The SS in this pic that GM posted looks to be pretty substantial in size - not sure though. If the decal is as big as it seems it would be the main name for the car.



Then there's also the decsion to suddenly trademark SS when it has been used forever:

 

I also just took a look at the Nascar car in fullsize. It gives you a good idea about the direction they're going with the grill. Also, you'll notice that the checkered pattern at the rear is covered in "SS".

Click for full size:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7087/7...63c04c35_k.jpg\


This photoshop could be pretty close:

 

Here's a new spy shot of the rear of the Commodore:


I'm looking back at these shots from earlier in the thread and I don't think its the Commodore. It looks huge compared to the rear shot above. I'm thinking this is the refreshed Statesman/Caprice:

 

Unlike Guy, I revere the Chevelle - in no small part because it offered multiple bodystyles.

So I think it would be a fine name to use on this car.

Here's hoping for other bodystyles to happen since I will not do a sedan under any name or circumstance.

 

Let's be honest, who's going to buy this car?

Mid-30 to Mid-50 year old "guys" who are auto enthusiasts. I don't give a ratsass what "marketing" says. Guys in that age group who are not enthusiasts aren't going to care if the car is RWD or not; and most of them would prefer MPG over traditional V8 RWD sedan. It is the enthusiast who is going to buy the "Chevrolet SS" and we are the people GM should be listening to.

Most of us grew up with the Chevelle; and while most younger folks believe the Chevelle only came in a big block hard top coupe, us older guys know there were coupes, sedans, post versions and hardtops, convertibles and wagons. If GM wants to bring back all those versions of RWD vehicles, then Chevelle makes the most sense historically and marketability based upon the target group that would be buying these vehicles.

Yes there was a "SS sedan" concept; so I supposed GM can claim the decision was based upon that vehicle. However I suspect it more had to do with GM wanting to create a "new performance image" based off the SS cars of the past, without bringing back an old (or new) name.

I also suspect that this is going to be a "limited edition" with less than 10,000 units annually and few options available. That's unfortunate, because I was really looking forward to see what an "LS" version with the 3.6L DI V6 would price out at for my daily driver.

My expectations have dropped on this car and I'm disappointed in the direction GM is leaning.

Now my only hope is that GM offers us a turbo-diesel version of the Malibu.

 

SS? Really?

Maybe its just me, but why does GM always seem to leave me wanting. I remember in the late 00's when Dodge was putting out a car every 5 minutes it seemed. Almost every single commercial screamed "Look at our amazing lineup!" Being a Chevy guy at the time, I was always jealous. They were rude, in your face, and left you feeling very excited. For some reason, it just feels like GM is scared to be daring.

I hear the arguments based on the fact that we as enthusiasts are not the target demographic. This is true. BUT...I would say that true car guys are the ones that are gonna be talking about cars in the workplace, at the bar, at the gym, etc. We are the ones that drive up interest for the lesser inclined car folks. If this wasnt the case, we'd all be driving Prius's.

I just hope the "SS" thing is a holdover until the real name is decided. Call it a Commodore...call it a Chevelle...call it a Monte Carlo. Call it something that will make people interested just on the name alone. If you've never even seen or heard of one...and you hear the name "Charger", you are immediately interested. Thats what GM needs.

Otherwise, this will be another case of me, and it may just be me, shrugging my shoulders and going..."almost GM."

 

I don't particularly care for Chevelles of old, but that would be a better name than "SS," which is really a poor name for a car.

 

Sooooo.... in a year or two when someone wants the (inevitable) optional higher performance model of this vehicle along with the (inevitable) optional aesthetic / styling package; they'll be able to pop on down to their local dealer and order an RS SS SS?



This name makes even less sense than the CTS - Coupe (Cadillac / Catera Touring Sedan - Coupe..... really?)

Who the F is coming up with these marvelous branding / marketing ideas and why do they still have a job?

 

I doubt that will happen.

I suspect that it will be available with only one engine option. They may go as far as only offer it with the A6... after all, this car isn't meant for the "enthusiast".

You might be able to get an optional sunroof and perhaps sound system upgrades, but that's it. Its going to come pretty much loaded to the hilt in base form and be priced in the Camaro 2SS range... unless as some websites are saying, it comes with the LSA. (I seriously don't understand the reason behind such a notion, but then I also don't understand the reason behind the name.)

 

this car will sell to alot more then to middle aged men. go look at the trend in Europe, every damn car is either rwd or awd. chevy has 2 rwd cars and they are both sports coupes. nobody with a regular paycheck cares about cadillac and their 70k v cars, where is the fill in gap? there is none, this car will sell really well. i want one way more then i want the new camaro and ive been waiting for it since the g8 got canned. (i cannot even find a g8 thats v8 for sale locally used, they are all v6) EVERYONE is holding onto them! must be something someone likes then.

 

Nobody care's what the Saudis think of it??....




Also keep in mind that Lumnia was a NASCAR winner every year it was entered, and this was back in the day when the cars actually looked like what was in the showroom. Next year, NASCAR goes back to being closer in appearence to showroom cars. If GM is putting this new SS on the track, Lumina would be a natrural... and while some may link the name to "boring" cars, the Impala SS reinvented the Impala name in the 1990s. Impala was a boring sedan the last decade or so it was made. The last B-body Caprice earned the name "Shamu" from press and police. Took not much more than cutting open the wheelwells and a bit of marketing to instantly rehabilitate both the Impala name and the Caprice it was based on.

