The late Sir Terence Conran, foremost of the wave of industrial designers who introduced design literacy to a grey post-war Great Britian, believed everyone’s lives could be improved with a better-designed salad bowl. I’m not sure about that, seeing as salads are to be endured rather than enjoyed, but the point is that good design should be democratic and accessible — available to everyone in the products they use everyday. The humble Bic ballpoint. IKEA’s Billy bookcase. A Bialetti Moka stove top coffee pot. The Swatch. Nike Air Max 90 sneakers. These are everyday goods whose great design is overlooked because of their sheer ubiquity. To this list of design underdogs I will add one, an everyday vehicle that never gets the attention its outstanding design deserves: the GMT400 trucks and SUVs. (Yes, I’m aware the SUVs had different platform codes but they’re essentially identical, and I’m including them for the purposes of this discussion.)
Just how good were they? Think about this: Not only were they in production for nearly twelve years, look at what came before and after. The GMT400 was a huge step forward functionally, technically and aesthetically over the previous GM ‘square body’ that preceded it. The design language was so successful the first time around it couldn’t easily be improved upon, and the replacement GMT 800s that appeared in 2000 were a retrograde step, visually speaking.
It’s an automotive irony that the minivan, that most visible manifestation of virility, is a sex-free device. More efficient in terms of packaging and fuel economy, by the mid-eighties it was well on its way to replacing traditional sedans and wagons on driveways across America. But if you wanted accessible eight-cylinder power, plenty of space for passengers and cargo, and body-on-frame simplicity in a style that didn’t look like you had given up on life, your options were becoming limited. Recognizing customers were starting to buy pickup trucks for personal use, GM went all out to make the GMT400s as refined as possible.
But before I, an automobile designer, get into the legendary styling, let’s talk about what this truck was.
A Massive Step Forward
The GMT400 marked the first time trucks moved away from being strictly utilitarian commercial vehicles. The truck market was evolving – by the early 1980s they were no longer being purchased solely as work vehicles. Non-traditional customers wanted a more car-like driving experience with better ride quality, improved fuel economy and increased interior comfort. Previously trucks had been hardworking, mechanically robust but somewhat unrefined vehicles with few concessions to anything other than standing up to an honest day’s hard work – heavy duty live axles and leaf springs were great for hauling and towing, but not good for providing a car-like driving experience.
Introduced in 1988, the Chevrolet C/K 1500s (and their GMC Sierra twins) were a revelation. According to the CarHP website, they were the first trucks designed using CAD (Computer Aided Design). I couldn’t corroborate this but the slickness and consistency of the GMT400s’ appearance, coupled with the fact they were fractionally lower and narrower than their predecessors while providing larger door openings and increased interior volume, certainly points to the surfacing and body engineering being carried out with the aid of digital tools. [Ed Note: This sounds plausible; the first Jeep designed using CAD is known to be the Jeep Grand Cherokee, developed in the late 1980s, so the timeline makes sense. -DT].
Underneath, the front suspension did away with the live axle and all its attendant compromises, and replaced it with an independent control arm set-up – sprung with coils for the 2WD models and torsion bars for the 4WD trucks, which introduced the Insta-Trac shift-on-the-fly transfer case, further increasing usability. There was power steering as standard, and ABS on the rear axle to prevent empty-bed lock ups. The front frame rails were hydroformed to reduce weight and increase strength and rigidity.
Why Use One Button When You Can Use Two
The interior banished the cold vinyl and harsh trim of the previous trucks. In came plush velour liberally applied across the seats and door panels. Because GM was incapable of getting everything quite right, the original GMT400 dashboards had confusing half moon dials in an odd layout that, according to Hemmings, were hard to read. GM was also in the habit of using two buttons where one would do, leading to confusing secondary control arrangements, although both these issues were addressed in an update for 1995.
Upon introduction, aside from the regular cab, there was an extended cab available and a sporty step-side bed made from fiberglass. The larger cab and narrower bed were not GM firsts – Ford had previously offered a step-side on the F-150 but dropped it in 1987, and Mopar had an extended cab Ram until 1982. But GM offering them on its new truck range was an acknowledgment of the changing nature of the types of customers buying trucks, and both Ford and Mopar were forced to follow the GMT400’s lead when their revised trucks emerged in 1992 and 1994, respectively. In terms of expanding the appeal of trucks to non-truck buyers, GM was leading the way.
