(First published May 6, 2017 – Updated) Sometime this past week (around the end of April, 2017), the final Chevrolet SS was expected to have rolled off Holden’s production line in Elizabeth, South Australia. Orders closed in February, and with average production-to-delivery times being around six months, the last SS will be likely delivered to its new owner right around the time local Holden production is being wound down for good. We’ve often lamented on these digital pages that we (here in the USA) never get some of the interesting cars available in other markets – well, the SS is one case where we did, and in fact, it wasn’t the first time we got an expat Holden.
*apologies to Max Rockatansky’s Falcon XB.
The list of Australian-manufactured cars that have been exported to the US domestic market (USDM) is fairly short (at least that I could find), and includes two non-GM brands, the ’93–’96 Mitsubishi Diamante wagon, and the ’91–’94 Mercury Capri, which used Mazda 323 mechanical bits.
GM Holden’s first expat was the 2004–06 Pontiac GTO, a rebadged Holden VZ Monaro brought to the US by Bob Lutz not long after rejoining GM as Vice Chairman of Product Development. The platform architecture was derived from that used on the Holden VT Commodore, which in turn was based on the 1993 Opel Omega B platform. It helped that Holden was already exporting to other markets, so all the correct LHD bits existed for the USDM. Initially powered by the Corvette LS1 engine making 350 hp (261 kW), it was uprated to the LS2 engine at 400 hp (297 kW) for ’05-’06. Sales were not that brisk, with only a total of 40,745 units sold during its run. The “bloated Cavalier” styling and unpopular use of the iconic GTO name meant the car never quite caught on with folks who otherwise might have embraced it. Pricing didn’t help, either, as a weak US dollar and higher than expected development and production costs pushed the price up around US $33,000, over $5,000 more than a loaded Ford Mustang GT. The GTO was canceled when Holden began transitioning to a new platform architecture in 2006.
As a side note, and well prior to the GTO’s debut, John Rock, the last General Manager of Oldsmobile and who ran Holden from 1979–82, revealed in a 2006 interview that he had shopped the idea of a Holden-sourced Oldsmobile with his boss and was told “Do you realize you’ve just wasted three-and-a-half hours of my time? Don’t you understand what we’re trying to do at General Motors?” Rock left not long after…
Additionally, at the 1995 North American International Auto Show, Buick displayed the XP2000 show car that was based on the VT Commodore platform and featured then-cutting-edge technologies such as adaptive cruise control and lane assist.
Lutz wasn’t done following the GTO, and in early 2008 (for the ’08 Model Year), Pontiac introduced its second rebadged Holden, the G8. Based off the new Zeta platform VE Commodore, it was initially offered with either a 3.6l, 256 hp (191 kW) V6 in Base form, or a 6.0l, 361 hp (269 kW) V8 in GT trim. Both automatic and manual transmissions were available. A subsequent GXP trim uprated the engine to the LS3 6.2l V8 making 415 hp (309 kW) along with suspension and brake upgrades. The G8 had the distinction of being the first full-size, RWD four door sedan offered by Pontiac since the 1986 Bonneville and Parisienne. Sadly, it would also be the last, as GM announced on April 27, 2009 that the Pontiac brand would be retired, despite prior hints that it had been planned to migrate Pontiac back to a “pure performance” brand with all-RWD offerings.
The G8’s untimely death also put paid to rumors that Ute and Sportwagon variants would also be expatriated to the USDM – we came that close to actually having a RWD, V8 El Camino successor, folks! A total of just under 30,700 G8s were sold, including 1,829 GXPs. Interestingly, at the end of the production run, about 1,500 Holden Commodores were sold as Special Editions in Australia with (presumably leftover) Pontiac G8 front end fascias and other bits.
Lutz still wasn’t done, and indicated that “The last time we looked at the G8, we decided that we would continue to import it as a Chevrolet. It’s kind of too good to waste.” Thus, in 2009, the Chevrolet Caprice PPV (Police Patrol Vehicle) was announced with initial availability in 2011. While also based on the Zeta platform, it utilizes the longest-available wheelbase at 118.5″ – four inches longer than the Pontiac G8. Based on the Holden WM Caprice, it interestingly was already being sold as a Chevrolet Caprice in the Middle East. Powered by a 355 horsepower (265 kW) V8, the only transmission choice is a police-duty-rated automatic transmission. In 2015, the Caprice PPV received updates concurrent with updates to the Holden WN Caprice, plus a column shift for the automatic transmission making more room for equipment. The unmarked/detective version was discontinued at this time.
There’s a bit of a following in the civilian market for used PPVs, but a tremendous amount of effort is required to put them in mufti, as interiors were very basic for the police market. The Caprice PPV sell rate has been fairly low, with just over 15,200 units moved since its introduction. It will be retired this year along with the rest of Holden production.
Not long after the PPV introduction, more rumors flew after another Lutz statement that “…we want to take a look at reintroducing a civil version as a high-end Chevrolet. Because when you get down to it the thrill of high performance driving is unmatched by anything that doesn’t have rear-wheel drive, bags of torque and a nice transmission. So there’s a possibility of a premium Chevrolet sedan that would be sold in limited numbers. Think of it as a kind of four-door Corvette.”
Adding fuel to the rumors were a March, 2012 announcement that Chevrolet would be replacing its Impala NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racecar with a new model – which implied that “new model” would also have to be available to the general public. Speculation immediately ran to use of the Commodore platform and some form of “SS” or “Super Sport” naming and volumes in the 13-15,000/year range.
Which brings us to the introduction of the final Holden expat, the 2014–17 Chevrolet SS, which was the first V8-powered, RWD, four door sedan offered by Chevrolet since the 1994–96 Impala SS. Initially equivalent to the VF Commodore SS V Redline, it was updated along with the VF Series II Commodore for the 2016 Model Year. Although the early VF Commodores were powered by an L77 6.0l V8, the SS debuted with the same C6 Corvette LS3 engine used in the HSV (Holden Special Vehicles) Commodores, making 415 hp (309 kW). Oddly, the 2014 model was only offered with an automatic transmission, but the excellent Tremec 6 speed manual returned for 2015.
As noted above, the SS was introduced concurrently with Chevrolet’s new NASCAR racecar, and in fact, the only formal public announcement of the ‘street’ SS was at an airplane hangar next to the Daytona International Speedway. Surprisingly for a “halo” level car, there was no big car show splash, and in fact, there have been no national-level ads run for the SS at all (the only official mention I’ve found is in a Holden commercial). While GM officially spins this with the “limited production specialty car” line, the reality seems to be that contractual agreements required 30% of Holden production to be exported in order to continue to receive governmental aid and the US market was one avenue to help meet that number. From the standpoint of US marketing spend, it also appears to have made little sense to divert cash away from other high-performance Chevrolets such as the C7 Corvette or Camaro.
