Chevrolet Silverado

The other day I saw a Chevy Silverado driving down the street. I thought to myself "You don't see those very often, they must not be too successful," before realizing that it was my neighbors' truck, I drive by it every day, and I actually drive by tons of them constantly. Yet, somehow, I don't notice them. It's a gigantic vehicle with no presence, how did GM pull that off?

I'm not particularly biased towards or against any particular brand when it comes to trucks. In fact, the GM has made the best looking trucks for decades, up to the 1998 model, which finally ceded the crown to Ford. The model before that was possibly the best looking truck ever made, in spite of an interior filled with bad ideas and tiny buttons to ensure that people wearing giant work gloves could never adjust the climate control or radio. Actually, the fact that the electronics were notorious for breaking also contributed to that. Still, it was a good looking vehicle, and eventually even got an interior that was functional. Farmers and construction workers were happy.

The '98-2007 model, while not particularly good looking, at least had presence. It was odd, with the slightly melted curves and ample swaths of ill-considered plastic additions it had a toy-like appearance, but the thing was so big that it was no toy. It was a scaled up Tonka toy, and while I hated it at first glance, it has since grown on me and I can admit that it had a certain distinct presence.



This new Silverado has no presence, and instead of forging ahead with some of the good ideas from trucks past, it just repeats what Ford and Dodge have been doing. Yet, it does that to lesser effect, and it winds up being a massive vehicle with no presence. It could be any truck, it's pretty much every truck.

The problems start at the front end. The giant grille is certainly trendy, though it doesn't really fit anything GM had done before. So, here's a massive grille, that pushes the headlights to the periphery and takes over the front of the truck. In an obvious cost saving move, it also is easily switched out for the GMC grille, which leads to the first loss of identity.

Chevrolet has never really been about the grille, their trucks have been marked out primarily by the thick bar which divides it and the headlights. It's the most distinctive part of the design, and one of the ways you can tell immediately you're looking at a Chevy truck. So, the obvious thing to do is de-emphasize it to the point where the bar is barely even a design element. It's cheaper, but it's less interesting and is part of the any-truck problem that the vehicle has. It's a grille swap away from being a GMC, but it doesn't have any identity outside of that grille. You could swap on a Ford badge and it'd fit just as well, though Ford actually has a design language on their trucks. It could be anything.

The indistinct looks continue as you go. The comically large fender flares are sort of unique, but such things are a truck cliche at this point, and by making them absurdly large it somehow dulls the impact. It's something anybody could do, but it doesn't actually add anything, and in spite of being massive they're also kind of subtle, since they're not emphasized in any other way. Giving the truck flat sides would have been more unique.



One thing the massive flares do is most noticeable on the back of the truck. The wheels are lost in the massive opening. It looks like a body mod gone horribly wrong, or that you're going along on your space saver. The thing is, the wheels aren't small, and even on the gigantic heavy duty models they never actually fill the fender. I wonder how much box space is wasted by the gigantic wheel wells.

Still, that's something which is unique, and the only unique thing from a rear 3/4 view. The taillights are a direct rip of the Dodge Ram from the same era, and since there's so little that can be done on the back of a truck, using the same shape and style of taillights is a definite no-no. The badge, at least, is gigantic, so people have some idea of who made the truck. There's also a character line that doesn't really have enough of an impression to really stand out, and the half-spoiler/half-rubber step on the top of the tailgate, which always looks like a last minute addition even though GM has been using it for years. One would think some effort would me made to integrate it a little.

The problem is, that mistake is the only thing that makes the truck unique. It could wear any badge with no problem, something that cannot be said of any of its competitors. It's surely a challenge to make a large and imposing truck without giving it any presence whatsoever, but GM managed it, and now I'm always surprised when I actually notice one driving down the street.

Chevrolet Silverado owners, your truck is boring.