Saturn Overhauling The 2009 Ion

[vandy0419]

HOLY CRAP!!! A FOUR MONTH BUMP...OUCH!!!

[Freakazoid]

Originally Posted by vandy0419

HOLY CRAP!!! A FOUR MONTH BUMP...OUCH!!!

math was never your strong suit was it vandy? not even a full 3 months ;p

[Ah1cobra]

Any of you remember the Cosworth Vega? lol that was the one of the forefathers to "tuner" cars!!

lol no not in the sense of using computer assisted systems but of getting the most out of a little motor and surprising a lot of folks.

[Dallas]

Trust me. If you don't mod the crap out of it, the IRL will be worth big bucks. The door and bumper subframes are built like a nascar. 20 or 30 years down the line, mint condition gonna be worth big bucks.



General Motors Performance Division

[BigBrother]

MMM. Cosworth Vega. 8k rpm redline 4 cyl back in, what was it, '77 or something? The true grandaddy of todays tuner scene IMHO.

Spooner - he paid that much for a Calais 442? What color? Is it a W41?!?! Nice find!

So - since this is back from the dead.... We now know that there will, in fact, be an '07 IRL, although it doesn't have Recaro seats for FMVSS206 compliance. We know that the Vue will continue for '07 as well. All this talk about GM screwing Saturn not knowing what customers want blah blah - geez people, lighten up!! GM didn';t screw the IRL. Saturn did the worst marketing of all time, and didn't get the word out correctly. They did nothing to lose the old lady image that Saturn in general has been plagued with for years. And then there's that horrid interior that we've all gotten used to, but which the magazines will always rip on.

GM's commitment to Saturn is HUGE nowadays. Lutz has stated that Buick and Pontiac will both get axed before anything befalls Saturn. So what's all this talk about lack of support from GM?

Sky went aheaad, SRL on it's way. Outlook looks like it'll be a contender. Aura should be SWEET. New Vue - can't wait to see what they've got planned, the concept was nice enough.... And the Ion replacement should be amazing, since the Delta platform has had a while to incubate.

My only concern lies in the fact that it sucked for Saturn to go 1.5 years or so without a midsize while the L died off and the Aura came along. I can;t imagine what they're going to do in the interim if the Ion goes away in '08 but the replacement doesn't land 'til '09.

[Sp00ner]

Originally Posted by BigBrother

Spooner - he paid that much for a Calais 442? What color? Is it a W41?!?! Nice find!

Reddish with the white stripes I believe... yes, it was the W41, that was the reason he got it. Seen it about 3 weeks ago, and that was the second time I've seen it now.

[sidejam]

Originally Posted by BigBrother

I can;t imagine what they're going to do in the interim if the Ion goes away in '08 but the replacement doesn't land 'til '09.

Maybe sales will be so bad that they'll have a huge amount of leftover stock...

Actually, I really have no idea how well the Ion sells relative to the competition. I know that for myself, if there wasn't the Redline, I certainly wouldn't have bought an Ion.

[BigBrother]

The first MY, it sold quite well. Slowed a bit since then, but sells OK.

I'm back at Saturn, BTW, lol. Just can't seem to stay away from this company!

Spooner - do you know how many miles are on it? It can't possibly be the one I was talking about, Cecil would NEVER part with that car! And if he did, I would've been one of the ones in line to buy it, LOL!

[Sp00ner]

Originally Posted by BigBrother

The first MY, it sold quite well. Slowed a bit since then, but sells OK.

I'm back at Saturn, BTW, lol. Just can't seem to stay away from this company!

Spooner - do you know how many miles are on it? It can't possibly be the one I was talking about, Cecil would NEVER part with that car! And if he did, I would've been one of the ones in line to buy it, LOL!

That I don't know. He's got his 60 or 70 something Mustang outside right now... I'll ask him, but I think he got it semi-local. Said he's been trying to buy the W41 for over 10 years now.

[BigBrother]

I wonder if I know him either from other forums or through common aquaintences? The Quad4 and especially the W41 community is pretty close knit.

Odd that it took him that long - I could find one in a few weeks at any given point in time, for anywhere between $500 and $5000 depending on condition. Achieva SCX's are easier to find than Calais as they were built for 2 years totaling 1646 units vs one year and 204 442's, but the Achieva is still going to be very collectable, with a real racing pedigree and limited production. My trip with this discussion is that there's only one W41 of either model that anyone knows of nationwide that could bring that kind of money, and the owner has turned down literally dozens of offers over the last few years.

In any event, I'd sure like to talk to your boss sometime, since I can't see his car from here, lol! Congratulate him on the find for me, and let him know it's coming from someone who knows the car very well indeed. I really wish my W41 car hadn't been such a fiasco, I really wanted that car.