In an interview with Automobile, Mark Reuss, head of Global Product Development and former head of Holden, indicated that “It [the SS] does fill a need. I don’t know how we’re going to sell it. [emphasis mine, ed.] What’s going to happen with it now that we’ve announced [Holden manufacturing is] gone? It’s either going to be hot or it’s not.” When pressed with the point that there’s almost a curse with bringing Holden cars to America, he replied, “I know. But because we don’t have a replacement product on [SS’s] heels, I tell the guys at Holden we ought not go out there broadcasting dates on this stuff because as long as people buy ‘em, we’ll make some. There’s no reason we can’t.” It’s almost like GM was phoning it in at this point. However, Reuss was also earlier quoted in reference to the Caprice PPV, “The cop car was something I really wanted to have happen here (in the US) because it’s very stable volume and it can be (employing) almost a shift of people at Adelaide in South Australia…” So the reality seems to be that the PPV and SS were one last effort to keep Holden viable in Australia, and having a performance sedan in the Chevrolet lineup was merely a happy secondary benefit to those of us here in the States.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | N/A | 1 | 178 | 239 | 418 | 10,584 | ||||||||
| 2014 | 232 | 283 | 350 | 283 | 297 | 217 | 241 | 152 | 111 | 115 | 105 | 93 | 2,479 | |
| 2015 | 115 | 215 | 264 | 299 | 287 | 354 | 321 | 344 | 222 | 192 | 148 | 134 | 2,895 | |
| 2016 | 88 | 165 | 286 | 592 | 228 | 254 | 521 | 14 | 5 | 554 | 212 | 94 | 3,013 | |
| 2017 | 64 | 248 | 1,217 | 250 | 1,779 | |||||||||
That seems to jive with what John Fitzpatrick, Marketing Manager for Chevrolet’s performance cars, said in an interview with Edmunds.com. “If you look at its competitors, it’s going up against the Dodge Charger SRT8, the Chrysler 300 SRT8 and the Ford Taurus SHO. If you look at how many cars are in that segment, it is only about 3000 to 5000 cars for the entire calendar year.” And indeed, the SS has only turned sales numbers in the low hundreds per month, with exception of two 20% off MSRP inventory clearance sales, one in 2016, and one this past March, 2017, which netted the highest-ever sales month for the car. Production of the car has been on a “by order” basis, with shipments being loosely batched in order to avoid the very inventory gluts those two sales attempted to clear. With current inventory running at a slightly higher than industry-normal ~77 days (as of late April), it’s unclear whether GM will offer one last “clear the decks” sale on the SS, but speculation runs high among potential purchasers. Meanwhile, some dealers are starting to inflate prices above MSRP, anticipating a run on the final units.
So what, then, exactly, is the SS? It’s certainly not an economy family hauler, although it will seat five adults quite comfortably. It’s also not really a sports car like the Corvette or Camaro, although its performance numbers are quite good and it truly does warrant the “sports sedan” moniker. Depending on who you ask, it’s either “too bland,” or “the perfect sleeper.” The car is offered in a single “Base” trim, yet is loaded down with every bit of parts bin bling Chevrolet could throw at it. Unfortunately, the radio head unit is based on 2012-era tech and seems quite dated and clunky in a modern $50,000 car. On the other hand, the bi-modal exhaust note is simply delicious in Sport Mode, and you might not even bother turning the radio on on most drives. Additionally, the driving experience is engaging – the car drives smaller than its weight, and more than one reviewer has favorably compared the car to the ’98–’03 (E39) BMW M5, which the SS slightly bested in a Motor Trend shootout on The Streets of Willow racetrack. Working against the excellent vehicle dynamics is the questionable interior fit and finish, which is nice for a Chevrolet, but not on par with any other $50K automobile.
SS owners also quickly get used to explaining that the car is “Just ‘SS,’ and no, it’s not a Malibu (or Cruze),” as virtually no-one knows about them. Other than a few ‘in your face’ colors such as Orange Blast Metallic, they really don’t stand out in a crowded parking lot. As noted in a recent CC post, it’s popular among SS owners to re-rebadge the car back as a Holden, and indeed, all the right bits are easily available to do so, many right from your friendly GM parts counter here in the States.
As happened with the GTO, the SS model name sometimes raises an eyebrow with those who remember the ground-pounding SS trim level cars from years ago – never mind that today’s SS would best them in many metrics. The SS designation first appeared on a 1957 Corvette prototype race car built for the Le Mans 24-hour race, and was first used on a production vehicle as an option package for the 1961 Impala. SS has subsequently been used on quite a few Chevrolet cars and trucks, but always as an option or trim package. However, during a short period in the early 1970s, Holden sold 1,182 units of a version of the HG Monaro in South Africa as the Chevrolet SS (model name, not trim level), and Chevrolet itself displayed a Chevrolet SS concept car at the 2003 North American International Auto Show, which was never intended to go to production. So today’s SS is the only volume production Chevrolet sold to date as a full SS model, as opposed to an option package.
When Holden stops producing its own cars in October of 2017, it truly will be the end of an era, as it’s unlikely we’ll ever see another somewhat affordable four door, high-performance V8, rear-wheel-drive, manual transmission car sold here (USA) again. While the SS is going out in the States with a 20% off sale and a whimper, Holden is doing the opposite, with several limited-edition variants of the platform, including the Holden Director and the HSV GTS R W1 Supercar, featuring a supercharged LS9 V8 engine making 636 hp (474 kW).
And the rumor mill is still quite active as to the possibility of a replacement for the SS. Fuel was added to this fire based on an informal answer to a question about the end of the SS made in an interview with Car Advice by Al Oppenheiser (Camaro Lead Engineer), to the effect that, “I didn’t say we were going out. I didn’t say it.” He dodged further questions about what that might mean…
Which now brings us to the point where the story gets personal. Back on March 8, 2017, Paul posted a QOTD in which he asked, If You Had To Replace Your Current Car(s) With New 2017 Models, What Would You Get? Having recently purchased a 2015 RAM 2500 4×4 farm truck and a 2015 Honda Fit, I really couldn’t think of anything I’d want different – I certainly wasn’t in the market for a car! But after some reflection, I went back and mentioned that I had read something about the Chevrolet SS, and perhaps that might be of interest. Well, I shouldn’t have pulled that sweater thread, because less than 48 hours later, I had a deposit on one and my Honda was listed on Ebay.
