This is what happens when.

[special-K]

I have disliked every new truck design in my adult life, a little worse each change. It seems to take me 5 years to start liking them. I liked all the ones that came before my time. I started driving when the 67-72s were the current truck and I liked them. So I liked all Chevy Trucks when I started driving.

At 18 they came out with the '73. I didn't like it as much as the '72s, but I didn't hate them. Squarebodies lasted my adult life till I was 33. I didn't like the new front end in '81. The '88s came out and I thought the world was coming to an end . I was a K20/K30 guy and these were another animal. I realized what GM was doing/going after and I think it was a good thing but not for me*

In '92 I decided I wanted to run a new truck and felt the new GMs had proven themselves at that point, so I ordered one. I ended up loving that thing, was the best truck and I ran it 22 years. I'd like to do that again with a new truck but I'd be scared to own anything made these days beyond it's fresher years. I don't want to work on them and I'd hate to pay what it costs.

* I think they should be getting back to the less is more truck concept. Excellent visibility, quiet, maneuverable. All the new mechanics in one of those trucks would be awesome. Reasonable ride height and if you feel it needs to sit higher you can easily raise it.

Chuck: "Hey man I like the lift on your '18".
Tyler: "Lift? What does that mean? Is that good?".

Or

Tyler: "I'm glad all trucks sit high now. I'd feel like a wimp if other trucks sat higher than mine"
Chuck: "You are a wimp"

[3drburb]

I think GM is out of touch with the times we are in.

These new trucks are huge and maybe you should have a special license to drive these ( like a semi truck ) with all the distractions in them and most people having problems focusing these days.

Around here most of these expensive big trucks get used for picking up kids and doing family stuff as parking spaces are getting smaller.

I guess the trucks of our era will be mini trucks compared to these.

These are bigger than a c40, correct?

[cypressbog]

Originally Posted by LEEVON

Ram is the only one going in the other direction this year, with a modest grill that doesn't look like Fenway's Green

I'm currently shopping for a 2019 Ram 1500. I really like the new Jeep Gladiator, but I'm afraid they will be priced in the $50,000 range and the extra $10,000 of principle would make my payments higher than I could comfortably handle.

[Stocker]

Originally Posted by special-K

I think they should be getting back to the less is more truck concept. Excellent visibility, quiet, maneuverable. All the new mechanics in one of those trucks would be awesome. Reasonable ride height and if you feel it needs to sit higher you can easily raise it.

Tim, you should be in charge of design & development at GM. Maybe Keith Seymore can hook you up.


As to the new Rams, I think they just might be the best-looking trucks on the market today. Not that I'm in the market for a new truck....

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by 3drburb

For the Christmas party everyone wears an ugly sweater and get drunk.
Then the boss says "this is great, let's do the fugliest truck a couple years from now, it will be talked about forever".

Originally Posted by Boog

My apologies to Keith Seymore if he had anything to do with this new truck design.

LOL -

I don't go to Christmas parties. I don't prefer social situations.

K

[95 S_Trucker]

Everything is ugly when it first comes out. Then it gets less ugly as time goes on.

I personally don't like the look of the 2003-07, 2007-13 Chevys at all. And I don't like the 14-18 GMCs.

But its funny, I like the look of the GMC when the Chevy is ugly, and I like the Chevy when the GMC is ugly.

I am curious what the GMC version will look like.

The 6.6 GAS engine has my attention though. I am curious to see the specs on that. I read its currently being tested by Navistar, so maybe it will end up in the medium duty trucks too. I really like trucks that burn gas.

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by special-K

I have disliked every new truck design in my adult life, a little worse each change. It seems to take me 5 years to start liking them. I liked all the ones that came before my time. I started driving when the 67-72s were the current truck and I liked them. So I liked all Chevy Trucks when I started driving.

At 18 they came out with the '73. I didn't like it as much as the '72s, but I didn't hate them. Squarebodies lasted my adult life till I was 33. I didn't like the new front end in '81. The '88s came out and I thought the world was coming to an end . I was a K20/K30 guy and these were another animal. I realized what GM was doing/going after and I think it was a good thing but not for me*

In '92 I decided I wanted to run a new truck and felt the new GMs had proven themselves at that point, so I ordered one. I ended up loving that thing, was the best truck and I ran it 22 years. I'd like to do that again with a new truck but I'd be scared to own anything made these days beyond it's fresher years. I don't want to work on them and I'd hate to pay what it costs.

Originally Posted by 95 S_Trucker

Everything is ugly when it first comes out. Then it gets less ugly as time goes on.

I personally don't like the look of the 2003-07, 2007-13 Chevys at all. And I don't like the 14-18 GMCs.

But its funny, I like the look of the GMC when the Chevy is ugly, and I like the Chevy when the GMC is ugly.

I saw the '81 front end before it came out, didn't like it, and hurried and bought an '80.

I saw the GMT400 models before they came out and didn't like them, so I hurried and bought an '87 R truck.

My dad once teased me: he said "...you would have seen the '55 Chevy, not liked it and bought a '54!".

I'm presently driving an '04, but (naturally) I don't prefer the front end treatment over a 2002 HD version.

K

[3757chevy]

OK so I had to play around a little .

[68C15]

My boss has a 2017 Denali 2500HD. He has asked me to drive it and I refuse. I can't see anything from the seat, and I'm not short.

My old 68 had great visibility and rode nice. Plus it could pull and haul.

I don't want a 4 door truck, that's what the wife's car is for. I don't like feeling like a helicopter pilot when driving.

Come on GM. Make a 2 door 1/2 ton 4x4 with low hood, low belt line, 15 or 16" wheels and an 8' bed. It doesn't need GPS, Bluetooth, quad zone HVAC, computer controlled windows, heated seats and wheel, or any of that other high dollar distractions and gizmos. A truck should be just that, a truck. Is it going to take bankruptcy for you to realize this?

