2006 Chevy HHR

1949 Chevy Suburban

I recognize you. You were the one who wore Chuck Taylors to the senior prom.

You had an ankle tattoo long before everybody and their grandmother had one.

You watched Seinfeld back when it was called The Seinfeld Chronicles. And you never wanted your ride to blend in at the mall parking lot.

So perhaps you were drawn to Chrysler’s PT Cruiser that first year it came out—again, before your grandmother bought one. Or maybe you bought one of the first New Beetles. Right now, chances are you’re driving a Mini—without the white top, like everyone else’s of course. But hey, you’re starting to notice there seem to be a lot more of them on the road than when you got yours. What to do? Well, you might want to drive on down to your local Chevy dealer and check out the new HHR—Chevy’s rather dreadfully named retro wagon. It’s still new enough to set you apart from most of the crowd, and it’s much more practical than that Mini in your driveway.

In case you’re wondering, HHR standsfor—are you ready for this?—Heritage High-Roof. Imagine someone at GM getting paid big bucks to come up with that name! The Heritage part is supposed to refer to its resemblance to the 1949 Chevy Suburban light truck. The High-Roof refers to—ta-da!—its high roof, relative, I guess, to most other cars its size. In photos it appears larger than Chevy’s Cobalt compact sedan, but it’s actually about four inches shorter lengthwise while riding about the same wheelbase. Naturally it’s taller, or should I say “higher,” by about eight inches. Technically the Cobalt and HHR are separate models, but in a roundabout way, the HHR is the station wagon version of the Cobalt. Product gurus at GM decided that, instead of producing an actual Cobalt wagon, they’d do something a bit more “out there” to stand away from the crowd. This is why I, unlike Chevrolet, can’t bring myself to call the HHR a truck. Except for some very minor differences, the HHR and the Cobalt have the same drivetrains, same suspensions—hey, these are the things which are supposed to differentiate a car from a truck, not adding eight inches to a car’s height. Jeesh!

Other than that, though, I like the HHR. It’s very striking in certain colors, especially the Sunburst Orange Ii Metallic (another great name). You can currently see a few of these parked in Paddock’s overflow lot just off the I-290 at Delaware Avenue. They really look good on a sunny day.

For a change this week, let’s go to Chevy’s Web page and build one of our own.

The base LS 1LS starts at $15,890 and includes a 2.2-liter, four-cylinder engine mated to a five-speed manual transmission. A/C, power windows, locks and mirrors, remote keyless entry, and bolt-on wheel covers are also included.

Another three grand will move you up to the LT 1LT—what is up with these lame names?—which’ll get you power seats, aluminum wheels and a bit fancier trim.

Adding yet another two big ones will move you up to the LT 2LT, which gets you even more amenities. For now we’ll stick with the base LS. For $400 let’s add four-wheel ABS, and for another $395 the side head curtain front and rear airbags. With delivery, that adds up to $16,685. Hmm, looks like we’re stuck with the standard sound system — am/fm/cd, which at least has an auxiliary jack to plug in my iPod, but to get the premium Pioneer system I’d have to move up to the 2LT. Which, we all know, I’m too cheap for.

All in all, Chevy’s done a nice job with the HHR. Hopefully it’s not a design we’ll get tired of quickly. Now, if they’d only bring back the Vega.

More info at www.chevrolet.com.