At the dawn of the 1990s the auto manufacturers were still in the “early awakening” process, barely stirring, just starting to figure out that smog equipment, emissions laws, computers and horsepower could, indeed, talk to each other and not only function, but thrive. Camaro vs. Mustang was still alive, even though the top horsepower numbers were below 300 horsepower, and within GM’s halls strode one man who knew the old-school methods of kicking some life into some mediocre vehicles. His name? Jon Moss. His vehicles were the stuff of 1990s legends: a 466ci RWD-converted W-body Monte Carlo, V8 S-10s, the 1994-96 Impala SS, the C5 Corvette. He even turned a Cavalier Z24 into a performing tuner with a lift kit, like a rally zero car. And that’s not to speak of his legendary 1994 “ZL-1” Camaro that was packing one hell of a big-block punch that went toe to toe with John Coletti’s Boss Mustang.
But one of the standout vehicles that Chevrolet did during the “Toy Box” era of wild-ass concept vehicles was a mostly white 1993 Chevrolet C-1500 step side pickup known as “Coolside”. Why a half-ton truck when Chevrolet already had the 454SS? At this point in time, slammed GM trucks were one of the biggest automotive trends anywhere. A low, muscular stance, some wild graphics, tinted windows were the normal. What wasn’t normal was the entire running gear of the Coolside: a 510ci big-block GM motor that pushed 536 horsepower and 506 ft/lbs of torque that pushed the power through an all-wheel drive system. While many outlets of the day believed that the all-wheel-drive system was sourced from the Oldsmobile Bravada, it’s more likely that the all-wheel-drive system was a viscous coupling unit sprung from a Chevrolet race truck. Officially, the Coolside was rated for a 13.0 quarter and a o-60 MPH time of 4.7 seconds. Not bad by today’s standards, officially brutal by 1993 standards.
The Coolside stayed in the Toy Box until GM’s drawdown in 2008. It was auctioned off at Mecum’s Palm Beach auction on a scrap title for $22,000 and since then has been pretty much off of the radar. Shame, too…somewhere there is a twin-turbo setup that would take Jon Moss’s creation and turn it into a legitimate supercar hunter.
Jon Moss. Shame he retired. I still have my old dog-eared copies of Motor Trend and Hot Rod when they raided the Moss hideout.
This truck was very unique. I had the pleasure of seeing it in person at the Carlisle Pa. truck show in 94/95 time frame. Was allowed to take some very good pics of the interior etc. The lights in the bumper was what the Tahoe Limited etc was modeled after. There is a detailed article in Trucking or Sport Truck magazine of the time period. Best I remember it was an auto in the floor with a Camaro our something similar console.