The Chevy SSR Was a Crazy 50, 000 Retro Convertible Pickup Truck
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Date: 2019-10-25
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Comments and reviews: 10
Norman Clature
Made by the same people that brought you the Lumina. Now that's funny. But I actually love the SSR and hope to buy one sometime. I think you might be a little low on your rating however. on my I know everything there is to know rating system, I'd have to go 8. 5 to 9. I figure any 15 year old car that's worth half of what it sold for new is rare. As a retired independent auto dealer I would look at it that way. Had GM done something outstanding besides it's controversial looks to make this thing special it would have been better received when it first came out. For instance. Build it on an IROC Z, converted Corvette suspension and use something real close to the 350 tuned port vette engines. I believe people would have loved it right out of the chute. With a 42, 000 price tag Chevrolet should have been able to deliver something special like that. Of course that's just my opinion but I'm always right and I never lie. You can call home and ask my mom.
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Made by the same people that brought you the Lumina. Now that's funny. But I actually love the SSR and hope to buy one sometime. I think you might be a little low on your rating however. on my I know everything there is to know rating system, I'd have to go 8. 5 to 9. I figure any 15 year old car that's worth half of what it sold for new is rare. As a retired independent auto dealer I would look at it that way. Had GM done something outstanding besides it's controversial looks to make this thing special it would have been better received when it first came out. For instance. Build it on an IROC Z, converted Corvette suspension and use something real close to the 350 tuned port vette engines. I believe people would have loved it right out of the chute. With a 42, 000 price tag Chevrolet should have been able to deliver something special like that. Of course that's just my opinion but I'm always right and I never lie. You can call home and ask my mom.
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tmmurphy
The problem with this car, the Prowler and other similar vehicles is when GM (and Chrysler) did market studies, people came out in droves saying please make this, I would buy this right now. Sadly, the manufacturers believed them. Small volume, boutique cars cost more because the same overhead dollars have to be applied to a smaller total volume of cars resulting in a higher cost per unit. Now the Chevy SS you thought would be 30K is 50K. The SSR you thought would be 28K is 55K. People hated the base Camaros, Firebirds and Mustangs of old, calling them secretary cars and chick mobiles not realizing these unadorned, cheap P. O. S. made the specialty models possible. Why do you think a Hennessy ZL1 costs 55k over the cost of a donor car? It is because all of the engineering cost is spread over 200 cars instead of 20, 000. This is why manufacturers don't take chances anymore.
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The problem with this car, the Prowler and other similar vehicles is when GM (and Chrysler) did market studies, people came out in droves saying please make this, I would buy this right now. Sadly, the manufacturers believed them. Small volume, boutique cars cost more because the same overhead dollars have to be applied to a smaller total volume of cars resulting in a higher cost per unit. Now the Chevy SS you thought would be 30K is 50K. The SSR you thought would be 28K is 55K. People hated the base Camaros, Firebirds and Mustangs of old, calling them secretary cars and chick mobiles not realizing these unadorned, cheap P. O. S. made the specialty models possible. Why do you think a Hennessy ZL1 costs 55k over the cost of a donor car? It is because all of the engineering cost is spread over 200 cars instead of 20, 000. This is why manufacturers don't take chances anymore.
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Stephen Trotter
I had a 2005 fully optioned, running boards, corvette drive train. List was around 56K but I got it new for far less after it set on the lot for a year or so. The car is a long gone but I rate it as my favorite, I currently own an Alfa 4C and an older corvette, not old enough to be worth money. The 2005 SSR did the 1/4 in less than 14 seconds and sounded great. The 5. 3 drove on regular which made it cheaper but far less desirable. The SSR is a great investment and a lot of fun. I have owned 10 corvettes and still find the uniqueness of the SSR more fun. As an aside I also owned a Dakota Truck Convertible in the early 90's and that was a blast on far smaller scale.
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I had a 2005 fully optioned, running boards, corvette drive train. List was around 56K but I got it new for far less after it set on the lot for a year or so. The car is a long gone but I rate it as my favorite, I currently own an Alfa 4C and an older corvette, not old enough to be worth money. The 2005 SSR did the 1/4 in less than 14 seconds and sounded great. The 5. 3 drove on regular which made it cheaper but far less desirable. The SSR is a great investment and a lot of fun. I have owned 10 corvettes and still find the uniqueness of the SSR more fun. As an aside I also owned a Dakota Truck Convertible in the early 90's and that was a blast on far smaller scale.
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Robert Jelinski
I own one and have to say it is the most polite convertible I have ever ridden in. You can have a conversation at 60+ mph with a great ride. Easy/exit and very comfortable interior. Loads of storage in the box area. Nice ride height on crappy roads. Great build quality. So for those people tired of having to crawl into your sports car and tired of looking at the undersides of every vehicle on the road this is the vehicle for you. Loads of power and very unique attention getter that is going up in value Grab one before they get too old. I positively love mine You haters will never know. Have fun.
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I own one and have to say it is the most polite convertible I have ever ridden in. You can have a conversation at 60+ mph with a great ride. Easy/exit and very comfortable interior. Loads of storage in the box area. Nice ride height on crappy roads. Great build quality. So for those people tired of having to crawl into your sports car and tired of looking at the undersides of every vehicle on the road this is the vehicle for you. Loads of power and very unique attention getter that is going up in value Grab one before they get too old. I positively love mine You haters will never know. Have fun.
