Chevy SS to debut in Daytona on Feb. 16
Photo credit: Vince Bond Jr.
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DETROIT -- Chevrolet will unveil the production version of the SS performance sedan a week before the Daytona 500, a General Motors executive said today.
Spectators can see the SS before the Sprint Unlimited race on Feb. 16 in Daytona International Speedway’s fan zone.
The production model will have rear-wheel drive and a fuel-injected V-8 engine, said Jim Campbell, Chevrolet’s U.S. vice president of performance vehicles and motorsports.
“This is the first time that we’ve done this in decades, where we’re going to introduce a whole new model at a racetrack,” Campbell said during the Autoweek Racing Conference in Detroit. “We’ve done special editions at racetracks, but many decades since we’ve done this with a whole new model.”
GM said in November that it expects the production version of the SS to act as a low-volume car and build excitement about the brand.
The Australian-built performance sedan will arrive in U.S. showrooms by late 2013 as a 2014 model. In November, GM North America President Mark Reuss said it will be priced higher than the front-wheel-drive Chevy Impala, which has a base price of $27,535, including shipping.
Brand identity
NASCAR President Mike Helton confirmed during the conference that manufacturer badges will be added to the windshield next to driver names for the 2013 season.
Helton said drivers are NASCAR’s greatest asset for generating fanfare, but the association understands that four out of five fans also have an affinity to the car brand itself.
“That’s just another step in working with the OEMs to realize not just the importance of doing it for them on the business side, but that helps the fan identify with that collective support of that racecar, that racecar driver and that brand of car.”
Mike Colias contributed to this report.
You can reach Vince Bond Jr. at vbond@crain.com. -- Follow Vince on 
