Description
Author: Mike Mueller, Hardbound, 168 Pages, ISBN: 9780760309513
1st Edition, 2002
Chevrolet pickups are as American as apple pie. In Chevrolet Pickups, author Mike Mueller explores how this company quickly grew large enough to compete with Ford, and through persistence and innovation, became the dominant manufacturer of American trucks from 1938 to 1967.
Chevy's role in American culture began when Chevrolet founder William Durants created the first Chevy truck, the Model 490.
As the 1920s dawned, Ford dominated the car and truck market, hut Chevy began to make inroads in the mid-1920s. By the 1930s, Chevy's light trucks were forces to be reckoned with, and led the industry.
The next big surge came when Chevy introduced their new Advance Design trucks for 1947. These popular trucks brought Art Deco styling to the staid world of pickup trucks. Handsome and functional inside and out, the stylish trucks moved out the door and into the hands of postwar boom consumers at record rates.
Chevy followed that act with more new sheet metal and a heavy redesign in 1955 that placed more distance between Chevy pickups and the runners-up. The most significant model in that line was the gorgeous Cameo, a vehicle that combined the luxurious appointments of a car with the rugged utility of a truck.
Although Chevy slipped from the number one position for a bit in the late 1960s, they continued to produce great trucks that worked hard and looked fabulous. The 1967 to 1972 trucks are some of the most popular versions with today's collectors, and the trucks of the modem era are making then place in Chevy's storied history.
About the Author
Author Mike Mueller is a Georgia-based automotive writer and photographer, and a former staff editor for many magazines including Automobile Quarterly. He has also had articles and photos published in Autoweek, Life, Collectible Automobile, Truck Trends, Truckin', and Car Craft magazines as well as countless muscle car calendars. He has written several titles for Motorbooks, including Mustang 1964 112-1973, Corvette C5, Motor City Muscle, and many more.
