Repair-It

Holy crap! Chevrolet is getting rid of the SS?! I wonder if there are any showroom stragglers I can snag before they all are tucked away in some rich collector’s dark warehouse . . .

The arrival of 2018 absolutely marks the end of the line for the criminally underappreciated Chevrolet SS sedan, and it’s just one of about 20 models that won’t see the dawn of the 2018 model year. Check your existential baggage and read on for the full rundown of vehicles that won’t be back for the next trip around the sun.

Through nine generations, there always has been a two-door version of the Honda Accord. Not anymore. With the arrival of the tenth-generation, 2018 model, the Accord now comes in only one body style: a four-door sedan, the choice of more than 95 percent of buyers in recent years. The seminal Accord, back in 1976, was a two-door hatchback; a four-door sedan companion followed one year later. The notchback coupe arrived for 1988 during the model’s third generation; it was sold alongside the sedan and the two-door hatchback. The next redesign saw the hatchback fall away, and the two-door coupe became the lone “sportier” body style for the Accord. But it wasn’t sportier enough—neither in its performance nor its appearance. And as the market turned away from two-doors, coupe variants of mid-size, front-drive sedans became expendable. First Toyota dropped its Camry Solara, then Nissan followed, axing the Altima coupe. Honda stayed in the game longer and, to its credit, continued to offer the Accord coupe with a V-6 engine and a manual transmission right up to the end. But the end arrived just the same. —Joe Lorio

They didn't. It was only exported to the US to fill out contractual production requirements for its plant in Australia. They had a set number they wanted to export, and didn't want to sell any more of them than that. Advertising it more would have made it more likely to have accidentally attracted demand, which might have meant they needed to operate that plant more, rather than being able to close it down easily.

The SS didn't die due to poor performance, poor fuel economy, poor sales, or anything like that. It died because GM wanted to shut down its expensive Australian based production and move it to cheaper 3rd world countries.

Coupes are just dropping like flies.

Here's a complete list of the coupes you can buy new in 2018 under $25k: Honda Civic, VW Beetle.
And here's the list of the ones that don't suck: Honda Civic.

Thinking back to the huge variety in this segment in 1998 is a pretty depressing exercise for a car guy.

True at 25k, but if you can shake a few more coins out of the living room sofa, a 6-speed EcoBoost Mustang (310hp/350ft lbs) is 26.5k before the inevitable rebates and dealer discounts. If I wanted a new Coupe around 25k that's where my $$$ would go. It's amazing how popular big coupes like the Cutlass Supreme and Cougar used to be in the '80s and now they can't give them away.

Most coupes don't offer any advantage.