Listen to Saturn engineers and its clear that great care went into the development of the 2007 Saturn Sky. That’s the case with every car ever built, of course, especially when it comes from a professional who has just spent a good chunk of his or her life dedicated to making said car as good as possible – within budget restraints and focus group complaints. The difference is that this time, Saturn seems genuinely proud of the Sky, touching the car during its presentation, opening up the clamshell top and the hood, waving their arms, opening the doors and practically jumping up and down on the seats.

Silly engineers. Get ‘em revved up about a car and they act like toddlers on Candy Day. And well they should for the Sky, while the twin of the Pontiac Solstice, is different in significant ways, inside and out. What it comes down to is that Sky engineers and designers enjoyed the benefit of getting to work after the Pontiac Solstice, which had tied to its tailpipe a management mandate to sell at a base price of less than $20,000. Since then, the base price of the Solstice has crept up, leaving one to wonder just why that $19,995 price was so important to begin with. The Sky, meanwhile, had no such weighty anchor, its mission from the start to be a more upscale roadster.

Consider it mission accomplished. The 2007 Saturn Sky is a compelling, contemporary car, its angular lines hard-edged yet soft enough to create what looks like a classic roadster for a modern age. Combined with a well designed interior that’s a nice enough place to be for most people, the Sky is a Solstice – for grown-ups. The mood starts on the outside, with a design based on the Vauxhall VX Lightning concept and, largely, penned by a group of GM European designers, including Brian Nesbitt of Chrysler PT Cruiser, Chevrolet HHR and Saab Aero X Concept fame. The result of this collaboration is perhaps one of the most attractive cars GM has built in quite some time, Solstice included.

That’s clearly subjective. And close. But the Sky’s taut lines and high beltline snap where the Solstice swerves; where the Pontiac undulates, the Sky stands at attention, where one roadster is all grace and classic lines, the other is drawn by a draftsman pen, hard and sure. Proportions are typical in roadster land, with a long snout and short deck, but the Sky adds to that through wheels that are pushed out, short overhangs, prominent lamps at the corners, and large 18-inch wheels that do an admirable job of filling the wheel wells. The Sky’s body is adorned with chrome touches that add an upscale feel, especially on darker-colored models. Indeed, the Sky is most beautiful when its dark blue or green, because the large fog lamps, slatted chrome hood inserts, oversized headlamps, and jeweled accessories stand out against the background. The back of the Sky is finished with large taillights that sit up high on the edges of the car, and a single oversized and squared-off exhaust pipe centered at the bottom. The Sky Red Line boasts two such exhaust outlets, along with special badges. Construction on the outside of our GM-prepped test samples was excellent, with nice and tight body panels that finished flush with the plastic sections and lighting. Our tester did have some irregularities in the front, such as loose-fitting plastic chrome on the nose, ill-matched chrome plastic inserts on the hood, and variations in gap tolerances around the headlamps.

It’s beautiful. But that beauty comes at a price, that being one of convenience and cargo room. For example, the manually operated top hides in the back, good because it keeps the Sky’s classic lines intact but bad because its design makes for a fight to lower or raise the roof, and results in virtually useless trunk space.

There’s little useless space inside the cabin, and its design is, overall, well executed. The climate controls are built into a strip of piano black trim, which adds a touch of class to a simple design of three large and nicely weighted knobs that make for a nice tactile feel and easy adjustment. Radio controls share the GM corporate setup, which is intuitive and easy to use. Chrome trim rings the shifter and the gauges to bring some bling to the interior, but about those gauges: they’re large and easy to read, even with the top down, but it’s curious why Saturn decided not to place a temperature gauge in the cluster along with the speedometer, tachometer and fuel gauge. Optional two-tone leather inserts in the seats, door panels and on the steering wheel finish off the interior with a sporty, comforting flair.

The more practical aspects of the Saturn Sky’s interior fare worse. All three cupholders are poorly placed, and the two located behind occupants’ elbows in the rear bulkhead are virtually impossible to reach while driving. Worse yet, the lone sliding cupholder on the dashboard sticks out into the passenger’s legroom when deployed, rendering it impractical unless one is driving alone. It’s also a bit flimsy, and has some trouble holding an empty vessel. In this car, there’s no back seat in which to toss your trash, but then your Mama taught you not to do that, right? Compartment space is tight, but that’s to be expected and, in fact, Sky designers did build in as many cubbyholes as possible: there’s one behind each seat, and the seats also have map book holders. There’s a healthy compartment at the back, between the seats, though one wonders why there’s no lock on that particular compartment. The glove box, however, as very small and wobbly. Other than that, the Sky’s construction looks marvelous on the inside. Gaps are matched nicely and are close together; plastics feel like high quality, and the steering wheel has a nice heft to it.