On paper, the Chevrolet SSR may not have been your cup of tea. After all, it was a heavy, slow, complicated answer to a question nobody was asking. But oftentimes, weird (and even undesirable) cars make the best collectors’ items, not to mention the best oddball finds. Looking every bit like something that was just pulled out of the Everglades, this 2004 model falls pretty far outside “survivor” territory thanks to the astonishing amount of rust visible, well, everywhere.
If this were a more common car, we suspect it would have ended up in a scrapyard years ago. As it stands, it’s up for auction with IAAI in Florida. Only dealers, rebuilders, dismantlers, and exporters are eligible to bid, so you won’t be snapping this up to turn into a set of coffee tables unless you hold an appropriate business license accepted in the state of Florida. A bummer, sure, but given the condition of this truck, amateurs should steer clear anyway.
If you were holding out hope for some sort of green flag in this listing, you’re more optimistic than I am. The SSR’s digital odometer is dead, so the actual mileage on the truck is unknown. The listing notes that the title is clean, at least, but as we used to say in the early days of the Internet, one could register a dead manatee as a street-legal vehicle in Florida with only a modicum of effort.
And let’s face it—even if the powertrain is good, this sucker’s driving days are over. The perforation of its frame rails is so extensive that it’s borderline miraculous that it hasn’t already folded in two. The description even notes the location of the primary damage as “All Over.” Yep, accurate.
Even if you’re just after the parts, the outlook here is pretty grim. The listing includes no photos of the engine bay or rear end; we suspect most of the exhaust and running gear is as badly corroded as the outer panels, and the compartment that holds the V8 probably isn’t better off. The cobweb-plagued interior is intact, so there may be items worth salvaging there, provided they haven’t been ruined by years of UV exposure. Chevy might’ve named this SSR’s shade of purple “Ultra Violet,” but I don’t think they had environmental damage in mind.
Got tips? Send ’em to tips@thedrive.com
www.thedrive.com
#Derelict #Chevy #SSR #Saving #Wouldnt #Stop
