What Chevy’s Recent SS Trademark Really Means, and News On All-New Model/2013 NASCAR Entry

There's been a lot of chatter and rumormongering surrounding a trademark that General Motors recently filed for an iconic pair of letters: SS. Many are claiming that this confirms the name of a new Chevy to simply be called the SS, which will share its moniker and shape with the brand's 2013 NASCAR entry. Here's what's really going on. Logo vs. Trim Level It's true that a trademark for SS—by itself—was recently discovered in the USPTO database. But what everyone seems to have missed is that the trademark filing wasn't actually for the name of a car, but for the SS logo design you see above. The filing clearly states: "The mark consists of the letters SS in a fanciful design." The logo, as well as a "specimen" image of the badge on the back of a Camaro SS (right), are attached to the filing. And the trademark database entry also refers to the original use of this mark (3/16/2009), which coincides with the launch of the first car to wear that version of the logo, the 2010 Camaro SS. Many thought the trademark pointed to the name of the expected street version of Chevy's 2013 NASCAR racer, which will get a new name that isn't currently being used in the bow-tie portfolio. While this reading of the trademark filing doesn't prove that SS won't be that car's name, it doesn't look very likely, especially because of the inevitable confusion that would arise between the SS model and the SS trim level on Camaros. NASCAR Knowledge: It'll Be an SS In related SS news, we've learned from a very reliable source that prototypes of the 2013 Chevy NASCAR entry are wearing camouflage based on the SS logo. This basically confirms that the new race car's name will have SS appended on the end, which means the theoretical rear-wheel-drive street-car counterpart would itself have an SS trim level. We really don't care what the car is called, as long as it means there will be a new high-performance rear-drive Chevy coming to market soon. from Car and Driver Blog http://blog.caranddriver.com

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