The Chevy SSR Was a Crazy $50,000 Retro Convertible Pickup Truck 

You can't fool me, that's a Hot Wheels car.

The underside says *(C) 2004 MATTEL*

unique car built at the wrong time.... a GM habit

Since Doug doesn't know how the SSR came about, I'll fill people in (I worked at the company that designed the car as a software engineer at the time). The SSR wasn't designed by GM, it was designed by American Specialty Cars (AKA American Sunroof Corporation). ASC had invented the moon-roof and the one button convertible, both of which debuted on the Saab 900 in the early 1980's, and eventually became ubiquitous. They changed the name after agreeing to build the BMW Z4 and BMW balking at the company building the Z4 being called American Sunroof Corporation. In any event, the concept of the SSR was to build a car that would look like the roadsters of the 1930's that had been built by younger drivers on cheaply available 1920's pickups, many of which were Chevys. ASC built the complete prototype using a GMC Envoy platform with a Corvette powertrain, and the car featured a one touch retractable hardtop that disappears into the front of the pickup bed. They sold the concept to GM by parking the prototype in the CEO's driveway, leaving the keys in it. Needless to say he bought the concept. ASC came out with another prototype, this time for Ford, and it was a 4 seater reworking of the Model A roadster. Every external mechanical part (and the engine flaps on the side of the hood could be opened, making the engine an external part) was chromed, and the car (in Henry's tradition) was black. After trying to market the car to Ford and Ford opting to build the (failed) reworking of the Thunderbird instead, ASC went back to building convertibles for other companies (such as the Toyota Solara convertible) and moon-roofs.

Doug is the type of guy to buy water in the store and set it free in the ocean.

That 14mpg number plate though

How it came to exist: two engineers collided in the hallway and their papers got mixed up. No one noticed until it was too late.

Theory one. The owner of GM just found out he had a long lost half-brother, invited them and their family up to visit and then let the half-brother work with the design team on their next car.

The ssr is an el camino that got a bit carried away with drugs

It's like a Plymouth Prowler and a PT Cruiser had a baby and Chevy stole it from the hospital.

"What good is a truck bed with a cover?" You've obviously never went shopping in the rain in a truck.

This is the love child of an El Camino and a PT Cruiser!

16:10 I'm sitting here hanging out watching Dougie get his quirk on and all of a sudden I realize he's driving in my neighborhood and this is literally my neighbors car

Thank God I finally know how to manually close the top on a Chevy SSR

Every car we had when I was growing up had the trunk release in the glove box, yet Doug is always amazed by it.

If they sold it in Australia as a Holden it would sell like hotcakes

Engineers: we are bored CEO: we need a car Engineers: how about a car that should not exist CEO: we should definitely do it

First time I see a license plate beeing honest.

I honestly loved these back in the day. I am happy oddball like this exist in the car world.

I’ve never wanted to own a car so much in my life, I swear to god.

doug on a date..... “this won’t be a real date until we go over your quirks!”

Doug is the type of guy that stops for traffic lights in GTA.

6:07 Never in my life have I heard a roof going through gears

I love unique vehicles. It's refreshing to see cool styling among all the generic crap on the road. Kudos to Chevrolet!

There is a guy in my town with a yellow one that drives around with a stuffed gorilla in the passenger seat

doug the type of guy to close a cabinet with his hip

Somebody should turn one of these into a gasser. I can't for the life of me understand why nobody has done this yet. It's the perfect retro vehicle for it.

12:14 that head is actually a very common screwdriver head called “ the star bit” head

Doug the type of guy to ask Forza developers to add turn signals in Forza Motorsport and Forza Horizon

When I sold these new I never saw one sold to anyone that was less than 50 years old.

I just watched the top go up and down for 3 1/2 hours... Thank you, Doug.

One of my favorite styled vehicles ever.

the only thing i thought was: its a goddanm hotwheel

Doug’s the type of guy to lick his finger before he turns the page on his iPad.

I personally hate the thought of driving a truck. But this is one I would love to have. Every time I see one in person, which 9 times out of 10 is at work, I always want to ask to test drive it. I love the look of this vehicle. And would definitely include in a car collection if I ever had the money to start one

This and a Prowler are both on my "To Own" list

When Barney designed a convertible

Dougs the type of guy who asks for unsweet tea and adds sugar himself

I drove one of those today (the one with 400hp) and its actually a really fun car to drive. Its a weird design without a doubt but its cool and only a few hundred were ever made which is insane.

“All sorts of things will probably break”. Love this line

Looks like something out of saints row

"Keep Clicking.... Keep clicking and I'll come in there and give you something to click about" -Doug DeMuro, 2017

I Love my SSR. It has a Corvette 6.0 Liter engine and is really fun to drive!! Y'all are just jealous

One of my favorite Chevy vehicles of all time. I love odd and quirky vehicles and this is definitely at the top of the list. I was able to ride in one and it was awesome.

If you bought one in red would it be a USSR? 🤔

Strangely these have held their value relatively well, I'm assuming because of the low production numbers and LS drivetrain.

A guilty pleasure dream car of mine.

It's everything you could imagine and I love it!

I think GM imagined that this is the car a contractor would use to drive to your house to give an estimate for your new kitchen.

Doug, the type of guy to listen to Christmas music in July.