It'd be less of a reach with the new VF.

We're getting the new one.

1. Correct. They shouldn't base a name of a performance sedan vehicle (or just about any vehicle) on the opinions of a website that likely represents a small fraction of that 8-10% of the carbuying public. And they don't.

2. The target market for the car ared the same people who are buying Charger R/Ts and SRT8s.

3. Speaking of the Charger, it's a perfect example why car companies don't, and shouldn't listen to enthuisasts stick in the past when they have their own marketing departments and their own studies that are far more in touch with the market than entusiasts. The Charger "purists" went into something resembling convulsive rage over the idea that the Charger name would be placed on a sedan. The Charger's success and it's acceptance as a muscle car not just to a whole new group of people but to those very same people who had a fit in the 1st place.

4. Finally, Chevelle was a play on Chevy just as Chevette was. Chevelle was a midsize family car line just like Lumina, Fairmont, Malibu, Coronet, etc. The Chevelle name was around just 9 years (by comparisn, Lumina was around 11), and another 5 with the Malibu or Laguna name attached to it (same as the Citation).

What places the Chevelle name on the pedastal is the 24K of the 181K Chevelles made that were SS' in 1972 (or the record 86K of over 500K sold in 1969).

To farther put things into perspective, in 1970 there were 53,600 390SS's sold, and 8770 SS454s

There were 39,000 that had 6 cylinder engines, nearly 200,000 with 2 barrel 307s, and 151,000 with 350s.

However, people don't go to great lengths saving and restoring regular cars to mint condition. Therefore, the only vehicles that tend to survive are the top models, like 454SS (or similarly, Hemi Cudas). Since that's all we see years and decades after the fact, actual history becomes distorted. That's when car names that once represented station wagons, taxis, police stripper cars, or the 6 bangers or entry V8s that mom used to drive to work that once had no more glamor than Chevettes becomes more than what it was.

My 2nd vehicle after my '73 F100 was a '77 Malibu my dad bought me. My mom had a '69 Nomad wagon when I was a kid. My neighbor back then who was a teacher at the high school once bought a new '73 Chevelle (stripper, with the rubber floor mats). A girlfriend had a used '72 Chevelle. Seeing an SS Chevelle with something other than SS350 on the front marker lights was a treat.

If there was anything that fit the historic Chevelle name, it would be the current Malibu.

I'm going to keep my actual age to myself though.

 

What I meant was, "nobody over here cares what the Lumina name means in the middle east."

Lumina is an AWFUL name for a North American performance car. Period.

Guy, you've just made the case as to WHY the car SHOULD be called Chevelle. If GM had any moxie whatsoever, they'd use the name. So guys who love the Charger and Challenger nameplates are going to find Lumina appealing? The car aside, it's a limp noodle name, not to mention the fact that you'll probably be looked at like you have 3 heads if you tell someone you bought a new Lumina, as in "what? GM is building that FWD crapbox again?" As opposed to Charger and yes, Chevelle, which has that cache from the start.

You always lecture us about how enthusiasts make up 5% of buyers. But then above you launch into a history lesson about Chevelles. Quite the contradiction. I think it's safe to say the other 95% of buyers don't know any of this history, other than Chevelle was a 60's musclecar. And they know Lumina was grandma's clunky and dull midsizer. That's all.

We know the 396 wasn't the standard engine in the Chevelle, but hey, maybe the public DOESN'T Know that. Win! I'll concede the Lumina argument to you if you can tell me which North American Lumina ever had an available V8. And I'm not talking about if you were Dale Sr. or Cole Trickle.

Talk about branding...."Lumina" is never mentioned in a rock song that I am aware of. On the other hand, there's a pretty popular hard rock band today named Chevelle, and they named it because of their "passion for fast cars and their father's favorite muscle car". In short, the name Chevelle sells itself.

This is just such a no-brainer I can't believe it.

 

You build a VF and call it lumina and everyone will love

 

Did you hear..

Fords dropping the Mustang name and calling it a GT..

Hows this..
"hey I got a new Mustang GT"
Hey I got a new Charger SRT-8"
"I got a new SS"
The ford and Dodge guy look at him..
"You got a new SS what....Camaro??"
"no"
"SS what?"
Just a Chevy SS..."
"Thats it? SS??"
"Yea"
"BWAHAHAHA..they could not find a name for the car?"

 

This.


It is precisely because the Chevelle came in so many bodystyles that the name is right for this car. Especially if there is any truth to the rumors that GM will be adding the wagon and Ute, and V6 cars after a move to North American production.

Chevelles were sedans,coupes, convertibles,wagons and the El Camino. They were post and hardtop cars, they were grocery getters and 1/4 mile heroes. They were dowdy , stripper sedans with a straight six and three on the tree and they were 450HP musclecars. They were automatics and sticks . They were bench seats and buckets with consoles. They were the family wagon and a handsome convetible. But above all they were a killer product in the market that offered something for everyone - and their sales numbers proved it.

In short, the Chevelle line was the most versatile Chevy nameplate ever.