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An '05 Chevelle - From the Pages of Hot Rod Magazine
We
like Bob Lutz. From what we hear,
the GM Chairman of North American Operations ramrods stuff that, from a gearhead
point of view,
really needs
to happen. Like the vaunted ’04 GTO, based on the Australian Holden Morano CV8
and coming to America at the end of 2003. We
also know that Lutz reads the car magazines.
Add to the fact that the original GTO was born in the pages of a magazine
(Car & Driver), and you can see the formation of today’s mission
Hey,
Bob. We need an '04 Chevy Chevelle SS. An '05 would do.
So
here we present a vision of what the Monaro would look like with the proper
tweaks to become the first Chevy Chevelle since the name was dropped for the
1977 model year. HOT ROD Associate Publisher Ed Zinke came up with the idea, and
Thom Taylor put it to paper for us. The design is based on the Monaro substructure to keep it
practical from manufacturing
perspective. The fender bulges and front and rear treatments pick up '70
Chevelle cues while retaining a modern aesthetic to match the LSI, six-speed,
and IRS. The execution is similar to that of the '05 Mustang concept we showed
you last month, and for GM's sake, the Chevelle should be no more difficult to
produce than the GTO. Besides, the Chevelle marque has roughly the same history
as the Goat, and with the Camaro gone, Chevrolet has little to offer the V-8,
rear-drive, passenger car market. SSR won't fill the void, and many of us can't
afford a Corvette, forcing the youth and the domestic performance enthusiasts to
buy trucks or compacts. We know those are both good markets for Chevrolet, so we
don't expect Monaro-Chevelles in mass quantities-only 20,000 a year or so.
But, Bob, it absolutely has to be affordable-like just over $20,000-and you
can't let dealers mark them up over sticker price. Secondly, they have to run
strong-somewhere faster than a Mustang GT and slower than a Z06 Corvette.
Finally, we need to be able to work on them in our own garages; Chevrolet needs
to release the computer coding, which we already know the company has done the
R&D for, to work with an aftermarket GM Performance Products
cam/header/intake combo for at least 400 rear-wheel horsepower. Read Zora's memo
and you'll get the picture.
HOT
ROD has an audited monthly readership of 6.2 million readers, and virtually
all of them agree that this car is needed. They overwhelmingly responded when we
ran a poll asking if Jon Moss' V-8, rear-drive Monte Carlo should be produced
(Feb. '96), and again when we revealed the Monaro SS Ute (Sept. '01). Will they all
buy a new Chevelle SS? No. We're realistic about that. But we're also
passionate about the heritage of American performance and the continuation of
the Big Three's hometown rivalry being fought daily in the streets and the
dragstrips of the nation. It was once said that what's good for Chevrolet is
good for America. Selfishly, we want what's good for hot rodders to be good for
Chevrolet. Help us out.
WANNA
SEE THIS CAR BUILT?
If
you agree that Chevrolet should build a new Chevelle SS along the lines of Thom
Taylor's concept, write to HOT ROD and tell us why. We'll gather up all the
input and forward it to Chevrolet, Here's how to get it to us:
Mail:
HOT ROD, '05 Chevelle, 6420 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90048
Fax:
323/782-2223
E-mail:
hotrod@primedia.com
(please put "'05 Chevelle" in the subject line)
HOT
ROD APRIL 2003
