European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 22, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The Price is right car Corne new Saturn a Fine Small car by Paul Dean los Angeles times the new Saturn cars a general motors $3.5 billion Gamble to stall asian car sales _ and stave off some crumbling of the . Auto Industry a is advancing into the front line now. A Brief but intense test drive recently forms a solid premise that Saturn a three stars a two shovel fronted sedans priced from $7,995 and a handsome if generic a ports Coupe for $11,775 will play Well. They will win new owners from that unhappy lot currently limping and rattling along in base Chevrolet Cavaliers leftover Oldsmobile omegas and other Little Domestic lumps that sacrificed performance and handling for the presumed economies of Low Price and High Gas mileage. They will repatriate those who once truly wanted to a buy american but defected to Toyota Honda Mitsubishi and Nissan because Detroit knew nothing about building spirited and interesting compacts. On Price alone a $1,500 less than the Honda civic do and a full $2,000 below the Toyota Corolla Dix a Saturn is a three car Price War. They will certainly please anyone who never expected to find such pleasantries As a Multi valve engine and Speed sensitive steering and certainly not 120-Mph performance from a car costing $10,000. Saturn a by the amount of technology vertical body surfaces of Ding resistant polymer squeezed into budget surroundings a clearly is the finest Small car built by the american automobile Industry since the 1933 Chevy roadster. All in All the Tatums Are very Good. But the Best of Spring Hill tenn., is 111 in the Saturn sports Coupe is powered by a 16-valve, twin cant engine of 123 he. Expects sales to be an even 3lit. But if there is any custom Saturn exp three Way split or leaning a representative said it should be toward the sl2 sports Sedan which is the Model we tested. In one major respect Saturn is far from being a pm car. It was conceived eight years ago with designers doodling on a clean Legal pad. The engine and transmission and Chassis Are new and uniquely Saturn. Unlike the flagrant parts swapping of Chevrolet Pontiac and Oldsmobile no Saturn Mold Septa from too Yossa a d ,s Toyota City. It is not better than the opposition. And if the durability of Saturn should fail if recalls occur if its Good neighbor approach to customer assistance turns into a Nightmare on Elm Street Saturn will be quickly consigned to that vehicle Valhalla wherein rest the soldering remains of Edsel Corvair and the Cadillac Cimarron. The trickle of cars into Saturn dealerships a spokesman said has been deliver. T e ate. Saturn a production line in Spring sensible and very Well organized. In fact Hill was slowed to Squash Petty eleventh succeeds in All of the basics that g hour glitches with the cars. Better that Small cars have lacked since the Vega vehicles be delayed he said than crucial seat backs Are better curved for upper first customers be dismayed. Body Comfort and lower Back bracing. A it is just a matter of careful Quality the steering wheel is set farther Forward control a said Richard a a skip Lefauve and is much better positioned Tor the president of Gmys Saturn corp. A the longer of reach. Both placements Are a a direct contradiction of pm s design norms. Somebody did a lot of sitting and thinking and real driving in this quite spacious accessories Are cloned from existing pm vehicles. Yet Saturn unmistakably is a pm car. The front of the Sedan slopes reaches and sniffs similar to the nose of the Pontiac firebird. The rear window is Oldsmobile Cutlass. And is this sports Coupe Silhouette a Beretta we see before us or a Geo storm so the Overall look is typically Detroit and that a not particularly daring. The Interior is pleasant convenient whole idea Here was to begin to produce so that we could say a look the cards out there. You can go see it. You can go drive it and get some idea of what you  a there is no Hierarchy at the Saturn Plant Only one team of 2,800 partners. Workers Call their president skip and everybody wears Saturn Polo shirts to work. Prom Lefauve to first a Gofer a All employees Are salaried. Saturn a initial offering a but pro Cabin consequently often used radio controls Are mounted High on the console. Lesser used heating and climate controls Are set lower. The East West spokes of the three pronged steering wheel curve downward so the analog dials receive maximum visibility. The turn signal stalk makes a Dick not a