I love the bloopers at the end, " keep clicking and I'll come in there and give you something to click about"!!🤣🤣

i love going into these doug demouro reviewing cars/trucks rabbit hole

Doug the type of guy to never turn off the traction control

Doug the type of guy to lose his shit to a joke they said on a Froot Loops commercial.

Chevrolet: instead of suing us you can design whatever you want Papa smurf: smurfy durfy doo!

My neighbor has this vehicle in red. He keeps it in the garage when not in use. Every time I pass it, it looks like it just came off the assembly line! Outstanding vehicle!!

Who else watches legitimately every second of Doug’s reviews?

Dude I love just chilling and watching these videos

The radio station I used to work at bought one of these contraptions to use for remote commercial events and county fair remote broadcasts. It was mainly a vanity toy for the boss. I drove it several times and it was a fun experience but impractical to use in winter--especially because the boss hated for it to get dirty. When we had serious remote broadcasts to do, we used the station's Chrysler minivan to haul stuff.

Doug the type of dude to stick out 8 inches from the body itself

THIS is my favorite Car Reviewer. He has many strange quirks and features.

one model has a corvette engine in it if I remember correctly.and I've always like the way it looked

Just left a funeral where one of these was proudly displayed on the wrecker the guy owned. Had to come home and look it up. It was the only one I had ever seen on the road. Beautiful bright yellow and looking like new on 2021!

6:06 hahahaha, it sounds like there is a gearbox and it shifts on the half way into the second gear.

I like how Doug never says bad things about the cars he reviews. He usually replaces “idiotic” with “interesting” or another back handed complement word

Is it weird that I still want this “truck”?

Say what you want but I gotta agree with Doug, I want one with the LS2 and the manual.

LOL I remember having a Hot Wheels model of this as a kid and thinking it was only a concept, until I saw one in real life! And come on I think it deserves at least a 7 in cool factor, like I almost never see these.

Shame there are no more drive-in theaters, you could sneak 15 people in under that tonneau..

I remember seeing this truck when it was debuted at the NYC Auto Show sometime around 1998-2000 and saying to myself "Well it's cool looking, but why would someone buy this?". Was never really fond of the SSR until it came with a manual trans, then I was mildly interested in it. Eh.. Great video Doug!

I really like this car, have so many interesting quirks, it's like a new "el camino", this and the prowler are my favorites

Doug is the type of guy that clean his white Nike Air Monarchs with Windex before going to dinner at Outback Steakhouse.

Doug "in today's money" DeMuro

“Keep clicking and I’ll come in there and give you some-n to click about” I feel threatened.

17:55 “SSR buddy” fucking love this guy.

Doug is the type of dude to give his date a Doug score

This was a sad time for Chevrolet

I really wanted one of those for my first car but I'm only 10years old danget!

I always liked these especially for the amount of horsepower you get almost like Chevys version of the SRT 10 ram

My neighbor have two of these, one yellow, one red Ketchup and Mustard

Doug the double shirt DeMuro

Having driven my folks cross country a couple times now I can say it makes a great GT car. Really comfortable seats and great storage space for what it is, obviously less than a real pick up though. The suspension handles rougher roads pretty well too. Just would be nice to have useable cup holders. side note, the heated seats are extremely easy to use with the doors closed, not sure what he's on about. side note 2, the back rest is not electronic, you have to use the levers to lean back and forth, the electric backrest button is actually for lumbar support inside the seat. the bottom button functions like normal.

My friends Father had one of these. When he passed, my friends Mother asked us to check the battery since it had been sitting for some time. It took us forever to find it underneath the back of the bed. All of us agreed that was the dumbest logistical choice.

Who remembers this car in Midnight Club 3?

"I assume someone who drives an SSR had some weird interests" *SELF AWARENESS 0*

Nice truck. Great style. Reminiscent of the 1949-53 Chevy pick up trucks that dominated the pick up truck world. Love the SUV model, too.

I washed cars at a Chevy dealer in high school, the owner of which owned one of these, which I’d get to wash and drive from time to time. It was awesome, especially the mechanical hard top. I wish more convertibles had those.

GM made this and the Aztek, yet no successor to the El Camino? Great decisions said no one ever...

A coupe a convertible a truck i wouldve liked it but...... It look like the chrysler pt cruiser

I had one exactly like this!!! It was awesome!!! loved it!!!

I can clearly see in this video why you become such a successful car reviewer. Congratulations on your success! 🙂

Doug the type of guy to find out a girl's quirks and features before going on a date

Dough is the type of person to read the instructions on how to make ramen noodles

With "minimum" mods those vehicle can be an extreme hotrod. Find a moderately worn one (6 speed) and add a crate motor of choice.Level lowered suspension with "staggered" wheel fitments (22 &26) and you have a great start.

Having been a teenager in the early 2000's, these are my favorite kind of cars!!! SSR, Prowler, HHR, PT Cruiser, Aztek etc. These are the cars I saw at carlots, in commercials, in magazines etc. #Nostalgia

Doug the type of guy to wear a blazer when reviewing a chevy blazer

Doug the type of guy to play monkey sounds when showing a picture of a Chevy Lumina. EDIT: around 15:50

Good review. I always liked this truck. It's a shame it didn't catch on, but it was pretty expensive.

I always wanted one of these but probably zero in New Zealand. I had a 1:18 scale model of it when I was a kid too!

this is the perfect car for Doug :D