Trucks are popular as hell. More now than ever before in history. And they are more comfortable, more powerful, and more capable than ever before. And the 1988 to 1998 GM Truck is as responsible for that as anything on the road today. While Chevrolet C10 pickups will always be awesome, and Square Body 1973-1987 GM Trucks are some of my favorites ever, there is no denying that the trucks GM started selling in 1988 were a whole different ball game. I was just talking about this with Marcel Venable, famed truck magazine editor and one of the creative geniuses behind Auto Revolution, and the more I’ve thought about it the more I think these are going to be making a big comeback. These were the first trucks with no rain gutters so they had less wind noise. Seats that were MUCH more comfortable than anything that came before. Creature comforts that rivaled cars of the era, and arguably the best driving and handling trucks GM has built to that point. I owned one and loved it. Now I wish I had that truck still.
In the late 1980s all the way through the 1990’s this body style of truck was one of the most modified out there. Every truck magazine was full of them. Whether lifted, lowered, solid axle swapped, chopped, channeled or body dropped, and shaved and painted in 14 million different ways, these trucks were everywhere and loved by most everyone. They were the first trucks to actually look aerodynamic, and in fact are. This body style holds more than a few records on the salt at Bonneville.
I would also argue that if you took one that was built in 1997, and didn’t have some wacky 1990’s paint color on it, you could do a swap to wheels that are considered “in” right now and this truck would be as accepted and cool now as it was back then. Plus, in most states several years of these trucks require no emissions testing which means LS Swaps and such are going to be even easier to do.
What do you think? Is this the truck everyone will be modifying sooner than later?
Those C/K trucks have been trending since ’88.
I’ve owned a few of them over the years. Just don’t like the earlier ones with the squared off dash and funky speedo.
The favorite one was my ’92 RCSB black ext, red int, 350, 5 spd, lowered 4/6, 17 Centerline Daggers, Gibson side exhaust, rolled rear pan. That was a fun truck!
The last of the truly real trucks
Editor:
Be sure to stress that ONLY the Chevrolet truck can is allowed in your
worship-fest…and that anyone who likes 1980-1986 Ford Shortbox trucks
is not eligible to own or modify one. Thank you for your cooperation in
honoring the True-God Chevrolet truck.
I’m sorry my title wasn’t clearer, I was talking about which GM truck would be the next to trend. But since you brought it up, YES CHEVROLET IS THE ONE TRUE GOD OF VEHICLES. It’s my opinion and I’m just as welcome to it as you are. The one Ford my family ever owned was a 1989 Crew Crab. I think it was a 1989 anyway. It was a diesel and would pull okay but literally could not keep up with traffic on the freeway without adding a GearVendors to it. It was fine, but had no soul like my other stuff. If you are as in love with your Fords as I am with my Chevys then you are okay in my book. And I’ll buy you a beer and we can discuss the merits of each at length. Happy hot rodding!
For States with a rolling 25 year classic car category / inspection exemption, the current desirability cutoff is ’93
I have a 94 with 217000 miles on it and I keep it . Where I live pre-95 vehicles are exempt of a overcharge for vehicles over 3.9 liters of engine size , making it more worthy .
The real question is when will this market crash and come back down to reasonable levels? The price of vehicles old and new is absolutely insane right now. What do you guys think? 2019? 2020?