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Chevrolet SSR
The Chevrolet SSR is
a convertible pickup truck produced from 2003
through 2006. The truck is based on the large
Chevrolet TrailBlazer's platform but features
"retro" styling and a steel convertible
top designed by ASC. The production model
is based on the SuperSport Roadster concept
car shown at the 2000 Detroit Auto Show. An
early-production SSR was the pace car for
the 2003 Indianapolis 500 auto race.
The 2004 model sold
below expectations with under 9,000 sales
at US$42,000 each. Citing a 301-day supply
of SSRs, General Motors in December of that
year announced five weeks of layoffs at Lansing
Craft Centre, the factory that makes the SSR.
On November 21, 2005, GM announced that it
would close the Craft Centre in mid-2006,
spelling the end for the SSR.
The
model includes General Motors' Vortec 5300
engine, a 5.3 L 300 hp V8. Performance,
while impressive, was not spectacular at
7.7 s to 60 mph with a 15.9 s/86.4 mph quarter
mile run. The 2005 SSR used the 390 hp LS2
V8 also found in the Corvette and Pontiac
GTO, and also offered a manual transmission
(the six-speed Tremec) for the first time,
as an option. For the 2006 model year, the
LS2 engine featured minor modifications
that boosed its output to 400 hp (automatic
transmission) and 405 hp (manual transmission),
respectively.
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