If you are in the market for a modern pickup with classic good looks and a little muscle, what do you pick? The options are limited but may I suggest this Chevy SSR? It looks like it was built in the 50s but it can be daily driven without all the pain. It has air conditioning, power windows, and comfy seats. The best part though is the V8 that’s under the hood and the six-on-the-floor! Let’s take a closer look at this example that’s being auctioned here on eBay with no reserve and only a few days remaining.
The SSR was only built between 2003 to 2006 and the last couple years of production, they went all out. They dropped the LS2 from the C6 Corvette under the hood and even offered a 6-speed manual. With a slick retractable hardtop this bad boy is starting to sound like a practical muscle car. I’m not sure how it handles but it’s got to be a hoot in the straightaways.
The exterior styling may take a little getting used to but I can appreciate what they were trying to do. The interior on the other side looks downright comfy. Power adjustable leather seats and plush carpeting are complimented by lots of switches and gauges. This could the perfect rig for an old guy who wants to cruise in comfort.
It’s actually surprising that GM even built this thing. The concept of a retro pickup is cool but it seems like the market had to be limited. You have to wonder what the guys at Chevrolet were thinking. Maybe they were following their car guys hearts rather than their accountant heads for once? Whatever the reason, I’m glad car companies take these sort of risks every once in a while.
Either this red SSR featured above sold or the link in the writeup is wrong, it shows a yellow SSR at a dealership in Tampa Florida.
Steve R
The link has been updated. Thanks for catching that!
That has to be the longest description i have ever seen on FeeBay.
Definately the retractable hardtop that ticks the box for me!
I thought these were dumb when new, but they have grown on me over the years. And it doesn’t hurt that the later units were rocking the LS2.
You know, coming from a city that produced vehicles known to be a flop,( except Gremlin) it’s kind of reassuring to see a modern day flop from such a fancy shmancy company like GM. 1st, I think these were really cool, kind of an Advanced Design( GMC New Design) with modern guts. It’s as if GM tried to get every possible buyer with some feature here. Truck buyers, gearheads, nostalgic, all had something. Problem was, the price. I read these cost over $42,000 in 2006, when a base Silverado 1500 pickup was $16,100. Okay, not the same, but a substantial difference in cost, and like all these car/pickups of yore, a very limited buyer base. You know the names over the years, they all failed. Sadly, 106 viewers, and at $27,000, no bids. Not much has changed in that regard. It is a really cool, um, truck. See, that’s the thing, I read, it’s not sporty enough for sports car folks, and not tough enough for truck folks.
The number of views you refer to is for the previous 24 hours, not the entirety of the listing. There are no bids because this isn’t an auction, the seller has it listed for a set price.
Steve R
I always thought these were neat. My kids were very young when these came out, and I remember thinking if I was in a spot that I could buy one, I would’ve. This one looks super clean, definitely was somebodys baby for sure. Maybe they aren’t “Practical ” as a truck, maybe there were better performing sports cars back then. But, nothing looked like this!!! And the fact you can get it with a 6 speed, even better. Great find here, and I really enjoyed your write up Jesse too.
Old guy, jeezz thanks. ;). But it’s true we were probably more the target audience than a twenty something kiddo that would just love to borrow it from his old man to impress his girlfriend. It’s a nice machine.although i’d still prefer an Impala SS or a Marauder.
more ‘odd ducks’.
From guys who brought you Aztec & Prowler, no?
Glad they were ‘limited additions’, just enuff to see produced,
not enuff to see once a year~
I’ve said: “Never paint a vehicle yellow.” (car, plane, bike) but there’s
1 of these SSR’s near here in that color. Hada 4Sale sign on since
I first ever saw it~
No. GM didn’t make the Prowler.
SSR = Slow Selling Roadster. This was the nick-name for these from my wholesale dealer buddies at the time. They were an answer to a question no one was asking.
No. GM did not make the Prowler.
no fun to work on. not big sellers new they actually were kind of a flop. don’t see many on the road where i am
I think the introduction of the much higher volume HHR kind of took the glamour off the look of the SSR.
My wife and I were looking at these before we settled on the Crossfire. We figured that there would be good deals out there for the 03 -04 model years with the 300 HP 5.3, compared to the 05 – 06 with the 400 HP 6.0, but that didn’t seem to make a difference.
We ended up passing, thinking that 20K was too much to spend on a 20 year old vehicle.
This one looks nice, but is overpriced at 27K with 90K miles. I base that on the pricing I found when I was shopping. These aren’t very scarce and there are plenty of nice ones out there.
