Detroit. October 24, 2002.
Ronnie Schreiber
Chevy SSR Forum has spotted signs that production is nearing. To begin with, a couple of months ago a flatbed truck was seen driving in the northern Detroit suburbs, carrying what seemedd to be, on first glance, a raw SSR body shell. Upont closer inspection, there were lots of machining and grinding marks on the shell, so it may have been an engineering buck used by vendors for dimensions and mounting points.
More recently, pre-production SSRs have been also spotted driving in the Detroit area. A red SSR, missing some trim but otherwise not disguised, was spotted driving down I-696. A different SSR was seen driving down Eleven Mile Road, also in the northern Detroit suburbs. The SSR was about a mile away from ASC Incorporated's Specialty Vehicle Development and Fabrication facility. ASC is the vendor for the SSR's two-piece retractable hardtop.
General Motors has named ASC Incorporated as the primary vehicle and personal accessory licensee for the Chevy SSR. Under the agreement, ASC will work with Chevrolet and GM Parts, to bring both vehicle and personal accessories to market.
The agreement covers a broad array of SSR accessories, from personal goods including shirts, jackets and travel accessories, to vehicle accessories such as auxiliary gauges, cargo packages, running boards and trim packages.
It looks like they're starting with apparel items. You can check out the merchandising effort @ www.ssrstuff.com .