Time travel is frequently used in the Star Trek franchise to throw the cast into the era in which the episode or movie was created. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home involved Kirk and crew taking a Klingon Bird-Of-Prey around the sun at faster than light speed in order to travel to Earth’s past and obtain some whales. Since starships and time travel have yet to be invented, no one can experience 1986 San Francisco in the flesh, the only option being photos or videos. My personal journey to the past occurred when I clicked a folder unhelpfully named “0005” and discovered photos I assumed were lost.
Today’s post will take us back to November 2007, more specifically New York’s capital, where a massive complex encompasses the vast majority of the state government and annually hosts an auto show made possible by the local auto dealers.
The collapse of Bear Stearns in March 2008 marked the beginning of the global financial crisis, an event that directly or indirectly impacted every contributor and reader of Curbside Classic. The American automotive landscape permanently changed, although at this point its safe to say the industry fared the crisis reasonably well. That doesn’t mean we can’t mourn our dearly departed companies and brands.
As is typical with General Motors, the products offered by Saturn only became competitive after it was too late to save the brand. The Astra is a prime example. A huge upgrade from the Ion it was meant to replace, the hatchback boasted a fresh exterior design and inspired driving dynamics straight from Europe. The Astra came standard with side curtain airbags and a 140 hp 1.8 liter inline 4, definitely above average equipment for the era.
Since Saturn’s Astra was basically just a rebadged Opel, its interior reflected a certain Germanic sensibility, with a dash and center stack setup that isn’t too far apart from a modern Volkswagen.
I had completely forgotten about the Sky’s reverse-hinged hood, but here it is in all its glory. That engine is a 2.0 liter 4 cylinder boasting 260 horsepower and 260 pounds of torque, numbers competitive with today’s mainstream turbo 4’s.
Of course today’s four cylinder turbos are built to last, unlike many of the parts on the Sky/Solstice. I remember reading an article about GM’s roadster duo being 300 percent less reliable than the average car.
That being said, both cars featured very attractive interior and exterior designs that have aged extremely well.
Might as well jump right in and talk about the Solstice, right? Pontiac didn’t have much for customers by the end of 2007, except maybe the G8, but that was still months away. Those two products were the last gasp of excitement from a division starved of unique product for decades.
General Motors did make attempts to differentiate its brands, but the results were often meager, as was the case with the Pontiac G6 GXP.
The G6 GXP featured a 3.5 liter V6 with an output of 252 horsepower. Two other V6 engines saw action under the hood of the G6 over its six year run, as well as one four cylinder, and combined those engines were revised seven times. A number of four speed automatics were paired to those engines as well, and for the 2007 model year one trim level of the G6, the GTP, featured a six speed automatic. This six speed was carried over to the 2008 G6 when Pontiac decided to change the meaningless nomenclature to GXP.
The interior of the G6 seems fine until you notice the emergency brake hanging out on the passenger side of the center console.
When the G6 and Altima coupes were new I was constantly confusing one for the other. These days its uncommon to see either one, and with the G6 bowing out for the 2010 model year and the Altima surviving until 2012, the few that were sold will become so scarce they might even wind up as collectors items.
Infiniti’s G series wasn’t very attractive until the 2002 model year. That pivotal redesign set the tone for future generations and continues on in the Q series of vehicles. This coupe represents the first year of the fourth generation, a change which saw the model gain a 3.7 liter V6, hence the name change from G35. Today these cars are likely owned by twenty-something dudes waiting for MTV to revive the Jersey Shore reality show so they can get their 15 minutes of fame.
At 330 horsepower, its not hard to understand why young men would flock to such a vehicle.
If you can get past the weird chrome strip on the trunklid the G series variants look very attractive. This particular model is the all-wheel drive version.
Since its debut in 1998, the TT coupe has been one of the most attractive vehicles on the road. While not the most practical vehicle out there, its standard front-wheel drive and available all-wheel drive are make it a wise choice for someone living in the snow belt.
A lot of critics refused to accept the TT as a “real” sports car due to its front-wheel drive configuration. Audi forced them to change their minds with the MK2, and many of them did.
We’ve seen a number of new luxury automakers pop up within the last decade, but for the most part the main players have been around for quite some time, with Audi being one of the more established brands. With history comes heritage, with older brands now being more conservative in terms of design than the younger upstarts. The obvious benefit of a consistent visual motif is a strong brand identity, something even mainstream automakers have learned recently, for better or worse.
This A5 is a perfect example of the pros and cons of conservative automotive design. You could slap a Monroney sticker on one of these, call it a 2017 model, and get away with it. The luxury brands’ adherence to limited exterior changes ultimately benefit older models to the detriment of the newer ones.