In 1990, Chevrolet debuted the SS454 with a honking 7.4 liter V8. A short bed, regular cab muscle truck good for sub-eight second runs to sixty, it was the progenitor of all today’s high performance full-sized pickups. Then two years later came a further body style on the GMT400 theme whose magnificence was matched match only by its capability – a car so perfect it in its appearance it simply makes me weep – the 1992 Suburban. Now the GMT400 range truly offered something for everyone.
Simple, Not Simplistic
None of this would have mattered one bit if the truck didn’t look good. Fortunately, it looked every inch the modern, capable all-American vehicle it was. Remember, this truck debuted in 1988, so serious design work would have probably commenced in 1983 or 1984. It’s staggering how advanced for the time it is – flush door handles, flush glazing (with an increased glass area), flush trim. Every detail sits perfectly on the surface without interrupting the overall cohesiveness of the appearance.
The profile is simple, almost like something a child would come up with if you asked them to draw a truck. Little more than three boxes placed end on end. But it’s not simplistic and rigid. The filet that runs along the top of the bed and continues into the cant rail and down onto the hood is subtle; not too soft, and not too tight. The feature line management is exceptionally clean; one single line that runs off the top of the taillight, down the bed, creates the bottom edge for the side window and gently arcs down the top of the fender.
There’s a neat inset feature running between the wheels and around the rear that provides a border for the trim pieces worn by the higher trim levels, so they look properly integrated and not just tacked on. The inset also works perfectly as the break separating the paint colors of two-tone trucks. The gentle curvature of the body side gives a feeling of solidity and strength – important because you don’t want a working vehicle to look weak. Anchoring the whole thing are wheel arch flares that are small but extremely sharply defined, meaning you get a nice straight consistent highlight along the length of the truck without any interruptions.
There’s a crease running down the center line of the car I like to think is a call back to past GM Vice President of Design Bill Mitchell’s ‘sheer look’. Whether it is or not I don’t know, but he certainly would have approved of the GMT400’s front Down the Road Graphic – cleverly hiding its verticality with split lighting units and strong horizontal shapes to emphasize width over height. The grill strikes a balance between quiet authority and boldness without looking overbearing – something lost on the furious visages of today’s trucks.
GM created what they called a more formal look for the GMC version by isolating the grill with vertical body color elements. I don’t think the GMC treatment is quite as successful as the Chevrolet grill, but the real horror show was reserved for the hastily introduced first generation Cadillac Escalade, rushed into production in 1998 to compete with the newly released Lincoln Navigator. The more rounded, pillowy forms and enlarged grille and bumper simply don’t work are out of place with the rest of the bodywork.
Remember in the Aztek discussion how I talked about how the bumper supporting the tailgate in the lowered position was badly done? At the back of the GMT400 as the inset feature line wraps around to the rear it becomes the gap to allow the tailgate to drop, supported by a simple bumper with an upwards facing surface. It’s how these little details are so considered and integrated that make the overall design so good. It’s all of a piece – nothing jars or stands out to upset the harmony of the whole thing.
So Good I Used Suburbans As Mood Images
I could wax lyrical for hours about how good I think the Suburbans are. It’s a big car at nearly 5.6 meters long but it hides it so well. This is due to two things – the wraparound glazing runs up to the roof, so there isn’t an overabundance of painted metal work adding visual weight. And something shared with the trucks: the stance; the rocker panels are in line with the center of the axles, exactly where it should be – so the body side is not too deep and heavy. Both the trucks and the SUVs have an overriding feeling of precision – constituent parts being slotted tightly together to make a seamless body.
What’s remarkable about this design, in some ways, is how unheralded it is. For all the designers you could easily name as an enthusiast (Mitchell, Shinoda, Bangle, Horbury), there so little written appreciation for this vehicle that I couldn’t find out much about the designers. I was told designer Clark Lincoln was involved, but it turns out he worked on the GMT800. Matt went so far as to ask GM President Mark Reuss about it, and he confirmed Donald Wood as the chief designer, but that’s about all we could collectively discover.
