Found A 1 Of 62 Alchemy Purple Chevy SS In The Wild

"FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com" (alphaass)
10/13/2017 at 22:17 • Filed to: That Dodge Attitude Tho..., DOTS

Judging by the driver, paper tags and trunk lid sticker, an extremely lucky older lady apparently just bought this unicorn at CarMax. The world works in mysterious ways...

DISCUSSION (29)

Logansteno: Bought a VW? > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
10/13/2017 at 22:22

I didn’t know it was that rare of a color, there’s one parked in a bank parking lot by my house all the time.

pip bip - choose Corrour > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
10/13/2017 at 22:23

Nice if it is a manual

Steve in Manhattan > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
10/13/2017 at 22:25

I’ve seen 3 in the wild ... all black.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
10/13/2017 at 22:27

What a gorgeous color

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > pip bip - choose Corrour
10/13/2017 at 22:28

It appeared to be an auto. I was behind it for a while and I never saw her take a hand off of the steering wheel. According The the Chevy SS forum only 14 of the 62 were manuals.

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > Logansteno: Bought a VW?
10/13/2017 at 22:31

Yeah I didn’t realize until I looked it up after seeing it. Of course that means the forums are to be believed but the members don’t seem to be debating them much.

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap
10/13/2017 at 22:31

It was fantastic in the sun. I was super jealous.

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > Steve in Manhattan
10/13/2017 at 22:35

Most are black. Production numbers over in the forums suggest 1/3 are black, 2x more than any other color.

WilliamsSW > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
10/13/2017 at 22:52

I’m surprised it’s that rare - I’ve seen one or two. There’s a slipstream metallic blue one that’s local - that looks good too.

There’s a light metallic green that I’ve never seen in the wild. But it does seem like they’re mostly black or red.

Chariotoflove > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
10/13/2017 at 23:19

Wow. And it was at Carmax? The Universe is truly mysterious.

nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
10/13/2017 at 23:22

Can’t say I’ve seen one in the wild yet. Granted I could have passed it off as a Malibu or Impala. But I think I’ve seen plenty more (police) Caprice out there thank SS.

What was Chevy’s thinking here? Did they not want to cannibalize the Camaro and Corvette sale? I think a unity be it design or marketing amongst the 3 could have been incredible.

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > WilliamsSW
10/13/2017 at 23:25

Yeah it was a one year color on a car that hasn’t exactly been produced in huge numbers. But I think we see them out and about because it’s still a Chevy sedan - most people who buy these want a fast daily, not something to store in the garage. They have a few fantastic colors that are pretty darn rare. Most I’ve seen a outside of a dealer are black as well.

What I find most interesting about the whole SS experiment is that I see several Charger SRT’s for every SS. I get that the SS was basically a way to check some box GM had about exporting a certain number of cars from Australia, but it seems like there is a real market in the USA for this sort of car. Heck, I see plenty of Charger Hellcats around town (including one awesome blue one with sliver/red stripes). They probably could’ve shoved the 650 hp supercharged LT4 from the Camaro ZL1 in the SS and sold plenty of them even at $60k+. I assume the economics of importing them just didn’t make sense. Hopefully GM can concoct something based on the CTS (and Camaro) platform to give Chevy another RWD sedan down the road.

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > Chariotoflove
10/13/2017 at 23:34

Indeed. There’s actually 10 SS’s for sale nationwide at CarMax right now. All automatics and all red or black/gray/white. I don’t really understand where they get them, but CarMax gets some interesting cars. I remember last time I was shopping they had a John Cooper Works Countryman with those obnoxious red OEM stripes and a BMW M6 with a manual transmission at my local store.

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
10/13/2017 at 23:36

There is a blue one near me with Aussie badges. Never seen another, but it’s Marin/SF.

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul
10/13/2017 at 23:55

This is what I’ve heard and assumed to be true, but I’ve never fact checked - so grain of salt and all that: GM had some obligation to import a certain number of Australian-made cars to the USA. I don’t really know the back story as to why, but I’m guessing some sort of tax incentives at play somewhere. At some point they made the decision to make the Commodore into the SS and make it their replacement for the Impala in NASCAR. That way they could do a road version to go with it and take care of the import obligation. But apparently by the time they got it all sorted out, Chevy is basically breaking even on each SS. Since they can’t really make money due to the costs of importing it, they just sell the few they need to.

