2004 Saturn Ion

"I was astounded by how bad it was in every way. I said, 'I think this is the worst car I've ever driven and GM should be embarrassed,'" he recalls. "And history has proven me correct."

"Shockingly incompetent to drive and with a stupid interior to match. Kick it and your foot could get stuck in the gaps between the plastic body panels. Easily the second worst car of the 21st century."

These are reactions of Edmunds.com Editor-in-Chief Scott Oldham upon driving one of the first Saturn Ions in 2003, and fellow Edmunds writer John Pearley Huffman regarding that same model.

I drove a Saturn Ion about 1,000 miles in 2006 as a rental, and frankly I'm still not completely over the experience. Among the car's many non-virtues, the seats were rock hard and every pothole sent a shock straight up my spinal cord. This vehicle felt less like a car than it did a toy built on 1:1 scale.

Still, I see these things everywhere even though they are fifteen years old now. I guess some people like them and apparently they're fairly easy to keep running.

As a car enthusiast, historian and business person I'm fascinated by the rise and fall of Saturn and plan to write about the company in more detail as I spot more cars.

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