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1982 GM "Project Saturn"

November '06 Hot Rod magazine has a little blurb on the 1982 GM "Project Saturn"- what a neat little rig! 3 cyl, 5 sp, 2 seater, 105 mpg highway, 75 city!!! :eek:

It looks kind of like a funky Metro.

I wanted to find links to show you guys but my net search turned up nothing, not even on the Hot Rod magazine site. :sad:

GM kinda makes me mad- all that know-how they've been sitting on all these years and what do they do but spend 99.9% of their time and money promoting 4x4s. We could have had this thing almost 25 years ago! :rolleyes:

If you can find something on this I'd really appreciate it. This could be our first syndicated article.

Quote:

Originally Posted by theclencher

https://search.barnesandnoble.com/boo...sbn=0195072448

This book has info on the stealthy beginnings in 1982.

Revisionist history timeline here:

https://www.gmcanada.com/ss/english/v...lTimeline.html

These data points show why the project was abandoned.

For a brief period during the Reagan administration, gasoline prices jumped from $1.24 in January, 1981 to $1.37 at the end of the year, and then sank to $1.21 in 1984 before plunging well below a dollar for the balance of his second term.

i would also like to see more info on this.
1982, was this before Gm took over saturn? Or did Gm start saturn themselves, kinda like toyota with scion?

Is this it. Couldn't find a link in english.
https://www.carstyling.ru/car.asp?id=2285

Look at the 1982 GM AERO. They has the FE design25 years ago.

Yes! That's it- good find! Check out those huuuuuge wheelwells! That thing could use skirts.

"TPC" stands for "two person commuter" - Hot Rod called it the "Project Saturn".

1070 lbs
many aluminum body panels
fixed, flush windows
rear view mirrors inside the car
95/68mpg
.31 Cd
800cc engine
4 gallon tank

https://www.geocities.com/conceptcarcentralusa/tpc.html

Ford had this trike: https://www.diseno-art.com/encycloped...d_cockpit.html

More entertaining stuff: https://www.diseno-art.com/encycloped..._vehicles.html

I've always had a jones for the Ecomobile. Toecutter, there's your rig! Stupid fast and great FE too.

GM also made the "Lean Machine" that year too.

https://www.carstyling.ru/resources/c..._machine_1.jpg

I love this one. Scroll down to the 1964 Futurama.
https://autospeed.drive.com.au/cms/A_...popularArticle

FormulaTwo -

Quote:

Originally Posted by FormulaTwo

i would also like to see more info on this.
1982, was this before Gm took over saturn? Or did Gm start saturn themselves, kinda like toyota with scion?

Saturn was deliberately created by GM to be an independent company. They sunk over 1 billion into it. I remember seeing pictures of this oh so many car magazines ago :

https://www.carstyling.ru/car.asp?id=2286

https://www.carstyling.ru/resources/c...ect_saturn.jpg

It was designed to be a "small car" company that could compete with Japanese small car companies. The whole idea was to beat the Japanese at their own game while avoiding the internal political problems that GM had with designing small cars. The "no pressure" selling method with good service was another part of the business model.

Sadly, Saturn has been absorbed back into GM, so it isn't the same.

Segueway ... That Russian car style website is great!!!! Here's a car I lusted after that never came to fruition, the ford Barchetta :

https://www.carstyling.ru/car.asp?id=2164

https://www.carstyling.ru/resources/s...archetta_1.jpg

Those "lumps" on the hood (The shock absorbers) became the same lumps on the 1989 Ford Capri convertible. What a pity.

CarloSW2

What intrigues me is the low Cd with the abnormally tall stance -- quite a bit of airspace under that car.

RH77