Those of you who remember my brief fling with a VW Beetle TDi convertible and subsequent purchase of the Fit, may also remember that I spreadsheeted that purchase to death (as I typically do with all my vehicle purchases). This time was different, as I bought with my heart, not my head. I took a test drive in an automatic SS the next day, and when I learned of the 20% sale and that it ended a few days later, that was all she wrote. I ran the numbers and checked with my bank and insurance company the next morning. Everything looked workable, and I decided if I were ever to own a car like this, now was the time.
I purchased from a dealer in St. Louis (3.5 hours away), as that was where the closest car with a manual in the color I wanted could be located – manuals have run around 15% of total production, and are getting hard to come by here at the end of the production run. While my Honda sold within a week, it ended up taking six weeks for the SS to arrive from the port in Benicia, California, where it apparently had gotten lost in GM’s systems.
And yes, this will be the second car in a row that I will rebadge to a ‘Strayan brand – just as my Fit became a Jazz, that bow tie will soon be replaced with a Holden lion.
As I write this, I’ve had the car for two weeks and have over 900 miles on it already. While the Honda was a hoot to drive, fun to autox, and would have served me well for a long time to come, I have no regrets at all about changing horses so soon. Aside from the clunky tech (non-upgradeable) and Harley Earl-approved amounts of chrome (easily rectifiable), the SS is simply an incredible car to drive.
Or, as ‘Goose’ observed in Mad Max, “You can shut the gate on this one, Maxie… it’s the duck’s guts!”
December 2017 Update
Since writing the original post back in May, I’ve racked up 24,500 miles on the SS in travel to 16 of these United States, and I’ve mostly completed rebadging it as a Holden Commodore SS-V Redline (still have to have the head unit reprogrammed with the Holden logo). Snow tires went on a few days ago (just in time for a White Christmas!), and (sacré bleu) I plan to drive it like I’ve driven every other car I’ve owned – all year long. No RWD anxiety, either – it’s doing just fine on the snow and ice. And with production ended, I now know that I have one of 670 Nightfall Grey Metallic Chev SS cars (and one of 33 in my color & options configuration).
While the car is top-drawer in the handling department (and very comfortable on long road trips), the tech has been a real disappointment. The head unit froze up/rebooted itself a few times early on, and it turned out there was a TSB for that. It took about four months for the new head unit to arrive, and upon inspection, it looks like the exact same unit that it replaced (no newer version number on the data label). Oh, well. Not wanting to pay the OnStar tax, I’ve been using an iPad Mini 4 for a surrogate nav / music system, which works just fine (there are no aftermarket HUs that work with the car).
The other tech-related issue is that I’d really like to disable all the driver assist warning beeps, buzzers and bells – they’re distracting and often throw alerts where there’s nothing there. Unfortunately, there’s no way to do this. Holden tended to get GM tech several years after the NA market, so I’m basically driving a 2017 car with 2012 technology, which wasn’t that good to start with…
And to bring our story to a close, on October 20, 2017, the last Holden car (a Some Like it Hot Red Metallic Commodore SS-V Redline – 6MT, of course) rolled off the production line at Adelaide, destined for a GM museum somewhere.
I still get a grin every time I fire up the LS3 or see other drivers craning around trying to figure out what the car is – oh, to have a nickel for every time I’ve been asked the “What is it? A Peugeot / The new Malibu?” question! Holden, you made a great-driving car, and while no-one really knows for sure why we ended up with 12,856 of them here in the States with zero marketing, I’m sure glad to have one!
Related Reading:
- Commodore Family Tree (Scott McPherson)
- COAL: 2007 Holden VE Calais V (William Stopford)
- What If the 2014 Chevy SS had been an Oldsmobile? (Brendan Saur)
Enjoy!
Sad it’s the end of local manufacturing…thank you globalisation.
Glad to read you went and got exactly the car you wanted. Spreadsheets, like statistics, can be made to say anything. Best wishes for a long and happy future together!
Sad it’s the end of local manufacturing…thank you globalisation.
An ironic remark about a car that shipped more than 8,000 miles from place of manufacture to place of sale.
I would be considered, I think, in the target audience for an SS, and it really is a tempting car. However I have sort of a rule about GM vehicles: make no judgements until the third year of production. The first year the press loves them, the second year is silent, and if anything is going to be a problem the word will get out by the third year. In this case, sadly, it appears that I waited too long.
I’m jealous.
And that regret, of course, is the jaundiced view from the losing end of the deal. Perspective is everything.
You might want to temper your jealousy.
I bought a new 2006 GTO in the only proper color (Torch Red) and kept it for 10 fun (and pretty much trouble free) years. The fun ended when I went to replace the keyless door lock receiver only to find that GM had discontinued it as well as most of the major interior and body parts!
It is completely unacceptable to orphan a car that soon. I felt like I had no choice but to sell it. A still-bone-stock GTO with only 68k miles fetched me roughly half of what I originally paid for it, which wasn’t too bad. Once Clifford the Big Red Avalanche is done, I will never have another GM in my garage again.
Chevy SS production numbers are only a quarter of what the GTO’s were, so I imagine parts are going to be even harder to come by. Good luck Ed, I hope you have a long and fun time with the SS. As much as I wanted to get one, I was just unwilling to take that gamble.
At the rate I’m going, I’ll have it used up in 8-10 years anyway. Thankfully, there are plenty of parts in Oz, except for the bits that are unique to the SS. I’m thinking of getting a spare windshield to stash away “just in case.”
Other than the tech issues (which are honestly minor compared to the driving experience), the car’s been flawless so far.
I’m still not sure if the Buick XP2000 was actually produced for Buick, or whether it was a Commodore concept that caught Buick’s eye. I do know it was shaped under Phil Zmood. Holden used it down here with photo retouching to anticipate the VT.
The VE was (finally) our world class sedan. Unfortunately by the time we had gotten to this level, the category had evaporated. Congratulations Ed, and a really good analysis.
The sad thing is now that Aussie car manufacturing is gone, it won’t come back. I know it didn’t really make economic sense and the Aussie government did pour a lot of money in but… it’s still sad.
And for those who say, “Well, large car sales were falling in Australia, they should have made cars people wanted”, well, they did. Holden had the Cruze and Ford had the immensely popular Territory crossover. It wasn’t enough.
