2003 Chevrolet SS concept
by Gary S. Vasilash

Ostensibly, the Chevy SS – which has emerged from the GM LA studio – is a family sedan. That’s sort of like saying that the Osbournes are a typical family. The SS is anything but traditional. You have to look long and hard to figure out how it is a sedan. OK, maybe you immediately see that cut in the over-the-wheel-bulging rear quarter panel and suss out that the mechanisms are somewhere in the door. Or another way of looking at it is: Well, GM has learned something from it's Saturn division, borrowing the trick from the three-door Saturn coupe. There are 21-inch wheels in the front and 22-inch wheels behind; this thing looks so aggressive that you’re likely to overlook rear doors.

The Chevy SS is the offspring of the soon-departed Camaro and a Corvette. Imagine those two getting together to create a low (53 inches), aggressively stanced (wheelbase, 121 inches; width, 76 inches) vehicle that is more sports car than muscle car. There is a small block V8 under the hood, a longitudinal, all-aluminum, 6-liter engine that provides 430 hp and 430 lb.-ft. torque. Of course, as this is a “family sedan,” there is Displacement on Demand: no one wants to waste fuel – and it is worth noting that a lightweight aluminum chassis is used, too.

What is among the most commendable aspects of the Chevy SS is that even though it is claimed to be “a modern interpretation of Chevy’s Super Sport heritage,” unlike some other vehicles that are harkening back to a past of street racing, this looks like a vehicle from this century, not the days of yore.

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