JonyyB
12-30-2005, 03:08 PM
<img src="http://chevyhhr.net/news/hhr10.jpg" align="left" border="0" hspace="5" vspace="5">With the introduction of the 2006 HHR wagon, Chevrolet has drawn another step closer to bringing back its entire model lineup from 1950.
This perky little bread van, meant to evoke the 1949-54 Suburban utility truck, joins the slow-selling SSR pickup, another time-machine evacuee from Chevy's glory days of the 1950s, on dealer lots. Here's hoping for a revival of the Styleline convertible.
Have General Motors' stylists run out of fresh ideas, or do the old ones just seem more fun? Personally, I'm hoping they will work their way up to the befinned 1957 Bel Air, my favorite. The temptation is to say that, in terms of style, it's all been downhill for Chevy since then.
Any discussion of the HHR starts and pretty much ends with the styling. That's probably a good thing, because it deflects attention away from the fact that there's not a whole lot else that distinguishes the car.
Comparisons to the Chrysler PT Cruiser are inevitable, and both vehicles have ties to the same designer. That designer, Bryan Nesbitt (who is now executive director of design for GM in Europe), was still at Chrysler when the current Dodge Durango was being designed. Park an HHR next to the big Dodge and you'll find the Chevy looks like a preshrunk version of the Durango, albeit one that wears the face mask of a '50s-something GM truck. Fenders, windows, rooflines, proportions and angles -- right down to such individual elements as the taillight treatments -- are jarringly similar to the Durango's.
For the record, Robert Lutz, the GM vice chairman and product czar, maintains that the inspiration for the Mini Me Durango was neither the PT Cruiser nor the Durango, but the Chevy SSR. If you run into him, don't jest that the Chevy is a "Me, Too, Cruiser"; he's heard it before and is not amused.
The HHR -- the initials stand for Heritage High Roof -- was a fairly easy way to leverage GM's Delta small-car architecture, also used as the foundation of the Saturn Ion and Chevrolet Cobalt compact cars. Soon after the HHR was introduced late in the summer, Lori Queen, the vehicle line executive for small cars, said in an interview that the HHR "could have easily been the Cobalt wagon instead."
Her implication seemed to be this: Don't complain about how the HHR turned out, because it could have been much worse. The Cobalt (which replaced the unloved Cavalier) doesn't look bad as a coupe, or even as a sedan, but no one thought it would make a pretty station wagon.
"I think the HHR's design has a lot going for it," Queen said. "A lot of personality."
Despite its high-character styling, the HHR seems a bit of a blank canvas waiting for the touch of an artist's hand to bring it to life. GM hopes customizers will embrace the wagon just as they took to the PT Cruiser and the boxy Scion xB. Indeed, the Specialty Equipment Market Association recognized the HHR as the "most accessory-friendly SUV" at its recent trade show in Las Vegas.
Still, the box-stock HHR seems to lack the PT's elemental flair. Or perhaps, given that the PT has now been around for six years, it's merely the fact that retro is getting old.
Perhaps one reason GM executives chafe at comparisons with the PT Cruiser is that the slightly larger Mexican-built HHR comes out on the wrong end of most of them. The Chrysler, which got a "major-minor facelift" this fall, costs hundreds of dollars less; it has more horsepower (from both its base and optional engines); has a wider range of options and trim; and has had a significant upgrade to its utilitarian interior.
The HHR's interior, too, is intended to be a core attraction. It features comfortable high-set seating for four adults (if not the advertised five), with good head-, leg- and shoulder room. Thanks to large windows, visibility is good all around, another strong point. The switches and gauges are subtly retro.
The three-spoke steering wheel feels large in relation to the car's size and exaggerates the considerable nervousness in the steering. The brakes and manual shifter, too, suffer from vagueness.