You have bought quite possibly the best Aussie car that will ever be made. I’m glad you did.
Love that final shot of the SS and the G8… Funnily enough, the G8 was toned down from the Commodore SV6/SS/SS-V that spawned it, with a subtler spoiler and front bumper.
I must say I loved the chromey, blingy, very American wheels used on the early Chevy SS models. The new ones are a little more sedate. And it’s a shame y’all didn’t get the awesome black/tan two-tone interior in our VF Calais.
I can only hope Chevy sees the shrinking sales of the Impala, realizes the Alpha platform needs more volume to amortize development costs, and puts together a RWD Chevelle or something priced below current SS prices but higher than the Camaro. Otherwise, if you want a RWD V8 mainstream sedan, 300 and Charger are your only options. Thank goodness FCA is working on a next-gen RWD platform… how awful would it be if the Big 3 were all RWD sedan-less again. Grim.
I’ve been waiting for this since I read the end of your Fit build thread over at fitfreak! Enjoy the beast!
Chevrolet never bothered to advertise it properly, as if it sold like hotcakes, it would difficult the Holden shutdown. (Just an opinion, this is not backed by any sort of facts)
In a couple of decades, I hope I can bring a VE Calais V to Europe as a classic
Are there restrictions on imports there, or do you mean you’ll wait until they’re really cheap?
In Portugal, there are a LOT of taxes… For a car with a 3.6l engine, I would probably pay in the five digits just to get a license plate on it.
(Portuguese government did this to stop the mass import of vehicles from Germany. Just to give you an idea, you pay around 4000 and something euro to get an imported Audi A4 2.0 TDI legal here)
They tax on displacement, CO2, and if it’s a diesel, on particles. And deduct tax on age, but not that much…
Just did a simulation. I don’t know if accurate, but totaled 15.586 Euro to make it road legal, and annual road tax would be 460 euro.
And I’m talking about a V6!!!
Wow! I’d say “You should come and live in the UK” but… y’know 😉
You can get the super duper Holdens here badged as Vauxhalls, but at one time I was tempted to import a more mundane one, or maybe a Falcon ute. Of course it helps that we drive on the Aussie side as well as not having taxes
quite like that.
Exemptions are only available for people who live in the country where it was registered, but even then only one vehicle per 10 years can be brought. And hybrids pay low tax…
“Normal” (for our standards) cars like a 1.6L TDI Golf only cost about 2.500 Euro to legalize.
But since it was sold as a halo for Vauxhall, it could be sold as an Opel! It was going to be just a halo anyway…
tonito, have you heard of a Verte Tempest? They were LPG-powered Falcon utes imported into the UK – not sure how many were sold however!
It’s a dumb car to advertise in the States. It’s too expensive for a Chevrolet sedan, it doesn’t have the style or feel of a prestigious luxury car, and it isn’t a utility or a truck. It’s a bit of fun for a few thousand folks like the author who know about it and that’s it.
Now the question. Pontiac was gone, Olds too…
Instead of a Chevy, it could have been some kind of “T-Type” Buick! But that’s just me dreaming too much…
It made more sense selling it alongside Camaros and Corvettes than in Buick showrooms. Whenever Buick tries to remind people of its performance heritage, people seem to scratch their heads and go, “A sporty Buick? I’ve never heard of that before!” Even though Buick has continually offered sporty models for decades…
And it total baloney to say that GM didn’t market this car. Do people think NASCAR lets them do this for free? They spent a lot of money on this. GM raced the “Chevy SS”, which is the platonic reflection of an actual raceable car, against the “Ford Fusion” and “Toyota Camry”. Opportunity costs. How many Malibu sales did they sacrifice to the SS?
You’re right there was no point in running advertisements for this. People who want V8 four-doors get their info from auto sites and blogs. Everyone who might have bought a Chevy SS knew about it.
There’s a school of thought that Cup racing actually sells trucks, not sedans, so it doesn’t much matter which sedan name is painted on the car. The exceptions might be RWD V8s like the SS and the Charger, which have more connection to the race car and to enthusiasts.
When first announced, I was happy that the Caprice name was returning to the US…only to have it disappear again 6 years later 🙁
Congrats on your purchase. Your car’s doppelganger is currently sitting covered in pollen less than 2 miles from my house at the local Chevy dealer (stick and everything). I stare at it longingly every time I sit at the light nearby.
It seems, like me, a lot of people expect there to be another clearance sale. There also seems to be a ton of manuals available at the moment. More than automatics. If there’s another clearance this summer and there’s anything left, I doubt I’ll be able to resist one more time.
As for the GTO, I never understood why it was so unloved. Nothing about it was any different than the 1960s GTOs. Based on a normal car with the biggest engine they could fit in it, difficult to distinguish from its basic stablemates, and not outlandishly designed in general. You couldn’t walk onto a dealer lot in 1967 and instantly see all the GTOs, you’d have to walk around and look for the badge if it was in a row of Tempests.
People called it bloated, but if you park it next to a current Camaro or Mustang or God forbid a Challenger, it is absolutely dwarfed. And I’d argue that the looks of the GTO have held up waaaay better than the 2005 Mustang or fifth gen Camaro.
However I admit that I am a bit biased, but I had every opportunity to buy a Mustang or Camaro, but the GTO has everything going for it (once you take care of a few common issues) and does everything better than the other 2-door pony cars in a smaller, better looking, and uncommon package.
While some dealers did order more manuals, the reality is that there are generally more automatics available nationwide (data from 4/26/2017):
Regal Peacock – Manual – 29 Automatic – 46
Orange Blast – Manual – 54+ Automatic – 56+
Silver Ice – Manual – 26 Automatic – 53+
Red Hot 2 – Manual – 42 Automatic – 54+
Phantom Black – Manual – 59+ Automatic – 66+
Heron White – Manual – 55+ Automatic – 63+
Slipstream Blue – Manual – 54+ Automatic – 58+
Nightfall Gray – Manual – 59+ Automatic – 62+
Word on the street is that dealers are holding or inflating MSRP on manuals, but are still somewhat willing to deal on automatics (anecdotal, so not based on actual data).
Agree with you about the GTO, which in and of itself is an awesome car. There was simply too much emotion tied up in the GTO name, I’m afraid.
Regal Peacock is one of the best factory paint colors I’ve ever seen on any car. Truly a stunning shade and it changes quite a bit depending on the light.
Of the other SS colors, Mystic Green was quite nice. I have a family member with a VF SV6 in that color. But nothing compares to a rich, dark green.
