<img src="https://www.chevyhhr.net/news/hhr8.jpg" align="left" border="0" hspace="5" vspace="5">Phil Zak, GM design manager, Small/Mid-Size Vehicles, talks about the HHR, Chevrolet's latest vehicle in what has been a fairly aggressive launch of new products during the past several months—everything from the C6 Corvette to the Cobalt sedan. He says that it is sort of like the Chevy SSR—which was used as the "benchmark vehicle". . but at a lower price point. (Much lower. The SSR starts at $43K. You could get a couple of HHRs and a bevy of options for that.) He notes the fact the prominent wheel flares of the SSR are picked up by the HHR, but in the case of the HHR, the flares are less rounded, more tucked into the sides of the vehicle, which, he maintains, combined with the inward curving rockers, makes the vehicle have a stance he describes as being "really planted." He says that it has design cues from what is conceivably the first SUV, the '49 Suburban, particularly the shape of the hood.

The aspect of the vehicle that he is most impressed with/gratified by is the passenger's side rear quarter panel, a stamped piece that he describes as being "a work of art." Note how this stamped piece not only encompasses the two rounded tail lamps, but also has the cut-in for the fuel-filler door. And almost equally impressive to Zak is the one-piece front hood stamping, which he calls "an exquisite piece of metalwork for a vehicle in this segment." Or put more simply: given that this is a vehicle with a starting MSRP of $15,990, the kind of attention to detail that is being deployed here is above and beyond that which might be expected. As he walks around the vehicle, he notes things ranging from gaps that he says are <4 mm to the tight detailing around the headlamps to the single-piece molding around the windows. "The interior," he remarks, "has the same level of quality and detailed execution." He cites, for example, the chrome rings around the gauge cluster and the clean graphics. Chrome is also used on other surfaces, ranging from the shifter ring to the door handles to the control knobs. The interior strategy is to use darker colors on the upper portions and lighter on the lower; this is said to provide a more upscale-appearance. Still, this is a utility vehicle, so one of the things that they've done is to integrate a multitude of storage and cargo capabilities. These range from a bin in the top center of the instrument panel with a flip-up lid to the ability to take the primary load floor in the rear of the vehicle and to raise it up and secure it so that it creates a shelf. The rear seats are 60/40 split (with the 60 being on the passenger's side) and the front passenger's seat folds flat (at the same level as the rear seats in the folded position) such that there is the ability to carry something 8-ft long with the hatch closed. (Total cargo area is 63.1-ft3 with the rear seat removed. According to product manager Michael Danowski, there is a "rear-seat delete" option for the vehicle, as there are commercial vehicle applications being taken into consideration.) read more

 

Definitely interesting, thanks

 

Was he also in charge of the antenna??

 

The antenna is "a work of art" "borrowed" from a .......... Just kidding! I hate the antenna also! I'll take it off at a later time because I don't listen to the radio anyways.

 

I'm planning on mounting an XM antenna in it's place - just a little flat-style XM unit.
It should look better than that @#%$ (can i say that here?), stock unit.

 

"the flares are less rounded, more tucked into the sides of the vehicle, which, he maintains, combined with the inward curving rockers, makes the vehicle have a stance he describes as being "really planted."
What he's describing here is why this thing has the problems requiring running boards to keep the rear from getting sandblasted. They should have flared the fenders and quarters out more to keep debris off the vehicle OR, they should have incorporated the running boards into the HHR as a standard feature - just like the original.

 

Standard feature - AMEN. Then the customer could choose to "delete running boards" putting the blame in a completely different location.

 

maybe you could put a shark fin attena like the BMWs have?

 

I thought about that when I was installing my Sirius antenna, but I decided not to becuase of the contour of the roof. How are you going to make sure the XM antenna seats flush with the roof?

Ng

 

Don't you mean Saab?? Here's the original quote that it sounds like you stole it from......

https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/general-hhr-4/antenna-1441/

"Some one us like the symmetrical look of a center roof antenna. Since I use my XM Roady2 exclusively, I rather have my antenna mast removed and put a plug over it... or better, something like the shark fin on my wife's SAAB."
Quote from 1BadPig, dated 4/7/06 @ 7:18 am