As fads come and go, they often become marks on our cultural timeline. Whether powdered wigs or pet rocks, they provide information about where we were at a particular point in history. Fads are not limited to useless headpieces or tchotchkes either. The brilliant minds in the automotive industry have had their share as well.

Trends in the automotive arena tend to permeate the industry quickly and deeply, usually petering out within a generation or so of models. Cadillac introduced the tailfin in the 1948 model year, and by the late 1950s, a full-fledged tailfin war had emerged.

My favorite novelty trend was the "bustle-back" design of the early 1980s: Cadillac led the way once again with the questionable styling of the 1980 Seville, only to be followed by the Chrysler Imperial and the Lincoln Continental.

Designers got into another "me-too" funk in the 1990s, seemingly incapable of coming up with an original idea. Instead, they pilfered the history of their own brands. Dodge started the wave with the 1989 Dodge Viper concept car, followed as a production model in the 1992 model year. Plymouth and Chrysler followed with the hot-rod 1997 Prowler and its mainstream derivative, the 2001 PT Cruiser. Volkswagen took styling cues from the original Volkswagen Type 1 with the introduction of the New Beetle. BMW's 2001 Mini and Ford's 2002 Thunderbird were among other bandwagon riders.

Never one to let its rich history go unnoticed, Chevrolet brought out the compact HHR in 2005, almost a lifetime behind the similar PT Cruiser. Like the PT Cruiser, the HHR was a follow-up to a limited-edition retro vehicle: the SSR.

At the 2000 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Chevrolet introduced the Super Sport Roadster concept (illustrated on Page 90). This pickup-like roadster combined the look of Chevrolet's classic post-war pickups with modern running gear and a hardtop convertible roof. It was such a hit with the public that a production version was tooled up and brought to market for the 2003 model year.

Based on the mid-sized GMT-360 SUV platform (Chevrolet Trailblazer and GMC Envoy), the SSR rolled off the Lansing Craft Centre assembly lines where other limited-production models had been built (among them, the Buick Reatta, the final Cadillac Eldorados, and the electric GM EV1). As Chrysler had done with the Dodge Viper and Plymouth Prowler, GM used its vast parts bin to source the components for this unique product.

The SUV chassis was designed to accept V8 engines, so the SSR initially came equipped with the Vortec 5300 5.3L OHV 290-horsepower V8