Just a quick check of cars.com show within 100 miles of me there are 18 manuals and 15 automatics available (not counting the ones that don’t say what they have and have no pictures). That’s by far the highest ratio I’ve seen since I’ve been {strikethru}obsessing over{/strikethru} looking at them. And your numbers are still very pleasing to see. I don’t doubt the dealers are holding onto the manuals though, those are going to be the ones to have in a few years.
And yes William, RPG is beautiful and far and away the best color. If I could choose, I’d get a brand new 2015 RPG SS with no options other than the Holden trim and full size spare. I thought the 2014-2015 front end looked the best.
It’s rather fortunate for me that they named it GTO, because I might not have ever been able to afford one when I bought it if the interest level were the same as the G8 GXP. Or heck, even the Solstice GXP coupe.
Now how about a shot of that fanny:
> And I’d argue that the looks of the GTO have held up waaaay better than the 2005 Mustang
I’m in total agreement there. The 2005 Mustang was a huge hit, but those cheesy retro details have not stood the test of time. Every successor since improves on the last.
The GTO had ultra-refined 1990s jelly styling, which looks good to me. But let’s be honest, it hit the market ten years too late. If it was the 97 GTO instead of the 04/05 GTO competing 05 Retro Stang, it would have sold like hotcakes. Great styling, but obsolete on arrival.
I haven’t been able to figure out a compelling reason to buy an SS over a Charger R/T Scat Pack or even a Charger SRT 392. If you absolutely have to have a manual transmission good for you but otherwise I’m not big enough of a fanboy to bite. Especially when the Dodge would likely be $20K cheaper.
You could convert a Dodge or Chrysler to manual for less than 20k and not have the parts problems of orphan cars.
Plus these two are far better looking than the generic looking Chevy rebadge of a euthanized brand. Where the SS shines is as a sleeper, it looks so, well, so bland.
The big reason to get it over a charger would be it’s a much better handling car. The other reason I like it is that it’s a unicorn. I go months at a time without seeing another one. My g8 was the same. It’s fun to start it and have heads turn trying to figure out where that glorious sound is coming from. Then they look at my car trying to figure out what it is. Plus if you equip a charger with all the bells and whistles that the SS has, it would not be 20k less. It’s actually a very good deal for how loaded it is. Even better if you got the 20% off.
This is a car I dream about owning…used.
Great as it is, I just can’t justify the price point for a Chevy.
Now, give me a year or 2 old version and a distressed seller who has to eat the depreciation, and Bob’s my uncle, so to speak.
And make mine an auto. My gear rowing days are over.
Heck, I’d settle for a clean unmarked PPV, column shift and all, if I could find one at a decent price.
And therein lies the problem: enthusiasts always cry for European and Australian models to be imported and then they don’t buy them new, they only buy them used. Hence why the GTO, G8, SS, et all, didn’t sell as well as they should have.
Prices on used SSs are currently not that much lower than new (in some cases, higher than new during the recent 20% sale). It’s expected that manuals will hold their value, where automatics will fade after a few years, but time will tell.
Well you’ll have to wait for a column shift PPV for a couple of years but the current floor shifted models coming out of service run around $6-7k for a vehicle that was retired because it had more than ~100k on the ODO. Here are my state patrol’s vehicle that recently crossed the block. https://www.publicsurplus.com/sms/all,wa/list/past?page=0&sortBy=end&sortDesc=N&orgid=65751&sorg=&show=past&posting=pageNumber&masscopy_process=&keyWord=caprice&startDate=Mar+01%2C+2017&endDate=May+6%2C+2017&catId=&refresh=Search And my state takes pretty good care of their vehicles, with a very strict maintenance are replacement program. For example tires and breaks get replaced at or before 4/32″ of tread/lining.
I’d also add that if you really want a Caprice you should get it soon, Sales dropped off a cliff after 2014, so they are starting to head across the block in the greatest numbers they ever will.
Congratulations Ed, although it’s sad to lose a FitFreak so soon. I hope that you love the car and that the car loves you.
GM’s approach to this car has been a complete mystery. They go to the trouble of making it US-compliant and then they completely ignore it.
“Do you realize you’ve just wasted three-and-a-half hours of my time? Don’t you understand what we’re trying to do at General Motors?”
So….did General Motors know what it was trying to do at that time?
Now that the Buick Regal has graduated from a US built Opel to a German built Opel, and Buick SUVs are imported from Korea and China….what are they trying to do at General Motors?
Congrats on the new ride Ed. Your cautionary tale about your brief romance with the Beetle has come up several times in my second/winter car deliberations. Last time I had the Jetta in for service I asked the service department guys, again, if a simple, reliable remedy has yet been discovered for the freezing windows……no.
The quote is from John Rock, who was Olsmobile’s manager from about 1992 or so. So the quote is referring to a meeting that took place about the time that the Aurora was in development. So, at that time, GM was all about FWD, and the 1995 Aurora/Riviera platforms were where GM expected their large size sedans to go. RWD was out.
Now that GM has sold Opel, I am not sure what the long term outlook is for these German Buick’s. Short term they are still in production. Buick has a nice lineup of crossovers, which is something that Cadillac is behind on.
Now that GM has sold Opel, I am not sure what the long term outlook is for these German Buick’s. Short term they are still in production.
According to the reports I have seen of the Opel sale, all current supply contracts will stay in force, so Buick US still has access to the Cascada and the new Regal which was introduced a few weeks ago, as well as service parts.
As you said, long term is another matter. Peugeot has announced that the upcoming next gen Opel Corsa will move to a Peugeot platform in spite of introduction being only a couple years away. I expect Delta and Epsilon platform development will be reassigned to either China or Korea.
Here is an interview from Motor Trend – http://www.motortrend.com/news/c12-0606-john-rock-general-motors/
Not only did he want to bring in rwd cars, but also set up a special-vehicles operation, something that perhaps Pontiac should have been doing.
As for replacing the Opel-derived Buicks, GM could easily take those back in-house. I could easily see some consolidation of the passenger car line though, as CUVs become more popular.
Yup; there’s a time to throw spreadsheets to the virtual wind, and let your heart decide. Life is too short.
Congratulations, Ed. I know you’ll enjoy it.
On behalf of the people of Aus, thank you for buying this great car Ed. You, sir, are a champ. Our auto industry is subsidised by the government a fair bit, but in few (any?) countries this is not the case. Alas, our Federal government, at that time strongly committed, in theory, to free market ideology, started to send somewhat hostile messages of waivering support, and next thing GM, Ford and Toyota had pulled the pin, somewhat understandably too. They needed certainty with such a marginal industry. It was the end for all of them, of course, as three manufacters is the critical mass in regards to keeping it viable for component suppliers.
