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Funny, I was thinking the same thing. I like the performance of an SS but I’d like the boy-racer look, especially the front, toned down. The stock HHR look is perfect in stock form IMO.
The nose on the SS is definitely awkward. Makes room for the bulky air-air intercooler plus it’s a splitter - real, sound aero. Function over form. Definitely not just for show.
Drive an HHR SS just once and you won’t give shim what it looks like.
When they first came out, I hated it. Then they grew on me a little, and I decided I wanted one to use for work to run around and do estimates (carpenter), since it got good gas mileage, but still kinda looked like a work vehicle that I wouldn't be embarrassed to pull up in. That was 10 years ago, i finally picked up one a week or two ago, just to basically cross it off the list.
love reading all the stories on how we ended up in an HHR heres mine.
I have been a car guy my whole life and nearly every daily driver has been a full size truck and always four by four and i never really cared about mpg very much because i thought the trade off was worth it. Couple years ago i ended up with a very nice Limited PT Cruiser, it was my nieces car when she was going to school and when she graduated i got her a new Ford Fusion and ended up with the PT in the back of the lot at my shop as a spare car for whatever. Sat there for a while and one day i sent my truck out for some service and i drove the PT for a couple days. Really wasnt a horrible car, it was loaded and still looked and drove nice but i just didnt care for the looks or anything about the car plus that Chrysler platform is really crappy. I did actually like driving a small car around and i started to notice a pair of HHR Panels i pass daily on the way to my shop and made the decision to put a car in my daily fleet permanently and it had to be a Sunset Orange panel. Oddly enough one poped up on FB marketplace from a guy in Detroit that buys and sells builders from Copart even more oddly enough it turned out to be a friend of a very good friend of mine so after chatting with him i bought it sight unseen and scheduled it to be shipped to my shop. Now at this point the closest i had ever been to an HHR was the two panels i pass on my way to work so i went over to a parts yard close to my shop to see one in person lol. Mine showed up a few days later and since it was a light high front end hit it only needed hood/bumper/headlight and it came with the parts, i actually drove it home that night. Little did i know how much i would come to love this little econo platform, i could list all the reasons but you guys already know. In time as i got to know the cars i started wanting an SS but we all know how rare the elusive SS Panel is, fortunatly i have extensive bodyshop experiance and decided to build one. Funny thing again, a super clean low mile 2010 SS pops up on FB marketplace needing quarters and doors and even more funny its from the same guy i got the first one from lol. I also have a very clean wrecked Panel parts car and the transormation has begun (build thread coming soon) All i can say is this is one fantastic little car and had i known i would have bought one new for sure
heres mine.
