Grab this. The Chevy SS. What a friggin' rip-off!!!

http://www.autoweek.com/images_content/2003_01/ss.jpg

The Chevrolet SS
Chevrolet makes a play for the cachet of its muscle-car days with the rear-wheel-drive SS, powered by a longitudinal all-aluminum 430-hp, 6.0-liter V-8. The four-door sports sedan seats five.

"This is classic muscle car flavor interpreted in a modern way," said exterior designer Franz von Holzhausen.

The engine is paired with a four-speed electronically controlled automatic transmission. It also is compatible with Displacement on Demand technology.

The SS features low-arm suspension and independent rear suspension. The chassis features driver-adjustable shocks to change the damping ratio. Drivers can tune the chassis for softer ride or performance.

The brakes are six-piston calipers with 14-inch rotors up front, and four-piston calipers with 14.75-inch rotors on the rear. The SS is equipped with active traction control.

The exterior design features a short front overhang and wide, muscular fenders that provide an aggressive stance. The SS has 21-inch front and 22-inch rear aluminum wheels. The package also includes side gills, round taillamps, through-fascia dual exhaust and a brushed stainless steel panel surrounding the taillamps.

do i see "free-style" rear doors there??? is that what i see???
oh my god...

GM is hopeless, not a GOOD origional idea in sight...
it's SO OBVIOUS that the styling is more than "heavily influenced" by the RX-8's... from the wheel arches, to the arrangement of the grill, headlights, lower inlets... the door handles, the mirrors, the roofline... they've taken some off the rear deck and thrown it on the front to make room for the V8 grunt... THE RIMS!! LOOK AT THE BLOODY WHEELS!!! my lord, that's awful...
<<sigh>> and GM-o-philes will claim it's completely their idea, like their designers have blinders on or something...
for god's sake, the GTO is Australian in design, with just different body panels on the bloody Monaro!! god, i better shut up, eh?? :D sorry.

even if its a rip-off, that SS looks NASTY. I'd take that any day.

450hp? 21 and 22" rims? sick.

chevy = crap

plus a v8??? wtf gimme a 4 rotar rotary.

now now Zio, let's not go passing judgement on cars based on brand name...
i too harbour a nasty resentment toward American automobiles, based on all of my experiences with them, with the only bright spot a Ford Focus which i drove a few times during my driving lessons (yes, i AM that young, and i DID wait that long... my highschool's a quarter mile away...)

anyhoo, that car DOES look better than any other concept i've seen from GM since i can remember, and it certainly has more appeal to me than the GTO does, from a "barely knowing anything about them" point of view.

btw, a 4 rotor is just way too much engine for anything short of a limited production super-duper-thingy, like a Viper or Z06... a 3 rotor would still be a LOT of motor...

Just remember that the SSR concept (that convertible truck thingy) started out as a rip snortin' Corvette engine-based beauty. Now, as it nears production, it has gained hundreds of lbs, and is now based on the Trailblazer SUV chassis and engine.

If GM goes a similar route with this SS, it'll probably end up with Cavalier underpinnings...

and it does seem to be an extension of that pontiac solstice coupe and convertible that bob lutz is so enamored with. maybe its a mark of things improving at gm

I really, really hope that the PRODUCTION RX-8 is sitting right across the aisle from this concept car so that the public can see how creative and innovative Chevy designers are...

I don't really fancy GM all too much lately, but with the styling... just take a look at the 80's with their cars. I know that my previous car (Chevy Celebrity) was exactly the same except for options with the Poctiac 6000 and Buick Century. That is just one car that they made 3x the money off of just by switching the name brand. All of those were available at the same time in the same region.
With Holden.... GM does own them so they could very well say that it was thier idea and still be correct. The car was manufactured and sold in Austrailia first, but will soon be sold worldwide under various names. I've even heard rumor of it being called the Impala SS in some countries.
Back to what I was getting at with the styling... yes to do have a very bad habit of getting ideas (of nearly complete cars) from other car companies, at least they don't have the exact same car under different brand names in the same sales market.

Strider-

So it's a great bloated RX-8 with all the body angles (and probably the suspension) softened and a big lump of V8 in the front. I imagine it will be heavy as hell and need the 22" wheels to keep it from sliding off the road at .5 lateral Gs.

BTW, Wakeech, I don't think it has freestyle doors. If you are basing that on the vertical line on the window before the C pillar, then look where it is positioned. The door hinges would have to above the rear wheel and door would include half of the rear wheel overhang.

C'mon guys this is only a Big-size replica of Rx-8
In soccer we call this AUTOGOL (when you sign in Your door), because is admitting for Gm designer that they have no good idea at this moment....
so they copy a someone's else good idea