Nice comment from Goose in Mad Max. Steve Bisley, who played the role, has made the point that Goose was actually the star for the first half of the movie. Keeping with the Mad Max theme, I was fortunate enough to actually see the the last of the (Ford) V8 intercepters today. An FG Falcon factory supercharged XR8 police car just near, ironically enough another departed icon, Steve Irwin’s zoo, here in Qld. Car looked good, but it is a sign of the times regarding the end of the Aussie car, it had its work cut out for it offsetting a large number of less aesthetically pleasing new US Ford Mustangs that were out for the day. Enjoy your ride Ed, you’re a good man.
FWIW, it’s the fact the car is Australian designed and built that I even considered buying *anything* from GM.
“You’ve seen it!… You’ve heard it!… and you’re still asking questions?”
“So when do we go for a ride?!”
(c:
My opinion of the SS is that as far as looks…it’s borderline bland (not necessarily a bad thing for a “sleeper”), but what is worse, it looks like every other Chevy sedan from a modest distance. Add in the steep price and the quality of the competition at that point is just too compellingly attractive.
I’ve seen maybe 2 or 3 of the Caprice PPVs here in north Florida, again, it looks quite a bit like other Chevy sedans, as it seems police chiefs and/or sheriffs with a lot of clout were able to get an example for their department.
About Australian cars in general: I’ve always wanted one after stumbling across a few photos of Australian Fords in U.S. car magazines. The images found at this website in various articles has made me want one even more. But at this stage in my life I am having to “make do” with British or German Ford “substitutes”.
BTW, weren’t the earliest (Australian) GTOs derided for NOT having the iconic hood scoop and slotted tail lights, with the hood scoop being added in it’s 2nd year?
I think that the Holden GTO did not go over because it was not American, which was a concern to potential customers. The styling was perhaps not quite what the customers wanted either. Basically the GTO market had moved on.
To me, Australian-built is as American as US, Canada or Mexico built- Holden is a subsidiary of a US company, so that makes it American in my eyes.
Great article ? and congrats on your SS. I missed out on the 96 Impala and the G8. Always wanted a V8, rwd, sports sedan and couldn’t let the SS slip away when I saw the 20% off sale. I still would like to see Pontiac return to the market. An all rwd lineup would be fantastic! Kills me how close we were to having the Ute and Sportwagon here in the U.S. I love sleepers. A G8 GXP wagon would just be the ultimate sleeper. Some day maybe..
congratulations, ed! i will drive an ss vicariously through you. get some extra rust proofing and plan on keeping it for a long time.
when i first read about these, i thought why isn’t everyone buying one? the answer is that most car guys don’t want a true sleeper.
if i wasn’t a city dwelling zipcar type, i would have bought one (with the stick like you) and told my wife that i was getting a chevy. i would drive very sensibly when my family was in the car and only open it up when going solo or with a like-minded friend.
I would drive very sensibly when my family was in the car and only open it up when going solo or with a like-minded friend.
I’m already referring to the ‘docile’ exhaust/suspension setting as “Wife Mode.” (c:
“And yes, this will be the second car in a row that I will rebadge to a ‘Strayan brand – just as my Fit became a Jazz, that bow tie will soon be replaced with a Holden lion.”
Nice to find another person who likes to do this!
I may turn my recently-purchased Escape into a Kuga, if I can find a reasonably-priced badge…or a UK or EU dealer who won’t charge me more than the price of the part to ship it over to the US.
There are Kuga badges on Ebay UK for under 12 GBP. I’m sure some sellers would be happy to ship to you, but I wonder if there could be an additional fee before customs would release it. That happened to a friend who bought a guitar from the US, dunno if it happens with goods going in the other direction.
For all their slightly anodyne looks and chintzy interiors, you can’t overstate how superb these 50:50 weight balanced cars are to drive. Their only real design carbuncle (apart from gigantic A-pillars) is overall weight-for-size. I seem to recall that because the Commodore market had an absolute price ceiling, the alloys and lower weight steels that the designers would have liked to incorporate were not economic. The last-gen Camaro from the same platform (and wholly designed in Aus) was also a fattie. Indeed, it was the weight of the Zeta structure that, amongst much else, helped to first make it an orphan and then ultimately helped kill it; in the reverse of a human, the weight gave it an eating problem. Anyway, I love the utterly human leap you have made from a highly rational design (with very little less passenger space) to the practically-twice-the-bloody-weight-and-half-the-mileage monster you now have. In the Aussie vernacular, “Oh, bugger it, I’m just gonna do it!” The build and reliability are unlikely to be Honda-esque, but the design essentials mean you’ll never regret it.
I should have mentioned the curb (kerb?) weight in the article: 3,997 lbs (1,813 kg), although that’s likely the weight with spare tire (mine has no spare, just an inflator kit). The Fit was 2,642 lbs (1,198 kg). It definitely drives smaller than it is, and it’s obvious to me that I’m still well behind the car’s capabilities right now.
Given the Fit is Honda’s entry-level car, the SS comparatively feels like a much higher-quality vehicle (door closing ‘thunk,’ etc.). Road noise is well muffled, and in fact, there’s actually a tube to pipe in real-life engine noise. The drivetrain is tried-and-true Chevy – it’s all the electronic doodads that will likely cause problems as the car ages.
But yes, you nailed it: From a purely rational standpoint, it’s half-again the weight, half the MPG (38 vs 21 to date) and roughly twice the price (factoring in the 20% sale). But from a purely emotive standpoint, it’s far and away more than twice the driving experience.
I’m not sure GM really ever had *any* target market in mind for the car, but if they did, I’m it.
I think that the target market would have been those who liked the last of the Impala SS RWD body on frame models from the mid 90’s.
I looked at one of these in my dealers showroom, while getting an oil change. But I would have liked it with AWD and a V6. My 3.6 L V6 CTS is averaging over 25 MPG.
Er, yes, apologies, I didn’t really mean twice the weight. Australians just have an ingrained habit of speaking in a dry kind-of ironic hyperbole that’s often lost in translation. (The “bugger it”, for eg, is not literal. Nor possible…as far as I know…). These last Commodores are indeed nicely built, it’s just that consumer experience here tends to suggest niggling issues that don’t trouble, say, a good Japanese brand, and Honda is one of the best at non-niggled ownership. As for a target, well, you’d have to agree that to get you with one of just 1700 shots from 8000 miles away into 326 million is pretty good shootin’. (It’s all the these bloody kangaroos, y’see).
justy baum.
