أبوطارق
02-12-2001, 05:43 PM
http://www.newcartestdrive.com/sneakpreviews/03chevyssr.jpg http://www.newcartestdrive.com/sneakpreviews/03chevyssr-1.jpg http://www.newcartestdrive.com/sneakpreviews/03chevyssr-2.jpg
By Larry Edsall
On sale: late 2002
Estimated pricing: less than $30,000
Chevrolet will launch what it calls a "retro-style roadster" for the 2003 model year. The SSR may look "retro," but when was the last time you saw a roadster with a pickup truck bed roll off any of the Big Three assembly lines?
Indeed, Chevy's Super Sport Roadster will create its own niche when it goes into production in the fourth quarter of 2002. It will be a bench-seat convertible with a pickup truck bed. Unlike the car-based El Camino, the SSR will be built on the chassis of a sport/utility vehicle.
When General Motors introduced its new midsize SUVs - the Chevrolet TrailBlazer, the GMC Envoy and the Oldsmobile Bravada - a very highly placed engineer was bragging about the versatility of the new chassis, hinting strongly that the SSR would be built on the new SUV platform, rather than on the S-10 pickup frame as originally expected.
Officially, GM only has said that the SSR will be built on a "new mid-sized truck architecture."
The company adds that the SSR will provide "an unrivaled blend of performance, features and utility in a vehicle." With the Camaro going out of production, the SSR will give Chevy's rear-drive, V8-oriented customers a way to wear a bowtie without having to shell out for a Corvette, and without having to buy a traditional pickup truck.
The SSR is based on the concept car shown at Detroit in 2000. The show car had retro body lines, especially in the front fenders, a retractable hardtop, and a covered pickup bed that was some 5-feet, 3-inches long and 4-feet, 7-inches wide.
Power came from a 6.0-liter V8 and went to the rear wheels - 20-inch, five-spoke alloys, with 19-inch wheels up front - through a four-speed automatic transmission activated by buttons mounted on the steering wheel.
General Motors says the SSR will ride on a 115.8-inch wheelbase, will be 186.1 inches long overall, 76.1 inches wide and 62.2 inches tall.
The SSR will be built at GM's Lansing Craft Centre in Lansing, Michigan, in partnership with ASC Incorporated. Other vehicles built at the low-volume specialty-manufacturing center were the Buick Reatta, the EV1, and the Cadillac Eldorado, which ends production in the second quarter of 2002.
ASC says it will handle pre-production engineering and final design through its newly established ASC Vehicle Technologies team.
"The SSR project is a tremendous opportunity to expand our participation in vehicle development and delivery," said ASC president Larry Doyle. "Working very closely with our customers, we can bring a specialty vehicle program to market in a matter of months, not years. This particular capability is extremely significant in the case of the SSR."
منقول من موقع http://www.newcartestdrive.com/sneakpreviews/03chevyssr_sp.cfm
By Larry Edsall
On sale: late 2002
Estimated pricing: less than $30,000
Chevrolet will launch what it calls a "retro-style roadster" for the 2003 model year. The SSR may look "retro," but when was the last time you saw a roadster with a pickup truck bed roll off any of the Big Three assembly lines?
Indeed, Chevy's Super Sport Roadster will create its own niche when it goes into production in the fourth quarter of 2002. It will be a bench-seat convertible with a pickup truck bed. Unlike the car-based El Camino, the SSR will be built on the chassis of a sport/utility vehicle.
When General Motors introduced its new midsize SUVs - the Chevrolet TrailBlazer, the GMC Envoy and the Oldsmobile Bravada - a very highly placed engineer was bragging about the versatility of the new chassis, hinting strongly that the SSR would be built on the new SUV platform, rather than on the S-10 pickup frame as originally expected.
Officially, GM only has said that the SSR will be built on a "new mid-sized truck architecture."
The company adds that the SSR will provide "an unrivaled blend of performance, features and utility in a vehicle." With the Camaro going out of production, the SSR will give Chevy's rear-drive, V8-oriented customers a way to wear a bowtie without having to shell out for a Corvette, and without having to buy a traditional pickup truck.
The SSR is based on the concept car shown at Detroit in 2000. The show car had retro body lines, especially in the front fenders, a retractable hardtop, and a covered pickup bed that was some 5-feet, 3-inches long and 4-feet, 7-inches wide.
Power came from a 6.0-liter V8 and went to the rear wheels - 20-inch, five-spoke alloys, with 19-inch wheels up front - through a four-speed automatic transmission activated by buttons mounted on the steering wheel.
General Motors says the SSR will ride on a 115.8-inch wheelbase, will be 186.1 inches long overall, 76.1 inches wide and 62.2 inches tall.
The SSR will be built at GM's Lansing Craft Centre in Lansing, Michigan, in partnership with ASC Incorporated. Other vehicles built at the low-volume specialty-manufacturing center were the Buick Reatta, the EV1, and the Cadillac Eldorado, which ends production in the second quarter of 2002.
ASC says it will handle pre-production engineering and final design through its newly established ASC Vehicle Technologies team.
"The SSR project is a tremendous opportunity to expand our participation in vehicle development and delivery," said ASC president Larry Doyle. "Working very closely with our customers, we can bring a specialty vehicle program to market in a matter of months, not years. This particular capability is extremely significant in the case of the SSR."
منقول من موقع http://www.newcartestdrive.com/sneakpreviews/03chevyssr_sp.cfm