We’re the others 6.0 liter with 6spd manuals? That probably adds considerably to the price. I was looking for manual transmission 6.0 Pontiac G8 GT’s and GTP’s and SS’s, they sell for a considerable premium because they are hard to find and are so sought after. If I was a dealer with one of these, there are reasons to start out high.
Steve R
Can’t give those things away.
Well, the listing just got pulled so someone must have wanted it…
My posts are still disappearing. Plus it tells me I’ve already said that when I haven’t.
Clicking the submit button multiple times?
SSR = Slow Selling Roadster. This was the nick-name for these from my wholesale dealer buddies at the time. They were an answer to a question no one was asking.
You can give it to me!!! Always loved these but only in red or yellow!! If I didn’t already have 4 cars including 2 Lexus convertibles , I would jump on it! Few convertibles can hold 2+ large golf bags!! Perfect for the golf course/ country club!👍👍
No, Jessie. Just all kinds of weird stuff. They vanish, they come back, all over the place. I’ll bet I’m not the only one it happens to.
Looks like our filter trashed your last comment because of profanity.
Yes, I guess I have to say BS.
Jesse, I realize you don’t like being called out publicly on the sites issues, but it has more clout than BFs Mail, and the sites comments really has something wrong. Sorry to have to tell you that, but it’s clear to me we are all getting tired of the problems on what could be the best site of all. Thanks to my dad, I’ll be the one to ask, what gives? You seem like you are caring, but I’m telling you straight up, as possibly one of the longest members, you’d have a lot more response if not for these glitches. Many here have been on other interactive internet sites, and never a problem, again, we, especially as members, aren’t happy, and not unlike buying a dozen eggs ( for $7 bucks) and half are broken. I’m sure this comment will go to Hades like most of ours do, but I’m sure you’ll read it and going on a limb, if the comments are really that much of a hassle, why even bother with comments at all? your friend,( I hope) Howard
And once again, the “like” button is no longer functioning.
Here and I thought it was just someone I was doing wrong, as my daughter reminds me regularly that I am quite computer impaired…thank you.
Also, Todd promised Angel, and I something that never happened.
I worked at at a Pontiac/GMC/Buick/Cadillac dealer that bought out a exotic car rental company. In Nevada you can only sell used cars that you don’t sell new. (Used having 2500 miles or more on the odo) Most of the vehicles purchased had less than 500 miles showing. So trusted employees were pressed into service to ad some miles to the group. (Porsche Boxters, Ferrari, Hotrod Minis, VIPERs, Corvette, Mercedes, Crossfire, and a couple of these.) Tough job but someone had to do it. My daughter was in driver’s education at the time which was after school. So I was usually the one to pick her up. One of the last cars I drove was one of these. They sound really nasty and are comfortable to drive. But disappointingly slow! Which I felt was because of all the weight. After picking her up in a red one and the second time in a yellow one her class mates asked her how many cars does your dad have? (They never asked about the Ferrari or the Viper. But the SSR was pretty loud and drew attention.
Maybe it was an early one? From what I’ve read, these later trucks with the manual could do 0-60 mph in a little over 5 seconds. That’s not slow!
Yes Jesse, I’m sure they were early production examples. As were the Minis. The Minis were in high demand at the time. (Particularly the fast ones, which was what we had.) My son and I took one to San Francisco (from Reno) for a ball game. We were buzzing along in the fast lane as usual and upon coming up on a other Mini we could see the driver looking in his mirror as we were about to pass him. I would speed up if I had room so that he could jump in behind me. Which he did. By the time we were on the west side of Sacramento we had a 6 car Mini train blasting along on I80. And we may have had more. When we got to the Oakland Bay Bridge half went left towards Oakland (some of those cars had runners on the rear 1/4 windows maybe going to an autocross.) The rest of us split up after crossing the bridge. Everyone honked and waved when we split off.
I had the chance in 2008 to buy a brand-new 2005 SSR in NEPA. Yeah, I know, but it was true.
It had been sitting in the showroom since the day it was delivered, and only traveled from the showroom to the wash rack twice for a quick dusting. Three years old, with the certificate of origin in the manager’s office because it had never been titled. The dealer dropped $20k off the price of $49,000 so I would buy it, but the finance company didn’t want to play along. They said it was a used vehicle so for $1,000 down and $1,000 per month they would handle it. Three weeks later I heard on the radio that the dealer had shut down without warning, while I had gone to another dealer and paid $37,000 for a new Silverado.