The tenth-generation F-150 is sometimes considered as being at the vanguard of truck gentrification. I think it’s a soft blob with none of the GMT400’s confidence or assertiveness. The ’88 Silverado and Sierra bought a more approachable truck a full eight years before the F-150 came to market specifically targeting car drivers. When the GMT400 SUV versions arrived in 1992 it’s no wonder they became a valid choice for hauling families and all their gear – there was basically nothing that could match their combination of ruggedness, comfort and space at the time. Squint a bit and you can see their restrained yet commanding influence in some of Land Rover’s better efforts. Not for nothing was I using Suburbans and Tahoes as mood images when posting my own sketches up for review in the studio.
Andy Warhol once said “what’s great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest.” The GMT400 is a classic design that is the epitome of everyday America: at home on the work site, the camp site and in the motorcade. A democratic design good enough for proles and Presidents. You can’t help but feel Sir Terence would have a wry smile at that.
This article would not have been possible without the assistance of the GM Heritage Archive, whose researchers patiently dug into their archives for these exclusive images. Many thanks for your help.
- I Took On A Bad GM Design In A Hail Mary Attempt To Fix My Friend’s Suburban, But It Was Too Little Too Late
- This 1,000-Horsepower Chevrolet Suburban Restomod Looks Like A Million Dollars, Costs $1.1 Million
- The Escort Cosworth Is A Legendary Rally Machine That’s Hiding A Big Secret
- The Pontiac Aztek Was Not A Design Tragedy, It Was A Corporate Tragedy.
Though I still consider the 9th gen “aeronose” F-Series to be my favorite pickup of all time, I have to give credit to the great exterior design of the GMT400. Purposeful, tough, but not over the top and cartoonish like modern truck design. Too bad the interior was such a mess.
Also, and only because I’m an annoying pedant, a “grill” is something you cook on, while a “grille” is the set of bars on the front end of a vehicle to protect the radiator.
“…not over the top and cartoonish like modern truck design.”
I blame the 1995-97 Ram for starting the pickup version of the old Saturday Night Live skit, “¿Qien es Más Macho?”
Everybody blames the 2nd gen Ram for that (which came out in ’94 btw), but I contest that’s unfair. Yes, the Ram looked macho, but it a completely normal sized truck. It was the 2004 F-150 that started the embiggening of 1/2 ton trucks. Those things were stupid tall, and everybody else has followed suit since.
Yeah but the 94 Ram really isn’t over styled or larger than the 1st gen ram or competition.
I have always loved the look of these trucks. Everything since has been meh or ugh.
Growing up with these, my take was always: Exterior is perfection. Interior was a plasticky mess. But they were true workhorse interiors, so I can’t fault them too much.
Stepsides were also available on the squarebodies.
Not in fibreglass afaik, and the point was keeping them in the range meant Ford had to bring them back as well.
If I had to own an American truck, this is my choice.
Classic looks, durable, within reason.
But the dash set up with the stereo having three separate components was bullshit.
The techs at our shop made a fortune doing warranty repairs on them.
But if I ever need a big truck, works fine for my needs.
I drove a long bed 2wd version of this in high school (late 90s). I never really appreciated it as something “cool”. That was reserved for sports cars. But at the time I really appreciated its usefulness and as the owner of a modern truck some of that usefulness is gone… but modern trucks sure are a lot more comfortable.
Bench seats – could fit 4 across in a pinch.
Full bed – stacks of plywood with the tailgate up? no problem.
Load height and bedside rail height – I could access the bed of that thing from pretty much anywhere around the truck.
Also, no AC, roll down windows, and an open rear diff – so I guess I’m trading off a few things.
Those things still looked clean, Not a fan of the current hood scoops and angry grills.
As past owner of a couple of these trucks (’97 and ’98, both K1500 x-cabs), and a longtime admirer of the Suburban and Tahoe variants, I too regard the GMT400s as a high-water mark for GM truck design. Visually, they’re everything they should be and nothing they shouldn’t, with excellent overall proportions from every angle.
