Chevrolet HHR Panel

It’s not often that I praise any of the American auto manufacturers, least of all Chevrolet. This isn’t because I’m a European car fanboy or otherwise prejudiced against American cars but simply because they churn out so much crap. The chronic problem for manufacturers is that of least-common-deonminator, good-enough, penny-pinching engineering.

Though I’m a little bit behind the ball, Chevy announced that they would be making a panel-van version of their retro-styled HHR mini-SUV; this is the first good idea to come out of the C-shop in a long time. Small businesses have needs to transfer things just like larger ones. Plumbers and contractors have a reason to have a full-size van, since they want to carry around a lot of tools and spare parts. If you’re not into construction, however, that’s a bit much. Beyond being more vehicle than you want to buy and getting terrible gas mileage, it’s difficult to park and maneuver. Sure, you can get a minivan for your small business but that leaves you little area to put logos and it’s also too low, down below the windows. Furthermore, a minivan is still often more space than is necessary. So you could look at small hatchbacks such as the Mazda 3 or Honda Accord which are nice, but a little bit too small and still offer little space for advertising on the outside.

The HHR is just the right size; it’s Goldilocks’ preferred size, providing enough room to care somewhat bulky items (flowers, small catering gear, computers), a few cubbys for tools and some good space for plastering a logo on the outside. I really think this is perfect for small business like florists, computer support and even someone like Charm City Cakes, who are often on Food Network transporting a wedding cake in a huge Econoline van.