・High specification, LS2 powered model

・LPG conversion for better mileage

・Retractable hardtop roof

Based on the SuperSport Roadster concept car shown at the 2000 Detroit Auto Show, the SSR was only manufactured from 2003-2006. The first two years of production featured GM’s 5.3 litre V8 while the latter two years used the all-aluminium LS2 6 litre V8 from the C6 Corvette. Its modern take on a retro design, inspired by Chevrolet's late-1940s trucks, featured a steel body retractable hardtop designed by Karmann.

Imported new into the UK in 2006, this SSR is one of the last of the 24,000 that were built. It has had 5 owners before the current keeper, has been well-maintained and has covered relatively few miles (less than 5,000 miles per year on average). In fact, since 2016, it’s covered less than 1,000 miles per year.

The current owner acquired the car in March 2020 and has only used the vehicle for weekend and good weather drives. They have also added the LPG system, which greatly increases the usable range and affordability of the car.

As the car has relatively low mileage and is just 15 years old, it does not come with a significant amount of history. The V5 is present and correct, as is the current MOT (which runs until April 2022) and the previous MOT history. The original handbooks are present and correct too.

As a late-model, this SSR is very well specified. The interior is nicely designed and feels well screwed together. All of the switchgear and internal trim is in good condition, with only light age-related wear evident in some places. 

The leather sports seats are very comfortable, with a nice level of bolstering and electric adjustment and heating. Along with the high-grade BOSE radio/CD system, air-conditioning and automatic lights they make the cabin a really nice place to be. We can certainly imagine that covering long distances and arriving refreshed would be no problem at all.

Quite literally the first thing that hits you with the SSR is the way it looks. Referencing GM pick-ups from the 1940s, it’s a cornucopia of curves and swooping lines. We think it looks great, treading the line between pastiche and honourable reproduction quite nicely. 

Sitting on cast aluminium wheels (19s at the front and 20s at the back), the car has a great stance, purposeful but practical. The retractable hardtop is also a great feature, and a proper show-stopper in the way it operates – and it functions beautifully smoothly.

Externally the car is in excellent condition. All the panels are straight, with no dents or damage evident. The chrome wheels have a few minor scuffs, but nothing that a light restoration wouldn’t quickly sort out. Underneath it looks solid, with a little surface corrosion on some components, but certainly no more than you’d expect on a 15 year old vehicle.

The paint is very striking and suits the vehicle well – a glossy medium blue with the top half of the car being wrapped in silver vinyl. There are some minor swirls and scratches in the paintwork, but a good machine polish would soon bring it back to showroom condition.

Mechanically, the LS2 runs beautifully. The 6 litre V8 sounds throaty and muscular on start-up and sounds glorious when under load. All 390bhp are pushed to the rear wheels through a four-speed automatic gearbox, giving the vehicle a bit of a split personality – serious grunt when you want it, relaxed, lazy cruising when you don’t.

The owner tells us the vehicle runs very well and rides smoothly in all conditions. Mechanical work carried out by the owner in the last year includes a new AC condenser, rebuilt transmission and a LPG conversion with twin tanks in the trunk. According to the owner, the combined range offered by the petrol tank and LPG tanks is approaching 1,000 miles.

It may be a cliché, but this really is one of those cars that you either get, or don’t get. No one will be on the fence with this. If you get it, you’ll love it, it’s as simple as that. And we get it.

We love the retro styling, the two-tone paintwork and the lazy, almost unending power offered by that massive LS2 V8. Usually this kind of vehicle would be ruinously expensive to run, but with the LPG conversion it suddenly becomes something you could genuinely use as a daily driver. Just imagine that. When asked “what do you drive?”, you’d get to say “a 6 litre, V8 powered pick-up”. Even the thought of that makes us giggle a bit.

Yes, it doesn’t come with a wealth of history, but that shouldn’t be surprising. It’s covered very few miles for such a big, under-stressed engine, and it’s only 15 years old. The current owner has maintained the car very well, and even a cursory glance over the vehicle would be enough to assure us that this is the kind of car you could own for many years with barely any trouble.

If you’re in the market for something a bit unusual, something you could happily tootle to the shops in (while turning a few heads), go for an absolute hoot of a drive on a Sunday afternoon, or simply polish up and take to your local car meet, this is perfect. When was the last time you saw one of these on the road? You’d definitely stand out at Sainsbury’s car park, that’s for sure.

Whatever you think of it, we adore the SSR. It’s a big, silly, joyful, life-affirming brute of a car. The kind only America makes these days. And it’s all the better for it. It’s going to make someone a very, very happy new owner…

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