[truckster]

Chevrolet is in the middle of a redesign of the front end of the newest Camaro due to customer reactions. The same might happen with this thing.

[Leonard60]

Originally Posted by 3757chevy

OK so I had to play around a little .

I agree lower that front down. Sort of like they did in 1981. It would be a huge improvement

[jjzepplin]

My truck has a 7" lift and the new 2x4s have a higher hood than mine stock. I agree with the idea of lightening up with the features. Give me a short bed with a nice power plant and a stout transmission and soft ride. If I want the rest of the bluetooth stuff I could buy as I want. They build them now like they are expecting a flood. Surprise us and lower one!

[Stocker]

About that ridiculously tall hood etc...... several weeks ago we had a few minutes to kill and went to a Chevy dealership to eyeball the 2019s. I noticed that all of them, including 4x4s, had a low plastic chin spoiler to improve aerodynamics. It probably does that okay on pavement, at the expense of off-road ability. I mentioned that to the salesman who showed up, and his comment was to lift the truck. Really, a new 4x4 that needs to be lifted before you can take it off-road?

[Boog]

^^^^^^ yes this. Just who are the auto makers designing new vehicles for anyway? How many buyers actually NEED all those doodads and addons? I can remember when a highly optioned truck was a rarity on a dealers lot. Most all were work trucks, no frills. Then they started making trucks more comfortable and look like something to fit into any neighborhood. I bet now days it'd be hard to find a stripped model like that in most any dealer's inventory. I hear the automakers are building what the buying public wants but just how much are they leading consumers by loading them up?

I am a GM man through and through but the new Ram (still Dodge to me) is the best looking pickup on the market. It is smooth. Too tall but it's smooth.

[davischevy]

The ugly truck thing has been going on awhile. I had never really thought about the visibility much until this thread popped up.

I drove this one home last night because I thought the DOT was going to spread liquid rust. After reading this thread, the hood seemed to be overwhelming all of a sudden. (You guys ruined my driving experience. ) I just now sat down in my 71, and the difference in visibilty is amazing.

On the other hand, if you get past the looks, this truck is a 2008 with over 100,000 miles. It has never had any particular love, it has had regular maintenance, and it has never missed a beat. We run these trucks to 300,000 miles, and never replace much more than brakes and a tune up. The hieght thing does cause us to have to replace seat covers about every 50,000 miles because people have to slide in and out. I have no complaints about quality.

You don't get much plainer than this truck now days. It has power windows, locks and mirrors. 6.0, auto, 3.73 posi.

[A1971Blazer]

Originally Posted by davischevy

The ugly truck thing has been going on awhile. I had never really thought about the visibility much until this thread popped up.

I drove this one home last night because I thought the DOT was going to spread liquid rust. After reading this thread, the hood seemed to be overwhelming all of a sudden. (You guys ruined my driving experience. ) I just now sat down in my 71, and the difference in visibilty is amazing.

On the other hand, if you get past the looks, this truck is a 2008 with over 100,000 miles. It has never had any particular love, it has had regular maintenance, and it has never missed a beat. We run these trucks to 300,000 miles, and never replace much more than brakes and a tune up. The hieght thing does cause us to have to replace seat covers about every 50,000 miles because people have to slide in and out. I have no complaints about quality.

You don't get much plainer than this truck now days. It has power windows, locks and mirrors. 6.0, auto, 3.73 posi.

The worst thing about that model was those 2 huge chunks of metal on each side of the front bumper...it looks like they just didn't know what do do there....and just stuck those on to finish it off....
they don't flow smoothly with any line on the body or bumper

[68panelman]

As far as new Rams go, these look like the new Toyotas, kinda like the Ford front that Chevy stole. Glad I have what I got when I got it!

[In The Ten Ring]

The cutest little truck I ever saw was this little Mazda a coworker had. We traded cars one day so I could haul some stuff to my apartment. It was a straight drive, 2wd, little thing, but it was just what I needed.

My brother ended up with a fleet vehicle, early '80's Chevy S10 4 speed manual that my dad and I spray painted with rattle cans. It was a nice little truck but he gave it to my sister so it ended up in a junkyard. I tried to buy it from her but she junked it.

I like the older model Ford Rangers and if I needed a truck I'd go down south or over to California to find a rust-free one. Straight gear of course.

I think our trucks are about as pretty a truck as there is except for the 1951's and a bit earlier.

[sweetk30]

at least this photoshop pic looks better i think .

[RINC]

Originally Posted by special-K

So when real trucks (think Peterbilt/Kenworth/Mack) get aerodynamic sloped front ends for greater efficiency the little four wheeler consumer crafts get huge boxy blunt front ends.

The big trucks were getting smaller grills but the radiators got too small. They had to go bigger to keep them cool. I got one of the last old trucks in the fleet where I work. I don't want one of the new Pete's they are updating to.

[special-K]

I just opened the e-mail Chevy Legends sent last week and noticed this at the bottom of the picture. Do yu think they added that once they saw the initial reaction? I don't recall them ever introducing a new product that wasn't the final product. I bet designers are working feverishly on designing a new front grille design.

Don't bother. Doesn't work
https://outlook.live.com/actions/ei?...3A53%3A24.721Z

[Stocker]

Link goes to a blank page for me.

[kwmech]

Looks like the Griswolds upgraded to a truck

[special-K]

Blank page here, too. It showed the truck and at the bottom it said something to the effect of truck shown may vary from actual production. I deleted the e-mail already

[Boog]

Nnnno. It's not working over here either.
But that truck. It has a face only a mother could love right?