That being said, and as others have already pointed out, they have more than their fair share of foibles from a reliability and durability perspective. The awful poppet-valve “spider” injection system in the post-TBI trucks. The terribly chintzy door hinges that began to sag within a few years of use. Typical poor-quality 90s GM interior plastics. And that oh-so-nice-to-drive IFS setup, especially on 4WD trucks, that was so prone to balljoint and stub axle issues (AMHIK). All that being said, as the old adage goes, “GM trucks will run poorly for far longer than other cars will run at all.” And the number of these trucks still on the road attests to that.
I’ve since moved on to a succession of GMT800-platform trucks, and am currently enjoying a low-mile ’05 Escalade ESV that I picked up over the summer that constitutes the sixth example of that platform I’ve owned. While the 800-series trucks lack the styling panache of the 400 series, I will die on the hill that the ’03-’06 pickups and SUVs are the best thought-out and most reliable vehicles that GM has ever produced. Again, I’d point to the sheer number of these trucks still on the road as testament to that fact. While they too have their fair share of weaknesses and failure points, the overall combination of simplicity and durability remains unmatched by anything that has come before or since.
Agree on the GMT800. Even the Car Wizard says he 800 is the best GM truck.
I frequently see those on marketplace with over 300k, and I recently even saw one with over 400k. Ans this is in New England, where corrosion is a big killer of these trucks.
My coworker had an ’01 Sierra that he bought new and finally retired in 2020, he had 300k on it and it looked like it was dropped off a building, but other than a minor repairs here and there it never let him down.
I don’t think trucks are actually any more reliable than cars – they just have a much longer useful lifespan because the model year improvements don’t fundamentally change the fact that a truck is useful for hauling & towing stuff as long as it can be driven. Because of that, people are more willing to put money into them to keep them running than they would be for a similarly old passenger car (where the safety, tech, and efficiency improvements of newer models are more important). Any car can be fixed enough times to make it to 300k, what makes it is just a reflection of what people want to keep around for that long. Also, new trucks are expensive and old trucks hold their value, so that further justifies keeping them around.
Hello fellow GMT-800 driver. I bought an ’06 Sierra 2wd crew cab brand new, and I will NEVER sell this truck. When I bought it I had no intention of keeping it this long, but it has been so dead reliable, I would be insane to get rid of it. I also love the way it looks, and that it’s the correct usable height a truck should be.
Awesome! And yeah, my wife actually urged me to buy a new or at least near-new truck over the summer to replace my beat-down (but still dead reliable) 230k+ mile ’03 Suburban, but after doing a lot of reading about the overall reliability of newer BOF offerings from any of the Big Three I was out. I refuse to drop $50-60k on something that I not only dislike the looks of, but also fundamentally can’t trust from a reliability standpoint.
And so I began the search for an ultra-low-mile GMT800, knowing that I was probably going to have to overpay for what I wanted now that low-mile examples are in such short supply. I was looking for another Suburban initially (have three kids, and need to pull a car hauler occasionally), and ended up finding a very clean ’05 Escalade 6.0 AWD with only 89k on the clock. I’ve never been a Cadillac guy, but damned if I haven’t enjoyed this one so far! It also gets better overall fuel mileage than the 5.3 2WD Suburban I had previously… Who knew?
I think that was a smart move. That’s what I’ll be looking for when the time comes, but at 179k miles my ’06 still has plenty of life left in it. I had the rusty rocker panels redone a couple years ago.
When I was young we had a forest green suburban as our family vehicle, and it was what I learned to drive in. It was awesome for carpooling gaggles of high schoolers with their backpacks and instrument cases, long road trips, and hauling stuff for yard work and home repair. It was rugged enough to do all the truck stuff you could throw at it and extremely comfortable for three rows of passengers. Always thought the designers nailed it, almost too well. It’s so well executed that nothing in particular sticks out so it almost faded into the background when these were everywhere. I think we are now seeing an appreciation for this design, especially with how overwrought and aggressive the current crop of trucks are. Excellent article!
man that little red stepside looks so clean and perfectly proportioned.
