t quite match up to the class leaders. The dealer model was more significant and kept people coming back even as the products languished.
It’s more of a monument to GM’s failure because of its existence in the first place. They shouldn’t have made another division, it was another idea Roger Smith championed but then he dipped right after they launched so the rest of the company largely didn’t care. They didn’t really care about making an affordable car, they just cared that the Japanese were eating at their market share. At the same time, GM’s culture couldn’t and wouldn’t have made a car like the S-Series at any other division, they had to go outside the orbit (pun…ok sort of intended) to do so. GM fans that are anti-Saturn like to say GM should have made it the J-body replacement or put it toward actual Cavalier improvements, but in reality, we know that they likely wouldn’t have done anything of the sort.
The SC2s handled beautifully and it was a lot of fun to wring out the engine with a 5-speed, and honestly, I really liked most of the interior. Sure, it was basic, but my ’93 had suspension in the driver’s seat, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, power everything including a moonroof, cruise, teardrop alloys, and the manual transmission. To this day, it’s still my favourite car that I’ve ever owned, even with the hard plastics and really sad-feeling glove box.
Agree with you. What GM needed was a better customer experience; it didn’t need more unique cars although it helped make the story. The “how you buy Saturn” was the more interesting business discussion. The truth is it didn’t work out — people need to get “sold” to make a deal happen, not just sit there and wait like Walmart to sell you a car. As a former car salesperson, 90% of sales didn’t happen without the push. The Saturn “be nice to customers” push just wasn’t big enough to make it in the end.
Would you mind sharing the address of that buffet?
This is the most pessimistic review I’ve read of a car that looks like it’s smiling at you. My aunt had a very teal Ranger when I was a kid and I was thinking about the joy of being in that truck. I’d ride in the bed if grownups wanted seats… simpler times indeed.
Too Bad it isn’t the 5 speed, then it would sell instantly.
Preach! I love seeing unlikely survivors like this. They’re the reason that I established The Regular Prize at TriangleRAD events.
“The Regular Prize will go to the best example of a totally mundane, common, disposable car from the RAD era that has somehow survived in more or less factory condition.”
The Regular Prize was inspired by an immaculately clean ’93 Lumina that showed up to the summer 2021 event.
Regular Prize winners include a Chevy Celebrity wagon, Ford Tempo, Oldsmobile Silhouette, Toyota Tercel, Ford Escort Wagon & Ford LTD.
Cars that are almost guaranteed Regular Prize winners if a clean one ever shows up are Saturn SL’s, OG Chrysler minivans and K-cars.
I need to remember to attend the next one, I was on vacation the one earlier this month.
I feel like an S-Series is almost cheating, the polymer panels make it much easier to keep it looking factory. lol
This wouldn’t even be fun.
My SL1 was exactly that color! My question is, what do you do with it if you buy it? Do you drive it? It’s not like it’ll be particularly fun, with 134hp and an auto. And any value it has, financial or emotional, is entirely due to its flawless condition… use it like a car and pretty quickly you’ve just got a normal old ’91 Saturn on your hands. You’d go from a $10k car to a $1k car within a year.
But keep it as a garage queen? Even setting aside “cars are meant to be driven,” it’s… a ’91 Saturn.
Maybe this is one of the few cases where buying it just to keep it perfect and wait for its value to appreciate over the decades is justifiable. If you can talk yourself into thinking it’s worth $10k now, surely it’ll be even more of a unicorn in a couple decades. And it’s not like anybody would be missing out on anything not being able to drive it. It’s just so weird!
Counterpoint. It is a virtually brand new car for $10,000. Buy it, maintain it well, and drive it proudly. No emissions, insurance is dirt cheap, and it’s not another white SUV. You can have 100,000 miles driving something interesting for 10 cents per mile.
People tell me I am crazy to daily drive my nice BMW 2002 (current value $25k). I point out that I like to drive it and a new BMW would cost double that so why the hell not?
OK, there’s no world where I’d pay that money for a car I don’t need, but if it were a manual, I would think about it all the time. Same color and wheels as my beloved, beat-to-hell SL2 (bought by my dad 30 years ago!), but preserved in amber.
Also: that steering wheel is WILD. My SL2 had a chunky, 4-spoke airbag-equipped wheel—the kind where the horn was a couple buttons near your thumbs. I didn’t remember the SC2 having such a swoopy thing.
Anyway, I’m so glad you posted this.
All non-airbag Saturns were three-spoke wheels – I think the leather-wrapped wheel which was standard on the SC was swoopy, while the standard wheel on other trims was merely curvy.
*Mr. Regular noises intensify*
*burp*
I AM GAYYYYYYY
*fart*
Alright welcome back class, here’s a 12 minute diatribe on how literary theory applies to this Saturn
….all (affectionate, we stan RCR) joking aside, this could very well be the perfect regular car.
I’d say you more or less nailed it.
I’m gay too! Hope you had a great Pride month.
Amazing. Oddly the only sign of aging is the reverse light lenses. The paint seems perfect so I suspect this car was not sitting outside for the last couple decades which rules out UV degredation.
It’s too bad it’s an auto, but I still lust for it. I love 90’s Saturn. It’s funny how these cars look better to me now than they did when I was a kid.
you had me till you said it was an automatic! love the 90’s teal tho haha
That would be Blue-Green. One of Saturn’s things was not applying ridiculous names to their colors.
Now my mom’s Laser, that thing was teal.