The Saturn Ion Redline is one of those cars that you wonder why they built. The quad-coupe Ion itself, complete with an unusual set of doors and polarizing styling, is a strange car to begin with. Then, somebody decided it was a good idea to add a supercharger, a limited-slip differential, and a host of other goodies. Rather unsurprisingly, not many were made, and they're very rare today. One mint-condition example is for sale in Illinois, though. It might be the cleanest one left in existence.
The Ion Redline is essentially just a strange flavor of the supercharged Cobalt SS, which sold in much greater numbers and later spawned a turbocharged version. There was never a turbocharged Ion Redline, though, just the 205-horsepower supercharged model which ended production in 2007.
This particular example was one of just 554 built in its final model year, and it's got the competition package. That means 17-inch alloy wheels, a boost gauge on the steering column, and the aforementioned limited-slip diff. Truth be told, the Ion Redline Quad coupe weighs under 3,000 pounds, so it's actually a pretty nimble little car.
Lots of Ion Redlines have worn out Teflon on the lobes of their superchargers, which limits boost. That's unlikely to be the case with this model, since it has just 23,000 miles on the odometer. The selling dealer is asking $19,800 for this car, which is a lot. That being said, it's the best condition Ion Redline I have personally ever seen, having shopped around for them before. Most of them are pretty beat.
So if you want a minty example of one of the strangest performance cars built in recent memory, this is your chance. You'll, at the very least, be driving a different kind of car, made by a different kind of car company.