“I seem to recall that because the commodore market had an absolute price ceiling, the alloys and lower weight steels that the designers would have liked to incorporate were not economic.”
One expensive weight saving item that made it into the VF update was a welded aluminium instrument panel cross car beam, the structure that holds things like the steering column, air bags, entertainment system, HVAC controls etc.
This was new technology for the Australian auto industry and involved a high investment from the supplier that builds them.
After the equipment was set up the projected volumes to be produced were cut significantly and we all know what happens in October, a real shame.
Quite right you are, aluminium bonnet and boot lids too. I also forget how big they are. With really expensive tech, Audi could build the slightly larger A8 with a large diesel and 4wd at about 5-10% below the weight of the Commodore, but given their sheer size, you’d have to wonder how much weight would in fact go using higher-tech metals, without resorting to the spaceframe and glue stuff in the Audi (and big Jags).
The VE weighed a good deal more than the car that it replaced, but had a huge increase in body strength, something they really focused on. The same thing happened with the VT Commodore, which then went on a diet probably to a greater extent than the VF.
I gather that when the North American production was dropped fairly late in the VE program, the development cost instantly became a massive overspend and all sorts of things were instantly halted, including I imagine optimisation-type activities.
Aha, that makes sense, because I did recall that responsibility for GM’s global RWD architecture was at some point given to Holden, and that elsewhere, RWD would equate to high-end cars. Without them being also built in that elsewhere on a large scale, any flashy weight saving ideas/metals/tech would sure be an overspend when you make maybe 80,000 a year of relatively low-margin cars.
This thread brings up a lot of mixed emotions for me. I REALLY liked the 04 GTO, enough to put a down payment on one. (Which was the retuned down payment I had put down on a Lotus Elise, until the price on them almost doubled between announcing them and actually selling them… but that’s a different story) I had been driving a Miata for years, and wanted another fun car. And something with more “grunt”. The GTO was pretty much exactly what I wanted, not too big, not flashy at all, and manual trans. I would have liked it better if it was less “loaded”, but I’m sure I would have gotten used to it. Oh, and I also think it would have sold better as the “Pontiac Monaro”, and maybe the top-shelf version could have been called the GTO. But I don’t run a car company… What did end up happening was my girlfriend and I found out we were expecting, I got laid off from my “good” job, and driving her Elantra until getting a minivan… So close, yet so far…
Congratulations! All of the GM cars from Australia are highly intriguing and it’s good to see you could partake. Enjoy it for many, many years to come.
Driving it to Detroit next month?
But of course!
Infinitessimally short, actually; it has zero items on it. The list of Australian-made cars exported to the US market, on the other hand, does have some items on it. A domestic market is the home market of the companies based there. There are USDM Chevrolets, GMCs, Cadillacs, and Buicks, there are USDM Chryslers and Dodges and Rams, USDM Fords and Lincolns, USDM Teslas. There are Japanese-market, European-market, Australian-market, Korean-market, and other-market versions of some of those.
There are Australian domestic market Holdens, and US-, European-, Middle Eastern-, and other-market versions of some of them.
There are Japanese domestic market (JDM) Subarus and Hondas and Toyotas and Nissans and Mazdas, and US-, European-, Australian-, Korean-, Chinese-, and other-market versions of some of them.
There are Korean domestic market Hyundais and Kias, and US-, European-, Australian-, Korean-, Chinese-, and other-market versions of some of them.
The lines aren’t always straight and bright; there are Chinese domestic market Buicks, Australian domestic market and European domestic market Fords, etc: designed and built locally for the local market. But a Subaru Outback built in Indiana is not a USDM car, and a Chevrolet Cruze built and sold in Korea is not a KDM car.
You’ll forgive my pedantry or you won’t, but this is a peeve of mine.
Didn’t realize the difference, so you learned me something there.
…and managed to bake in an error while I was at it, in the sentence starting “There are Korean domestic market Hyundais”.
“You’ll forgive my pedantry or you won’t…”
Along the same lines…
“The G8 had the distinction of being the first full-size, RWD four door sedan offered by Pontiac since the 1986 Bonneville and Parisienne.”
I think the phrase “full-size” is unnecessary here. I can’t think of any RWD sedan of any size that Pontiac sold between 1986 the introduction of the G8. The only RWD cars of any kind I can think of are the Firebird, Fiero and Safari. Or am I missing something?
“the 2014–17 Chevrolet SS, which was the first V8-powered, RWD, four door sedan offered by Chevrolet since the 1994–96 Impala SS.”
And the 1994-96 Caprice (or 1991-96 Caprice, or 1966-96 Caprice, or however you want to put it).
“SS has subsequently been used on quite a few Chevrolet cars and trucks, but always as an option or trim package…..today’s SS is the only volume production Chevrolet sold to date as a full SS model, as opposed to an option package.”
I think the meaning that’s being conveyed here is this: Today’s SS is the first SS sold in the U.S. that has ever been an entirely distinct model, i.e., just a “Chevrolet SS”, with no other model name between the “Chevrolet” and the “SS”.
Not all previous SS cars have been “option packages” or “trim packages”, however, in the sense of, you buy a particular model, you add a package on to it. Some were, but some weren’t. Some were distinct models, in the sense that if you bought an SS, the SS is the model you were buying; you weren’t buying a more basic model and then adding the SS equipment to it. In most if not all cases like this, of course, the SS model was effectively under the umbrella of a larger, overarching model name (“trim level” or “subseries” might be the best way to describe this), so it wasn’t really a distinct model in the sense that the current Chevrolet SS is. But it wasn’t just a “package”, either. Examples of this include the 1964-67 Impala SS (before and after that it was an option package), 1964-70 Chevelle SS (after that it was an option package), and 1964-67 Nova SS (after that it was an option package); there may be others.
And the CC Effect hits this morning:
This morning was the biweekly Cars & Coffee Richmond (CCR in local parlance), and I showed up with my Fiat Abarth, as usual.
Well, the GM/Holden crowd has definitely been growing at CCR over the past few months. Today, parked together, was: 3 GTO’s 4 Pontiac G8’s, 3 Chevrolet SS’s, and a Chevrolet Caprice PPV! Yep, somebody in Richmond has finally come up with one of the police specials.
One of the SS owners has already picked up the front end and badging to return his car to Holden livery.
