The Beloved but Slow-Selling Chevy SS Will Die in 2017
The Chevrolet SS is an enthusiast dream-a subtle but stylish four-door sedan packing 415 V8 horses up front, twisting the rear wheels through an available six-speed manual transmission, all for a pretty reasonable price.
Or at least, it was an enthusiast dream. According to Wards Auto, GM has just confirmed that the SS will end production sometime in 2017.
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It's bad news for sure, but not entirely shocking. The Chevy SS is largely based on the Holden Commodore, an Australian-market GM vehicle; Chevy and Holden models were both built in Australia. But GM has been planning on shutting down Holden completely since 2013; as goes Holden, so goes our cherished SS.
It's a shame, because the SS was one of the last truly old-school muscle machines you could get. When it first offered a six-speed stick as a no-cost option in 2015-one year after its automatic-only debut-we found it compared quite favorably to that sport sedan standard-bearer, the 2003 E39-generation BMW M5.
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But a rear-drive muscle sedan is a niche product at best, and Chevy's attempts to market the thing were minimal. The SS represented Chevrolet in NASCAR, but outside of that GM seems to have put little effort into promoting the car.
GM North America President Alan Batey confirms Aussie-built Chevy SS sedan, NASCAR entry for automaker, dropped by end of year. #autos @GM pic.twitter.com/weCA7jNe4z
- WardsAuto (@WardsAuto) January 9, 2017
So, there you have it. The high-performance four-door hot-rod we all clamored for is disappearing. Meanwhile, GM has plenty of new crossovers on display at the 2017 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Which is a smart move from a market standpoint, but not a particularly exciting one.
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