My argument is immediately weakened by this W211 E-Class, which is easily identifiable as a vintage Mercedes. Some brands tweak their designs sufficiently enough to avoid being criticized for not doing enough to distinguish different generations of their products, and Mercedes is one of them.
This M-Class has aged better than the E-Class above, even if its successor, the GLE, has surpassed it in style.
As much as I detest the glued on iPad look featured in many contemporary Mercedes those designs are infinitely superior to what is going on inside this M-Class. Completely contrasting colors, a sea of plastic looking wood, and a center stack that looks more aftermarket than OEM really dates this cabin.
For perspective, here is the interior of a 2008 Touareg that was also at the show. The Volkswagen, simply by virtue of not having an interior swathed in cheap looking wood, appears more premium than the Mercedes. Another observation: even before touch screens we were dealing with a lot of buttons.
Every time a performance oriented automaker announces they’re developing a crossover for the first time you hear complaints that doing so will dilute the brand in question. Vehicles like the Cayenne and F-Pace proved the crossover haters wrong. While the Touareg isn’t part of that elite tier of ultra luxurious yet sporty crossovers, it did and still does enhance the Volkswagen lineup, rather than hurt it.
The upcoming Atlas, even if it is laughably late to the three row crossover party, has to thank the Touareg for its design.
Volkswagen pretty much invented the hot hatch and the ultra-hot hatch. Nowadays, the R32 actually has some competition in the form of the Focus RS and Civic Type R, in what can be considered a sort of renaissance period for cheap, high performance vehicles.
Remember when compact cars had V6 engines? Remember when 250 horsepower was only reserved for top tier sporty cars? The 247 horsepower 3.2 liter V6 is still competitive with current hot hatches but is now outclassed by its successor, which is itself outclassed by the Focus RS, which puts out 350 horsepower.
The Mk5 didn’t look as iconic as its predecessor, but those were tough shoes to fill, as the MK4 really set the standard for the compact segment when it debuted in 1999.
Today’s Passat is the poster child for conservative design. This is partially due to Volkswagen producing a Passat specifically for the American market this generation, as previous iterations more closely resembled its European counterpart.
There is an alternative to the staid styling of the Passat in the form of the CC. At $34,000 it competes with pretty much all the top tier mid-size sedans out there and represents a viable choice if you want to stand out from the herd. I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen one. The CC wouldn’t be revealed until 2008 which is why I decided to include another shot of the regular ol’ Passat.
One of my neighbors purchased an Eos about a year after its debut. He’s since moved, so I have no idea if he still owns the car, but I always thought it was a good buy. If you want to own a convertible, the Eos offers few drawbacks, especially for someone living in the Northeast.
Nissan was pilloried by the automotive press when the Murano debuted for the 2003 model year. Four years later its styling was effectively normalized with the debut of the Rogue, which no one criticized for being ugly.
My limited time behind the wheel of a first generation Rogue left me unimpressed. Aside from the loud CVT I felt the Nissan let far too much wind noise into the cabin.
Nissan does a good job packing a lot of space into its entry level vehicles. That statement applies to its 2007 lineup and its current offerings, although I’m not sure the current Versa was a step forward for the brand, with the sedan being especially repulsive. I wouldn’t lob such bombastic language at a car if I didn’t experience it first hand, so I’ll just make a long story short by telling you about one of my neighbors, who traded in a 2005 Altima for a completely base Versa, a decision she regrets nearly a year after the purchase.
For a subcompact developed ten years ago I’d say the interior holds up pretty well.
When did Hyundai first produce a truly competitive vehicle for the American market? Prior to this piece I would have told you that Hyundai’s Sonata was that model. After writing the story of the Ford Escape a little while ago I’m now convinced it was the 2001 Sante Fe. That doesn’t mean Hyundai’s Sonata was mediocre, and this sedan deserves credit for giving the Korean automaker some street cred in the midsize segment. This generation was Hyundai’s first American built product, and the Montgomery, Alabama plant still assembles the sedan today.
While the 2006 Sonata wasn’t the trailblazer I initially thought it was, it did show that Hyundai could design an attractive car, a feat it hadn’t really accomplished up to that point. The interior is a different story. The center stack, bisected by the line that runs throughout the dash, highlights the major aesthetic difference between the HVAC controls and the audio system, which look so unlike each other you’d think Hyundai just took two different interior sections from two different cars and stitched them together.
If you can get past that cabin you’ve got a very nice quasi-Accord exterior to work with.
