2003 Chevrolet SS Concept

“It’s a vehicle to be shared with your family,” the SS’s exterior designer Franz Von Holzhausen described the 2003 Chevrolet SS Concept. Transporting the Chevy into today’s modern market, the SS amalgamates Chevrolet’s Super Sport heritage with the contemporary design of a four-door family sedan twinned with sports car features.

A high-technology version of the esteemed small block V-8, with high-performing suspension and brakes, the sleekly powerful SS Concept is the new generation: dynamic design, with race-proven technology.

Chevy Muscle

Sporting a Victory Red exterior with reflective Cromax glass finish, the Chevrolet’s SS Concept exudes graceful power. The sinuous lines, a reflection of the renowned Chevy muscle, are illuminated by the long-dash-to-axle wide muscular fenders.

This aggressive package, a product of GM Design’s Los Angles studio, features powerful wheel arches compromising 21-inch front and 22-inch rear wheels, sporting BF Goodrich performance tyres. With its side gills, rounded tail lamps with brushed stainless steel panelling, a dual exhaust with through-fascia design, the SS concept more than hints at the Chevy’s supreme performance car - the Corvette.

A whole new generation

The 2003 SS Concept boasts the race-proven small-block V8 engine. This 6.0 litre, longitudinal aluminium engine, produces 430 bhp and 430 lb/ft of torque. Twinned with this is a Hydra-matic 4L65E four-speed, rear wheel drive setup, that for sophistication and dynamics is controlled electronically with automatic transmission. Debuting on some 2004 models is the fuel saving Displacement on Demand technology, advancing into the 2005 GM model. Utilising this advanced technology the GM Model seamlessly powers on half cylinders, reactivating automatically for those more demanding conditions, such as rapid acceleration or load hauling.

With all the sophistication one would attribute to the Chevrolet collection, the SS features a high-tech, low-arm SLA suspension with independent rear suspension for a driving performance that excels. Driver adjustable shocks are included to vary the damping ratio. The SS can be a family saloon through the week and a sports car at the weekend.

Interior

“The interior is clean and understated with hints of SS heritage. The off-white leather surfaces, which contrast well against the warm red exterior, provide a spacious ambience,” states GM’s executive director of design, Bryan Nesbitt. Blake Allen, the SS’s interior designer elaborates further: “The SS seats five, but remains a driver orientated, cockpit feel.”

In SS tradition, the gear shifter is console mounted, the steering wheel leather wrapped and the seats are performance buckets with body adjustments for sports driving. For those family days out, the centre rear seat has a built-in child booster sear and the entire rear seating area can compact for extra storage space.

Nesbitt himself summed up the SS’s appeal: “At a price tag that many could afford, the Chevy SS truly is mobile entertainment for performance enthusiasts of all generations.”









Bookmark this page, please!

© 2006 Martin Hemmings and Ken Leonard for www.sport-cars.org