From 2003 until 2006, GM tried to exploit America’s love for big trucks and SUVs with the Chevy SSR sport truck. Based on the Chevy Blazer, featuring a retractable hard top, and looking like some retro-future mashup, the SSR remains a polarizing vehicle, and a relatively rare one. In four years of sales, just over 24,000 were built and sold.
While they sold new for over $45,000, today you can pick up a used SSR for under $20,000. If you’re in the market for a SSR though, might we suggest you find one with a bit more oomph, like this LS7-swapped 2005 Chevy SSR up for bid on eBay right now.
When the Chevy SSR debuted in 2003, it came with a 5.3 liter Vortec V8 with a paltry 300 horsepower, taking 7.7 seconds to go from 0 to 60 MPH and almost 16 seconds to cover the quarter-mile. GM remedied this mistake with a 390 horsepower LS2 engine in 2005, but by then it was too late, and after the 2006 model year the SSR was cancelled.
That leaves us to wonder what might have been. Had sales gotten stronger, perhaps there is a chance GM would have stuffed the 7.0 liter, 505 horsepower LS7 engine into the SSR. As it is though,it was up to some creative mechanics to stuff the much-more-powerful engine into the sport truck. While they were at it they added $30,000 worth of go-fast goodies to boost output to 550 ponies at the wheels.
Sounds like the SSR GM should have made in the first place. With just over a day of bidding left to go, and the price near $32,000, this LS7-powered SSR has yet to hit its reserve. Maybe even with a LS7 engine, there was no way GM was ever going to sell enough of these…
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