No, as usual, I didn’t take a camera with me. I never take a camera with me.
Having checked CC before I left this morning, I let the guys know about today’s article. It’ll be interesting to see if any of them chime in.
As to Chevrolet not pushing this car, at this gathering of about 200 or so local car junkies, the SS owners were spending all their time explaining to everyone else what the car was. Sad.
Cars ‘n’ Coffee! Cars ‘n’ Coffee! (best line at 0:41)
I can’t say how many times I’ve used that line since subscribing to RCR. And other ones too crude to be repeated here.
Bought a 2009 G8 last July, best damn car I have ever owned!
So sad to hear Holden is stopping production.
Huge loss, worse for our friends in Australia . I have never been big on foreign cars, but, these cars always seemed at least half American and I’m not too concerned about trade imbalance with Oz vs huge job losses due to unfair trade with Germany, Japan, Korea and of course China.
Congrats for buying one! I look forward to updates. I wonder if these would have been more popular if they had an actual name. Like Biscayne or Chevelle. SS on it’s own just seems odd.
This just in – the last SS was assembled yesterday (May 5).
Here in Brazil we had a few Chevrolet badged Holdens with the Omega. After the first generation Chevy Omega (based on the Opel Omega A) ended it’s production in 1998 GMB decided to bring the Commodore as a substitute, always equipped with a V6 engine (the Buick 3800 from 98 to 2004 and the 3.6 Alloytec from 2005 to 2011) and automatic transmission. The Australian Chevrolet Omega always was a BMW 5 series for the half price and had more success as an executive fleet car due it’s badge, brazilians are very badge snobby with more expensive cars and love the german ones. The last series was called Omega Fittipaldi and was the best, with the 290 hp direct injection V6 and 6 speed automatic. If I remember correctly the price was similar to the BMW 320i and Cheaper than an Accord V6. Today the most expensive Chevrolet sedan is the Cruze and the Camaro SS is the halo car. Unfortunately a huge amount of the Australian Omegas where armored and are always a bad deal as used cars, but the non-armored ones are always a good choose if you don’t care about bring pieces from Australia.
The Omega also had the privilege of serve as the official state car of the President of Brazil. Nowadays the president rides in a Ford Fusion Hybrid or a Ford Edge, but sometimes an Omega Fittipaldi serves this duty
How interesting, Eduardo! I didn’t know about the Fittipaldi or the Omega’s official duties, although I was aware we exported the Commodore over there. Thanks for that info! 🙂
Ditto.
Eduardo, that is an extraordinary sight to Australian eyes. A country with 10 times our population, with no common colonizer, or language, or any real historical/economic connections, an economy up to 30% larger – and your President was ferried around not in BMW or Merc but in a peculiarly Australian car that’s as common as muck here. It’s as if Australia chose something like a Romanian Dacia to carry our Prime Minister. (Hah! Our current leaders, who helped the car industry here to close, choose not to ride in Holdens but BMWs). I’m curious. Why such an obscure import for the Pres?
In the 1990’s the Opel based Chevrolet Omega served as the presidential car, the Australian Omega was it’s natural sucessor for being the largest Chevrolet sold here. The General Motors of Brazil had a agreement with the government to supply cars, now the cars are supplied by Ford. But a friend of my who works at the Federal Deputy Chamber says the Omega still often used and is preferred by the staff due it’s ride and roominess.
In this photo we have our actual creepy president arriving in a Omega despiste the Ford Fusion being the official presidential car
I confess that I have perused Autotrader.com looking for good deals on an SS in the past. More specifically, have looked for available manual transmission cars. Sporadically see one on the road every now and then in central Ohio. My first impression upon seeing one, as they are so rare, is I know that’s a Chevy – but which model is it? Then it takes a second to remember that it’s the one called an SS. One Sunday, saw a bright red one being driven rather sedately by a female of senior citizen age. That surprised me a bit, for sure.
I liked the SS when I drove one, but the look was too bland, and it looked like any number of other GM cars, so I passed on it. I currently own a 2010 Challenger R/T and I will soon replace it with another Challenger R/T, this one will be a 6.4 Scatpack. No stick for me, the 8 -speed auto is great.
Well played, Ed. I bought a black 2015 6MT SS brand new and loved it for 20k+ miles over a year and a half. I had to sell due to divorce etc and you may have recently seen “my” car on eBay – the guy I sold to just let it go for $34k. I would have bought it back but didn’t have the time to arrange the deal.
Anyway – for me that will always be ‘the one that got away’ as I bought that car “for me” and had intended to drive it until the wheels fell off.
Alas – enjoy! It’s a fantastic car and I loved every minute of it… apart from the fuel economy, but you already know that and who gives a $@!+ ??
Congratulations!!!
Congrats Ed, that’s awesome!! The SS is at the very top of my (admittedly irrational) new car list currently. Unfortunately I can’t justify the purchase, even with the incredible 20% promotion. You’re the first person I know to have bought one, and I’ve probably only seen one on the road. What a change from a Fit too, I hope you enjoy the heck out of it!
This is the car I wanted my dad to buy when he bought his 2014 CTS VSport. I think if GM had offered a 3.6 in the SS (NA or twin turbo) it might have sold better, but I respect the “purity of the breed” for not having it to an extent. Perhaps someday I’ll find a used one with a stick that I can’t pass up.
It’s kind of funny in hindsight. My ’64 Beetle was very much a ‘right brain’ purchase. The ’00 New Beetle TDI that followed it was more left brain (high MPG, theoretically much more safe and reliable than a 40 year-old car, although *that* didn’t turn out as planned). The ’13 Beetle Convertible TDi that succeeded the NB was again a right brain purchase, followed by a very left brain Honda Fit. So the right brain “tock” won out this time, I guess!
Nice car Ed, enjoy.
That iPad you threw up there in the dash looks better integrated than many actual factory 2018 infotainment screens
I would have loved to buy a Holden Maloo/Chevy El Camino/Pontiac El Catalina?? The V8 manual would have been the bees knees. I would have even settled for a V6/Auto.
I guess I will have to make my own someday, like Bernt Karlsson did. Good thing he shops at my paint store occasionally.
It’s nowhere near scientific, but I think 3 of the 4 local, regularly-seen SSs (essesses?) I see have been rebadged to Holdens. Maybe the “different” thing to do would be to leave it a Chevy?
One in particular is dark gray, black wheels, dark tint, and perhaps some de-chroming on some of the trim that makes it look downright cool, and oh-so-menacing.
I love sleepers.