Like the Sonata, the Elantra didn’t become truly competitive until the mid-2000’s. I knew a girl in college who had one of these and it wasn’t bad! Her ownership experience was only hampered by her complete inability to parallel park the thing.
You’d think Hyundai would have been able to design a better looking interior for the Sonata since they didn’t do a bad job with its compact stablemate. Two different teams, perhaps?
I always thought the Accent of this era looked pretty good, and that color makes it look a bit more premium than its price point would suggest.
The Dodge Nitro was quite butch, which is exactly what the executives wanted, as their desired customer base consisted of the type of dudes who use Axe body spray and live at the gym. Judging by its sales I’d day even those fellas didn’t dig the it. When the Nitro was discontinued in 2012 nothing of value was lost.
Its pretty surprising FCA completely threw in the towel and quit not one, but two segments. Then again all sedans in every segment are posting year-over-year declines, with quite a few nameplates even sinking by double digits.
The Sebring stands out for its hideously cheap interior. I distinctly remember how awful the cabin looked and felt, and the steering wheel deserves and honorable mention for its terribleness. Is there such a thing as a button less steering wheel anymore?
That concludes our first time travel trip to 2007. Please be seated while I engage the warp drive to take us back to 2016. Going around the sun at faster than light speed gets a little bumpy you know…
“As is typical with General Motors, the products offered by Saturn only became competitive after it was too late to save the brand”
this made me laugh and spit out my coffee…… so sadly true.
An interesting trip in the Wayback machine. The Touareg reminds me of how few of those I saw in Indiana. A quick check of my local CL shows one claiming to be meticulously maintained (an 08 V6 that looks good in pictures) for $3k. That is some healthy depreciation from its original $40+k.
And what a time capsule, from when Chrysler was still trying to sell the Sebring as a “premium” small car. Whoops.
You remind me that I have a stack of pictures from the 1989 Indianapolis auto show that I need to get out and look at again.
I thought that Astra’s interior was a Chrysler at first. Not sure why that is considered “German Sensible” and the Sebring’s “hideous”. While I’m not a fan of Chrysler interiors of that era, I don’t think it was so much being “cheap” as it was trying to be unique. Not that that turned out well, and the steering wheel is awful. But it was uniquely Chrysler and actually kind of reminds me of their blocky silver and chrome interiors of the 80’s I kind of liked so I give some credit for that.
I’m with you. The design was actually kind of cool. My dad has owned a succession of Sebrings (and has been very happy with them, even if that is not the way it is supposed to be), and I recall this dash as being interesting. But, it has a lot of hard plastic, and it did scream cheap to no small degree.
The worst part about the Sebring interior, which the picture doesn’t really capture, is the center stack and instrument panel look like they are spray painted metallic aluminum silver. Had they simply been matching grey I’d call it German sensible, but the effort is just amateurish.
Having driven an Astra 2-door and seriously considered buying it, that interior was a lot higher quality than it appear in the photograph. Severe, yes. Cheap, no.
Wow, that E-Class interior is awful. I’ve been in a handful of more recent versions, and you can’t deny it’s a luxury car and a cut above the average vehicle. But, I can’t decide if that ’07 is better or worse than the Sebring.
Totally forgot about the Nitro. Shows you how memorable it was.
I kinda liked those. Would have never bought one because they didn’t make much sense, but still, I kinda liked them. Cars like that make the world a more interesting place.
I cringed at the sight of that Solstice. To think I was fool enough to trade in a very beloved Porsche 924S on mine (identical to the one in the picture), only to discover that while the car was very good on a back road run basis, living with it for months at a time was a whole ‘nother matter. After a year and a half, I’d had enough, and sold it. And understood completely why GM went into bankruptcy.
The part that really hurt is that I had driven a same year Miata against it, back to back, and to my surprise liked the Solstice better. Oh well, I got the lifelong itch for a convertible sports car out of my system.
And now that I finally have my 500 Abarth Cabrio, I’ve finally stopped whining about getting rid of the Porsche.
My stepson has one of those Abarth Cabrios. That car is a blast to drive.
I remember being somewhat tempted by the Astre when it came out, which was surprising to me, given its Saturn branding. I was driving a 2000 Saab 9-3 5 door at the time, and its troublesome nature had me pondering a replacement. I still think the Astre is an attractive package, but I’m not disappointed that I never took that plunge.
By my perception, the mid 2000s were the absolute low point for automotive interiors. The essential design language was a carryover from the 90s (sort of a 3-box design), but with crappier plastics and with quickly dated new design elements (for instance, the omnipresent silver painted plastic, which I can’t stand). To my eyes, every interior in these photos looks like total crap with the exception of the Touareg. I don’t feel that way with today’s designs, across the entire spectrum of cost.