The space for cargo and storage is appealing and includes a number of "secret" cubbyholes and under-floor compartments. With its rear seats removed, the HHR has more cargo volume than the Hummer H3 (63 cubic feet vs. 56). The front passenger seat, plus the second-row seats, fold flat to help accommodate long, bulky loads. [read rest of article here] (http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/wheels/253765_road30.html?source=rss)
This perky little bread van, meant to evoke the 1949-54 Suburban utility truck, joins the slow-selling SSR pickup, another time-machine evacuee from Chevy's glory days of the 1950s, on dealer lots. Here's hoping for a revival of the Styleline convertible.
Have General Motors' stylists run out of fresh ideas, or do the old ones just seem more fun? Personally, I'm hoping they will work their way up to the befinned 1957 Bel Air, my favorite. The temptation is to say that, in terms of style, it's all been downhill for Chevy since then.
Any discussion of the HHR starts and pretty much ends with the styling. That's probably a good thing, because it deflects attention away from the fact that there's not a whole lot else that distinguishes the car.
Comparisons to the Chrysler PT Cruiser are inevitable, and both vehicles have ties to the same designer. That designer, Bryan Nesbitt (who is now executive director of design for GM in Europe), was still at Chrysler when the current Dodge Durango was being designed. Park an HHR next to the big Dodge and you'll find the Chevy looks like a preshrunk version of the Durango, albeit one that wears the face mask of a '50s-something GM truck. Fenders, windows, rooflines, proportions and angles -- right down to such individual elements as the taillight treatments -- are jarringly similar to the Durango's.
For the record, Robert Lutz, the GM vice chairman and product czar, maintains that the inspiration for the Mini Me Durango was neither the PT Cruiser nor the Durango, but the Chevy SSR. If you run into him, don't jest that the Chevy is a "Me, Too, Cruiser"; he's heard it before and is not amused.
The HHR -- the initials stand for Heritage High Roof -- was a fairly easy way to leverage GM's Delta small-car architecture, also used as the foundation of the Saturn Ion and Chevrolet Cobalt compact cars. Soon after the HHR was introduced late in the summer, Lori Queen, the vehicle line executive for small cars, said in an interview that the HHR "could have easily been the Cobalt wagon instead."
Her implication seemed to be this: Don't complain about how the HHR turned out, because it could have been much worse. The Cobalt (which replaced the unloved Cavalier) doesn't look bad as a coupe, or even as a sedan, but no one thought it would make a pretty station wagon.
"I think the HHR's design has a lot going for it," Queen said. "A lot of personality."
Despite its high-character styling, the HHR seems a bit of a blank canvas waiting for the touch of an artist's hand to bring it to life. GM hopes customizers will embrace the wagon just as they took to the PT Cruiser and the boxy Scion xB. Indeed, the Specialty Equipment Market Association recognized the HHR as the "most accessory-friendly SUV" at its recent trade show in Las Vegas.
Still, the box-stock HHR seems to lack the PT's elemental flair. Or perhaps, given that the PT has now been around for six years, it's merely the fact that retro is getting old.
Perhaps one reason GM executives chafe at comparisons with the PT Cruiser is that the slightly larger Mexican-built HHR comes out on the wrong end of most of them. The Chrysler, which got a "major-minor facelift" this fall, costs hundreds of dollars less; it has more horsepower (from both its base and optional engines); has a wider range of options and trim; and has had a significant upgrade to its utilitarian interior.
The HHR's interior, too, is intended to be a core attraction. It features comfortable high-set seating for four adults (if not the advertised five), with good head-, leg- and shoulder room. Thanks to large windows, visibility is good all around, another strong point. The switches and gauges are subtly retro.
The three-spoke steering wheel feels large in relation to the car's size and exaggerates the considerable nervousness in the steering. The brakes and manual shifter, too, suffer from vagueness.
The space for cargo and storage is appealing and includes a number of "secret" cubbyholes and under-floor compartments. With its rear seats removed, the HHR has more cargo volume than the Hummer H3 (63 cubic feet vs. 56). The front passenger seat, plus the second-row seats, fold flat to help accommodate long, bulky loads. [read rest of article here] (http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/wheels/253765_road30.html?source=rss)