Chevy knew the SSR would be a boomer’s collector item from the second it left the factory in the early 2000s. For the most part, they were. These (in my opinion, sick) convertible pickup trucks were babied, garage kept and almost never saw rain. I say “for the most part” because I think I’ve stumbled across what is probably the saddest example of an SSR in existence today.
I cannot for the life of me tell you what the previous owner(s) did to this poor purple monster from 2004, but it wasn’t good. It’s being auctioned off by IAAI in Florida, so maybe it was pulled out of a swamp. Who knows for sure, but this thing has serious rust and weather damage across just about every single body panel. The listing even says its Primary Damage is “All Over” and I’d have to agree.
At the very least, this SSR — finished in “Ultra Violet” is certainly going to be cheap. As of the writing of this story, the buy-it-now price stands at just $5,800 — far less than the average transaction price of about $28,500, according to Classics.com. Be warned though, it’ll probably take tens of thousands of dollars to get this thing back up and running. Regardless, only dealers, rebuilders, exporters and dismantlers are eligible to bid on IAAI auctions. If you just so happen to be one of those folks and don’t mind getting a smidge of tetanus, this might be the truck for you.
A trash heap nightmare
I’ll be honest, though. Even if you did buy this thing, there’s really nothing to do but strip it for whatever it’s worth and say goodbye. The frame is completely shot. The interior is covered in spiderwebs and the digital odometer is busted, so there’s no way to know how many miles are on it. At least it has a key. All that being said, this truck does come with a clean Florida title. I don’t see how that could possibly be the case, but it is Florida. You can register just about anything in The Sunshine State if you try hard enough.
Mechanically, there’s no word on how the 300-horsepower 5.3-liter V8 or lowly four-speed automatic transmission has held up over 21 years of neglect. I’m going to assume both are pretty much junked based solely on how the rest of the SSR has held up.
If none of this has been enough to scare you off I suppose you can head over to IAAI’s auction at its Fort Pierce branch on April 23 for your chance to bid on this one-of-a-kind machine. Just make sure all of your shots are up to date.
 did to this poor purple 2004 Chevy SSR, but it wasn't good.){kind=link}