crack. Release catches for the trunk and Gas Cap Are on the floor Down and to the left exactly where they belong. If that sounds reminiscent of the Ideal japanese car then so be it. But Saturn does manage to go just one better. Anyone who has used a motorized shoulder Belt system knows one psychological vagary when the Belt slides into place Drivers and passengers will almost always forget to use the double Security of the Lap Belt. On Saturn the shoulder belts slip snug. There is a five second delay. Then a soft chime reminds occupants to buckle the Lap strap and the reminder is hard to ignore. The final cleverness of Saturn however is with the performance of the sl2. And not with what it can do but with what it is unable to do. It does no to do 160 Mph. It does no to accelerate from Zero to 60 in a sniff. It cannot be Slung furiously around Corners without ends slipping and protesting. Because Lefauve said the car was built for the Indiana family and not the Indianapolis hopeful a a we re almost paranoid about the sat urn consumer the product research sessions we had with Teneni and trying to give them exactly what they wanted a he said. A this Way your engine can be simpler. That gives you higher reliability. And obviously we re talking lower  yet there is nothing Dull about the handling and performance flexibility of Saturn. Mid Range acceleration on the freeways Isnit an ear Flattener a but you wont be left straining at the ramp or getting into embarrassing passing situations. Done to expect to be first away from every stoplight a but you will be ahead of anyone in a pickup Van most sport utilities and any Chevy Corsica. Do expect a nimbleness of steering and solid braking. The suspension is stiff enough to suggest a great predictability of handling. In Detroit a frantic Pursuit of automotive excellence As pioneered by japanese cars one objective has remained particularly elusive. Harmony. Oneness. That sense that a car was designed by consensus until All mechanical functions were a balance All control pressures were m equal and a Drivers performance became relatively effortless. The Ford escort after several decades was the first Domestic car to make that mystique. Saturn is second and from an Assembly line geared to improve it As it goes. So the Best of Saturn May be yet come. To Chrysler scraps Junior jeep plans Highland Park Mich. Up Chrysler corp. Says it has decided to a tanned to grow into the full inventory a its mini sport Utility Lehi ltsnt1 �?onvejtible1s t , f de code named Ujj for Quot Junior  say 7q�thl? of a at ? be pct of Ine the project would be too costly for the the four Cylinder single Cam 1.9 in�11 a j liter engine develops 85 horsepower. The car Marker to hand y a entry level so is equipped with manual Chrysler had planned to jointly Bui d transmission Only and the sl1 is snickered the Ujj both in Toledo Ohio and m p at$8,595. With French car maker Renault but that next up is the sl2, which is much bet venture was cancelled in june. 7 trimmed plastic wheel covers re plans to build it with italian automaker by cast Alloy wheels and comes a at also proved fruitless after the two Juji the 16-valve, twin Cam engine and  ended talks on a wide rang horsepower. Association earlier this month of djs Josw a Fiffi amp he 311 �th6r mechanical Stolsw million k would have resulted in a Small sport Utility vehicle priced in the $10,000 Range. A unless we have a partner to share the total investment we cannot go it alone a Iacocca was quoted As saying in last weeks wards automotive reports a weekly Industry newsletter. The automaker said in a Short statement that resources Are needed for higher priority product programs such As its new jeep vehicle code named Zuj to be built at its new Jefferson Avenue Plant in Detroit starting next year. Company spokeswoman Karen Stewart said the now defunct Ujj project does not affect Chrysler a a plans to spend $15.6 billion on new products during the next five years. A i have just had a meeting with the United Auto workers Union and Mesa mechanics educational society of America a said Jerry Huber manager of Chrysler a a Toledo Plant. A the reaction was some  but Huber said workers were told All along that the Ujj might not be produced at All and said the program would not have generated any new jobs. Chrysler a a Toledo Plant which employs about 6,000 workers builds jeep Cherokee Comanche wagoneer and grand wagoneer models. Plans were announced last july for it to also build the jeep wrangler by mid-1992 after the automaker closes its Brampton Ontario Plant