As I mentioned in another comment, obviously there is a market for this kind of car - Dodge sells plenty of SRT Chargers on an ancient platform. Hopefully they can do a sedan on the Alpha platform. The ATS, CTS and Camaro are the only things on it. I’ve driven the current Camaro. It’s lovely. I think they could shorten the wheelbase of the CTS a bit and de-content it enough to get the turbo-4 version to start just north of $30k and offer an SS trim around $45k where the current SS sits and the CTS starts.

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°)
10/13/2017 at 23:59

I think the Holden badges are a pretty common thing. I’ve seen several Pontiac G8's running around with them too.

Maxima Speed > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
10/14/2017 at 00:05

Imagine a little old lady ripping massive burnouts at the local street racer meet in a Kmart parking lot on tonight.

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
10/14/2017 at 00:37

I did see one of those with out of state plates too.

WilliamsSW > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
10/14/2017 at 00:39

True about the Charger SRT - and I’m not as tuned to notice those, mostly because there are Chargers everywhere.

The SS is an oddity, which I really like, so it turns my head any time I see one.

What you said about it is right - there was some deal in place to export X number of cars to the US, and that’s what we got. I’d bet that they’re money losers, so Chevy never marketed them because they could care less about selling any more. Most articles about the SS miss that point, choosing to rag on Chevy for not marketing them, or blaming us enthusiasts for not buying more of them. We were never getting more of them.

I REALLY hope you’re right about them coming up with a domestic replacement, but I’m skeptical. The CTS V Sport is the closest GM car to that now, and they’re much more rare than the SS around here. Granted, the price is too high on it - there’s exactly 1 on dealer lots around Chicago, and it’s currently being offered online at 57k - 20% under MSRP. They need a car closer to the SS (and Charger SRT) in price.

BTW, that blue one in my neighborhood has a license plate that reads “NOT A BU”

Chariotoflove > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
10/14/2017 at 01:27

That seems disproportionate. Especially for a driver’s car.

Nauraushaun > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
10/17/2017 at 16:27

1 of 62 for that year? Ever? There are plenty of purple commodores down here

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > Nauraushaun
10/17/2017 at 18:12

Year and ever. I assume it is the same paint you have, but for the export SS it was 2015 only. It is a rare car overall here in the US - only 3,168 of the 2015's were built including GM internal vehicles.

Nauraushaun > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
10/17/2017 at 22:14

I’ve heard about that. It seems it was an afterthought at GM and never really got the attention it deserved. Especially the purple ones :(

Also we have non-SSs of course. It’s a mass market car. I saw a V6 Commodore in Alchemy Purple yesterday

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > Nauraushaun
10/18/2017 at 08:33

My understanding (that could be based on false rumors) is that GM was never able to figure out a way to produce it in Australia and import to the USA in a way that could make money no matter how many they sold. So they just left it as a small volume produce to satisfy agreements that they would import a minimum of X vehicles per year. The sad thing is that Dodge sells tons of Chargers here - a very similar car to the Commodore in that it is a large RWD sedan with V6 and V8 options - so there definitely is a market for it.

Nauraushaun > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
10/18/2017 at 18:04

It is sad. It’s a good car that was reviewed well - there certainly would be a market for it.

But I imagine the Charger is built locally right? Or in Mexico? Hard for a car built in Australia to match that on price. The US dollar is stronger which should help, but even so.

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > Nauraushaun
10/18/2017 at 18:13

Exactly - it’s made in Canada actually, but same idea. From what I’ve heard, which again could be just internet rumors, there was some agreement somewhere along the way that GM wouldn’t produce anything on the Commodore platform outside of Australia. I’m assuming it was part of a bid to help save local manufacturing, but in the end it wasn’t enough :(

Nauraushaun > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
10/19/2017 at 17:38

Dingo > pip bip - choose Corrour
03/07/2019 at 12:23

Only 14 Alchemy Purple Metallic manuals exist. Talk about a true unicorn.

pip bip - choose Corrour > Dingo
03/07/2019 at 16:00

That many?