Also, the EOS a good buy? I have a hard time believing that. If I recall correctly, those things stickered for close to $40k. I guess it did have the distinction of being a 5-seater hardtop convertible, not sure if there were any others.
Thanks for sharing the photos! Makes me appreciate what we have now.
I think the 00’s were kind of a mini-malaise era. Bean counters were once again back in charge and it really showed in interiors across a wide spectrum of cars. Mechanical quality also took a step back from the 90’s IMO.
The EOS’s main, and I suppose only, competition in the realm of “5-seater hardtop convertible” was the Volvo C70. More expensive though.
The EOS was a cool concept but did always seem quite overpriced to me, as it was essentially a Golf retractable.
I never understood the cheap interiors either. On an entry-level car, sure, it’s kind of expected. But the interior is what see, feel, and interact with when you drive the car so you would think they’d put in more effort. But then again, the exterior is what gets your attention and by the time you really notice the crappy interior you probably already own the car.
I don’t know if I agree that today’s interiors are much better. The plastics seem a bit better, but the interiors still seem really gimmicky and look like they were designed by the same guy who did all those Aiwa stereos that were all the rage right before the whole mp3 thing took off.
“Time travel is frequently used in the Star Trek franchise to throw the cast into the era in which the episode or movie was created.”
Sometimes, maybe, but not “frequently”; of the many instances of time travel, I can think of only three when the era visited was the year of present-day Hollywood production. The other examples, besides The Voyage Home (1986), are “Tomorrow Is Yesterday” from the first season, which was the result of an accident and not time travel by choice, and “Assignment: Earth” from the end of the second season, with guest stars Robert Lansing (as a human from the future residing in 1968 New York City) and his unsuspecting secretary (20-year-old Teri Garr).
Voyager goes back to 1996 Los Angeles for what I believe was a two part episode and Enterprise went back to 2004 Detroit. I think Deep Space Nine avoided traveling back to present day, but they did go to the near future at one point. I’d say calling it frequent was maybe inaccurate, but if it appeared in almost every tv show the label kinda sticks. I will think about changing the wording.
I gave Voyager and Enterprise a chance, but soon gave up on each; I wasn’t aware they’d produced that sort of time-travel episode.
I would enjoy a very long visit to, say, 1977 right about now.
I don’t blame you, both shows were extremely mediocre, and that is being charitable.
Saturn and Pontiac did put out a few interesting vehicles prior to their (untimely?) demise. The G6 coupe was more attractive than the Altima to my eyes, though the interior probably didn’t measure up. And the Sky/Solstice still look good to me. Someone down the street from me owns a Solstice that usually parks curbside, and it draws my eye every time I pass.
A friend’s father bought a G37s coupe new in ’09 or ’10, as a replacement for a C6 ‘Vette that he tired of after a two problem-filled years. I didn’t get the chance to drive it but did ride in it, and it seemed like a very nice car indeed.
The Nissan Rogue was (and possibly still is) a giant POS. I had a 2008 that started puking oil everywhere at 80000 miles and then the electrics started to go wonky, very fast for an suv though. I remember the speedometer reading up to 160mph or some insane nonsense
My neighbor had a Rogue; the most bland, depth-free silver paint I’ve ever seen on a vehicle. She told me she hated it. The scrapes in the rear bumper were a testament to the total lack of rear visibility.
After 2 years she recently bailed on the Rogue for a Kia Sorento. So far she loves it.
Interesting to look at nine years later.
Many will disagree, but I consider the Saturn Astra a GM Deadly Sin. No, it is not because of the car itself, which I’m sure was at least competitive with the Rabbit and Mazda3. It’s the complete lack of effort by GM to advertise or even pretend it was remotely interested in selling Astras. Also, what focus group of geniuses decided to restrict it to a hatchback body style? Wasn’t Saturn supposed to be an affordable car brand, with, you know, a…sedan? Such a botched effort at the end, and one that took the whole brand with it. Oh well, the whole brand was doomed and the red-headed stepchild of GM from the start.
“As much as I detest the glued on iPad look featured in many contemporary Mercedes…”
This is a pet peeve of mine too! Seems all the Germans are going there, and it is not good…
Thanks for the time trip–hard to believe these cars are now 10 years old!
I recall most Chryslers of that era had the steering wheel buttons on the BACK. (Offhand, my stepfathers Concorde and an Avenger I rented a few years ago.)