Chevy SSR: Crazy Retro Goodness
The Chevy SSR makes absolutely no sense. And that’s exactly what makes it so great.
Throughout the course of automotive history, manufacturers have rarely strayed from the conventional. After all, taking risks in the car world often means taking huge losses. Crazy, off-the-wall ideas are generally relegated to car shows, and rarely do concepts faithfully translate to actual production vehicles. But every once in a while, something crazy and unique actually slips by the bean counters and winds up on dealer lots. And the Chevy SSR might be the craziest of all.
After all, who the heck buys a convertible, two seat pickup truck? The fact that anyone thought that the Chevy SSR would sell is hard to fathom. And yet, the massive automaker built it and indeed sold it. In a time when Chevy wasn’t really building anything other than status quo vehicles, the SSR came along and shocked the world. And surprisingly lasted a full four model years before going extinct.
In this latest video from car nut and YouTuber Doug DeMuro, we get to take a stroll down memory lane and remember the quirky Chevy SSR. Even DeMuro has a hard time figuring out why Chevy built the throwback ride, but he reckons it was their attempt at drawing attention to the brand. Still, only 22,000 Chevy SSR pickups were sold over those four years. Likely, as DeMuro says, because “nobody was really in the market for a two seat retro styled convertible pickup truck.”
Despite this, and the fact that they cost over $40k new, DeMuro can’t help but be intrigued. And he becomes even more intrigued as he pours over every little detail on this crazy ride. Surprisingly, he also thoroughly enjoys riding around in it. DeMuro calls it “a wonderful experience being able to drive what is basically a bizarre work of art concept car.” And that perfectly sums up what the Chevy SSR is all about.