These still look clean and modern, clearly a truck but not a TRUCK. I’ve driven a few and rode in many (both pre and post refresh) and wish the GM interiors matched the exterior design. Actually prefer the look, if not function, of the pre refresh interior design. Possibly my favorite full size truck design.
Well, you know I can’t disagree.
I’ll also point out two things about the early dash design. First, as confusing as all the buttons are until you learn them, they have proven durable, at least in mine. 34 years and 210,000 miles in, every single function on the radio and climate controls works perfectly on my truck.
Second, the half-moon gauges are not hard to read. In fact, they’re a great boon when a bulb or two burns out in the instrument cluster, which does happen with some regularity. You can still read the gauges by ambient light.
The designs on these are indeed timeless. I grew up when these were new and seeing them here is a reminder that good design doesn’t age as badly.
Having grew up around these as a kid, I never really contemplated the design as I’ve never seen a nice one. Now that they are rare in good shape, and seeing restored/well kept examples, the design is actually pretty dang nice, though the second Gen Ram seems to have a better design in my eyes.
Disliked the Gen 2 Ram when new but appreciate it more now. Honestly any Gen 2 Ram, GMT400 or Post 1992 refresh F-150 may be ultimate pickup.
The ultimate pickup is a Toyota T100…change my mind.
Oh boy, peak Toyota reliability in a slightly smaller size. Good choice.
Don’t forget that they were the last Toyota pickup sold in the US, assembled in Japan (By HINO no less!)
I drove one from 2004 to 2018. SR5 4×4 with a lift, it was a sweet truck. At 315K miles it didn’t have a squeak or rattle when I sold it to a friend. It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, stuff did break and it was slow and uncomfortable. But it was a parallel-parkable truck that wasn’t shriner-sized like a Tacoma
Oh, hey, look, a good and correct take on the appearance of a pickup truck. Take notes, Hardigree
(Link for those out of the loop. https://www.theautopian.com/the-rounded-ford-f-150-from-the-late-1990s-was-the-best-f-150-prove-me-wrong/)
Is Matt younger that Adrian? People tend to like things that came out when they were old enough to appreciate them, but young enough to be impressionable.
Everybody here is younger than me. Except Torch. And Beau.
He hissed cattily.
*Simpsons “old man yells at cloud” meme*
There’s a 2 door 1991-92 Blazer SUV (this bodystyle) for sale in my town, and a neighbor of mine has a gorgeous mid-stripe two-tone K3500.
On merit of design and purpose, these should absolutely be classics in a few years.
The GMT800 will likely prove equally legendary, if not moreso.
These were among the most reliable and repairable designs GM ever made, and just like Mercedes with its W123s and W126s, it will deliberately NEVER make anything that good ever again.
I agree with you 100%.
GMT800s are strange in that they are really only good when they’re beat to shit. Fresh and new they’re very ugly and the interior is pretty unappealing.
Beat to shit, all of the components that seem bad when new actually carry damage really well so it turns into this torn jeans effect.
Though even if everything else is durable it seems to have the worst door handles ever equipped on a modern vehicle. It’s very rare to see one that doesn’t have at least one broken handle.
I would think that it is rust of the frame components and body, especially in the rear, that kills most of the ones that have lasted thus far.
The engine and transmission are both very stout.
Yeah everything on those is actually quite stout except for the door handles – which is quietly amusing instead of being a truck killer.
The 800 is likely the best line of pickups they ever made. I say that as a 400 owner. I’m not sold on the 800’s styling, but man, those vortec powerplants are so damn good. The wiring was also deeply simplified when compared to the 400’s. My 95 is a goofy transition year (new interior, but still TBI and OBD1) and its pretty messy.
How weird. I grew up with these and when I see them, my brain says:
This is a giant pile of cheap nickel-and-dimed crap, like most GM cars during that era.
But I really appreciate the post. It allowed me to step outside the judgement and see the lines, which are very nice.
I still struggle to separate the design from GM’s execution. Just thinking of the switchgear in these makes me shudder. And the smell of that velour… ugh.
It may have looked good for it’s day, but as someone who owned one for a few years (1997 Chevrolet 3500) that left me stranded 3 times on the side of the highway waiting for a towtruck before it even hit 75k miles, I’m not really looking to go back to that era of GM “Quality”.
