Chevy wants to make it so that every kid – old or young – dreams of driving a Malibu. And as hard as that may be to accept, the latest introductions to the never-ending lineup of Chevrolets – the SS versions of the Malibu and Malibu Maxx – just may win more than a few recruits. Along with the new 2006 TrailBlazer SS, these Malibu variants bring the Chevrolet SS total to eight members, a family that includes cars and trucks with at least some performance heritage. The idea of marketing high performance variants of commonplace cars has been around for a while with mostly positive results, so Chevy is milking the formula for all it’s worth as it scrambles for sales in a competitive marketplace.

Here's hoping that the Malibu SS is a hit in the minds of shoppers. With more performance, exterior sex appeal and interior upgrades, the Malibu SS sedan and Malibu Maxx SS hatchback are at least improvements over their mainstream equivalents. In the end, however, the question that burns is this: Can I rent that Malibu SS from Avis?