Chevrolet HHR

The Chevrolet HHR (for Heritage High Roof) is a small retro-styled compact station wagon launched by the Chevrolet division of American automaker General Motors at the 2005 Los Angeles Auto Show as a 2006 model. Designed to slot below the Equinox, it shares the GM Delta platform with the Chevrolet Cobalt, Pontiac G5, Saturn ION, and Saturn Astra. In Mexico, it's sold alongside its predecessor, the Opel-sourced Chevrolet Zafira compact MPV.

Design

The vehicle's design is inspired by the mid-1940s Chevrolet cars and trucks, specifically the 1949 Chevrolet Suburban, with large, square fender flares and a hemispherical grille. The design of the HHR has been credited to Bryan Nesbitt who was a former designer at Chrysler where he was the lead designer of the Chrysler PT Cruiser.

Nesbitt was recruited by GM to join its design staff and served for a time as the chief designer of the Chevrolet brand. The HHR has a large cargo-carrying capacity for a car of its size with 57.7 cubic feet in the passenger version and 62.7 cubic feet in the panel. It has a flat-load floor and fold-flat front passenger seat. For the 2007 model year, it's available in four trim levels; LS, LT, 2LT, and Special Edition. A panel van variant was also made available in 2007 for only the LT trim and became available on on trim levels in 2008.

Assembly and sales

The HHR is assembled in Ramos Arizpe, Mexico and is available for sale throughout North America. The HHR is also imported to Japan by way of the motor vehicles business unit of Mitsui. First year sales exceeded 93,000 through June 2006.[citation needed]

SS Turbocharged

In October 2006, Cheryl Catton, director of car marketing and retail integration for Chevy, confirmed that a high performance variant of the HHR would be built. The vehicle was expected to be released with SS moniker for the 2008 model year and use the Ecotec LNF turbocharged engine found in the Pontiac Solstice GXP and Saturn Sky Red Line. The vehicle had been photographed testing by a spy photographer several times since June 2006. Digital scans of the HHR SS Turbocharged dealer brochure were leaked on a fan forum site on July 13, 2007 before any official announcement.