My boss at the landscaping company I worked at in high school had one of the 2-door Yukons as his personal work truck. I always really liked how that thing looks, and I wish there were something with those kinds of lines and size available today.
Im old enough to have been around for these in their heyday and my family (immediate and extended) were long time Chevy truck buyers so I’ve driven many of these. The early interiors were pretty awful ergonomically, but still light years ahead of the previous generation. The refresh in 95 made the interior MUCH nicer, but also worse durability wise. Maybe a change in plastics or something, but they weren’t well screwed together. That was sort of my abiding memory of our GMT400’s (Suburbans) was that they didn’t age well, but you couldn’t kill it. I guess thats pretty much true of all GM’s. Sure was a timeless body though. We had a red 97 GMT400 K2500 Suburban with the Vortec 454 that my dad supercharged. It was crashed into a truck then rock hard enough to split the wheel in half and require a frame straighten, it was stolen once and recovered, and it did a lot of highway miles with a boat and kept on chuggin. I see it every now and again around town still living its best life in someone elses care.
By golly I actually went through the email sign-in thing just so I could say this. Big approval of this article, much like and thumbs up
The next step is you give us your money.
That picture of the red 4×4 is jarring with the fuel door on the passenger side. I wonder if that’s an overseas RHD model? Not sure if any of those were ever made.
Anyways, despite being an elder Millennial, I’m not really nostalgic for very many of the vehicles of my youth. This is one of the few exceptions. The fact that I still see them used for heavy work while all the contemporary Fords and Dodges are in the junkyard or have become iron oxide just makes it better. No exaggeration, this is one of the finest efforts in the history of GM.
Trading my ’97 K2500 for an ’01 Ford 7.3 Powerstroke was one of the worst vehicular mistakes I’ve ever made.
Dual tanks?
If so, it seems to me like a bad design.
OBS Fords with dual tanks had both fuel doors on one side so you could fill them both up without moving from the pump.
Might be dual tanks inherited from the Squarebody design. I had one of those with dual tanks and yes, the fillers were on opposite sides.
I’m straining to remember if the following generation retained that configuration or not, though.
As a fellow elder millennial I couldn’t agree more. There aren’t a whole lot of vehicles I’m deeply nostalgic for but the GMT400/800 and a lot of the Ford equivalents (until the late 90s F150, that thing is hideous and too busy) just do it for me, and the “why” is very simple.
A lot of us have fond memories of being schlept around in these when we were kids. In my neck of the woods (and I’ll acknowledge I’m showing some privilege here) Explorers, Expeditions, Suburbans, Tahoes, etc. were more or less standard kit for families. I was taken to countless soccer games, Six Flags trips, birthday parties, etc. in the back seats of these trucks. I can hear Flagpole Sitta just thinking about it.
And then they had a resurgence when we all reached driving age because they were all long paid off, still running, and our parents (incorrectly) thought bigger meant safer. My high school parking lot was loaded with 90s trucks and SUVs in the late 2000s. My first car was a 96 Explorer that got passed down to me and that thing meant the world to me as a teenager. I could do whatever I wanted! Drive anywhere. Smoke in it. Pile 5-7 friends in. Park it and hop in the backseat with my girlfriends. Fill it with cases of beer my friends’ older siblings had bought for us. Etc.
Basically this is a long winded way of saying a lot of us did a lot of growing up in these trucks. I get why there’s a market for pristine examples on sites like Cars and Bids…because now a fair amount of us have some money to spend, are having kids, and get a kick out of buying an as close to showroom example as possible of what we spent our formative years in.
Proud owner of a 95 K2500 with a 454. Lovely two tone red and black, with black factory flares. I think its gorgeous. It’s an excellent pickup, tows fantastic, but I sure don’t drive it everyday! 10-11 mpg empty, 7-9 with a pretty substantial load behind it.
You put into words how I feel when I look at these. They just seem “right”, but I could never verbally communicate that.
Also, I prefer the Technivorm Moccamaster.
When I saw the headline all I could think was Mr. Regular yelling “They don’t make em like they use to” on repeat