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Brian Smith
I worked at a Chevrolet dealer for many years, beginning in 2004. I remember when these odd retro pickup convertible things came out, and I wasn't sure what GM was thinking then. I heard rumors that it was the replacement for the Camaro, and I thought to myself, WHAT? They were too heavy to be quick or nimble, and too impracticable to be a pickup truck. I am glad that they eventually brought the Camaro back, but I am not sure what the future holds for these vehicles as a collectors item. I tend to like cars that are a little on the weird side, but these do not interest me much.
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I worked at a Chevrolet dealer for many years, beginning in 2004. I remember when these odd retro pickup convertible things came out, and I wasn't sure what GM was thinking then. I heard rumors that it was the replacement for the Camaro, and I thought to myself, WHAT? They were too heavy to be quick or nimble, and too impracticable to be a pickup truck. I am glad that they eventually brought the Camaro back, but I am not sure what the future holds for these vehicles as a collectors item. I tend to like cars that are a little on the weird side, but these do not interest me much.
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wheelmanstan
chevy went with this instead of the chevy nomad, look up that concept, it looked like a badass station wagon (well it had potential, was it beautiful, dodge then produced the magnum and made a killing, funny how chevy made this ugly ssr yet didn't bring back the el camino, in africa/australia they have the chevy ss ute and they all drive badass modern day el caminos. yet America refuses to sell us them, they'd rather sell full size trucks I guessgoogle chevy/holden lumina ss ute and you'll be very angry with chevy for this bs
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chevy went with this instead of the chevy nomad, look up that concept, it looked like a badass station wagon (well it had potential, was it beautiful, dodge then produced the magnum and made a killing, funny how chevy made this ugly ssr yet didn't bring back the el camino, in africa/australia they have the chevy ss ute and they all drive badass modern day el caminos. yet America refuses to sell us them, they'd rather sell full size trucks I guessgoogle chevy/holden lumina ss ute and you'll be very angry with chevy for this bs
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Mike Nichols
This is the second video I've watched where you have commented about the gear selector not having an indicator along side of the shift lever. Really? How many people who've had their license longer than 6 months have to actually look to see that they moved the shifter in the oh-so-typical P-R-N-D sequence. In most cases, once you use the button (which is also top mounted in C5 vette BTW) to release the shifter, you can just pull it straight back through R and N until it stops in D (or OD as the case may be on older cars.
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This is the second video I've watched where you have commented about the gear selector not having an indicator along side of the shift lever. Really? How many people who've had their license longer than 6 months have to actually look to see that they moved the shifter in the oh-so-typical P-R-N-D sequence. In most cases, once you use the button (which is also top mounted in C5 vette BTW) to release the shifter, you can just pull it straight back through R and N until it stops in D (or OD as the case may be on older cars.
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Nunya Bidniz
20: 25 -- Acceleration 0-60 in the 7evens only gets a 1? Dougscore needs some SERIOUS recalibration Let's see, assuming 0-60 in the 3s get's a 10 [let's face it, you're testing cars, not motorcycles, so you can't get 0-60-0 in the 3s, even with a megabuck superdupercar], then 4s would be 9, 5s would be 8, 6s would be 7, and 7s would be 5. Or should we start with a vintage VW Beetle, 0-60 19secs is -5, and count up from there? It might be a better, FAR more realistic assessment: :)
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20: 25 -- Acceleration 0-60 in the 7evens only gets a 1? Dougscore needs some SERIOUS recalibration Let's see, assuming 0-60 in the 3s get's a 10 [let's face it, you're testing cars, not motorcycles, so you can't get 0-60-0 in the 3s, even with a megabuck superdupercar], then 4s would be 9, 5s would be 8, 6s would be 7, and 7s would be 5. Or should we start with a vintage VW Beetle, 0-60 19secs is -5, and count up from there? It might be a better, FAR more realistic assessment: :)
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єlєctrσn¢σммєя¢є
The classic Chevy restoration market was a lucrative industry at that time, especially for 50's and 60's muscle cars and street machines. Back then GM was really trying to tap into that 50'sera nostalgia that classic Chevy enthusiast market was feeling then; hence, this cool interpretation of the 1953 Chevy panel wagon. GM was a totally different company before the housing and credit bubble forced GM to become Government Motors.
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The classic Chevy restoration market was a lucrative industry at that time, especially for 50's and 60's muscle cars and street machines. Back then GM was really trying to tap into that 50'sera nostalgia that classic Chevy enthusiast market was feeling then; hence, this cool interpretation of the 1953 Chevy panel wagon. GM was a totally different company before the housing and credit bubble forced GM to become Government Motors.
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Adam M
I drove the version with the LS2 and recall thinking it wasn't quite quick like the Ford Lightning of the era. Of course the Ford wasn't a retro convertible truck either. I'm guessing Chevrolet found a few aging boomers to buy these for nostalgia whereas Ford did not. As someone who was in his 30's at that time this was something I just shook my head at. Best line of the review this vehile possibly helped push GM into bankruptcy.
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I drove the version with the LS2 and recall thinking it wasn't quite quick like the Ford Lightning of the era. Of course the Ford wasn't a retro convertible truck either. I'm guessing Chevrolet found a few aging boomers to buy these for nostalgia whereas Ford did not. As someone who was in his 30's at that time this was something I just shook my head at. Best line of the review this vehile possibly helped push GM into bankruptcy.
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