2002 Saturn SC2

After the awful quality control and lackluster performance of the Malaise Era and the shellacking they'd taken in the marketplace at the hands of Japanese imports, General Motors stood up a whole new division in the latter half of the Eighties to serve as a sort of testbed for reviving the American auto industry.

Starting from a clean sheet of paper in a brand new factory in Spring Hill, Tennessee, the Saturn division of GM started fresh with everything: new platform, new motors, new sales model, the works.

Initially Saturn offered two basic cars on the proprietary Z-platform: The SL sedan and SC coupe.

One lesson Detroit had learned from Japan was that a proliferation of of submodels and an endless smorgasbord of a la carte options increased manufacturing costs. Thus the sedan and coupe each came in two basic trim levels. Most options only came in packages, limiting the number of configurations that needed to be produced.

For the coupe, these were designated the SC1 and SC2. Cosmetically almost identical, the latter came with more included equipment and a twin-cam version of Saturn's new 1.9L inline four.

The SC went through three generations after its launch as a 1991 model. The first generation was only available as the "SC" to start, with no upscale model. It bifurcated into the SC1 and SC2 starting in '93. 1997 brought the second generation of SC1 and SC2 coupes, which started using the same, longer, wheelbase as the sedan. For 1999, a rearward-opening clamshell half-door was added to the driver's side. Similar to some doors on extended cab pickups, it could only be operated when the driver's door was open, and it gave greater access the rear seat.

The third and final generation, like this Bright Blue Metallic 2002 SC2, remained mechanically the same but featured a complete cosmetic makeover. Under the hood of the SC2 was the Saturn-specific LLO inline-four, a 1.9L DOHC 16V motor making 124 SAE net horsepower. The 15" alloy wheels were standard on the SC2.

Motor Trend's test SC2, a 2000 model with the 5-speed manual ran zero-to-sixty in 8.5 seconds and managed a 16.5 quarter at 84 mph and circled the skidpad at 0.81g. As-tested price was $18,855, or about thirty-five grand in current dollars.

This one was photographed with a Canon EOS R and RF 24-105mm f/4-7.1 IS zoom lens in July of 2025.