chevy truck trivia

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by Prerunner1982

Answers in bold.. just guessin'

a) Anybody know who the Chief Engineer was for the '73 C/K trucks? Would he have the last name of Seymore?

b) Along those lines, how about Chief Engineer for the GMT800 models? GMT900 models? Same as above..

Ok - I've got a few minutes; let's see how our friend PreRunner did

a) Ha! I wish - but keep in mind I was just a pup back then!

No, his name was Mr Earl Stepp. He was a hard drinking, old school "bull of the woods" type guy but obviously a gifted manager and capable engineer. You don't get to be a Chevrolet Chief Engineer by being a slouch and he was no exception to that rule. His leadership ability put us squarely in the position to take advantage of the boom in Full Size Truck sales, as trucks moved from "workhorses" to "personal use" vehicles.

b) GMT800 - was a gentleman by the name of Ken Sohocki. He was a lot of fun; we were in a very serious position, because most of the profits in the corporation at that time came from Full Size Trucks - but - he wasn't above a little self-effacing Polish humor or a bit of sarcasm directed at his management. He was the last of the great "emperors", leading a dedicated team sequestered in a remote location. After his tenure, the truck team would be folded back in with the car guys into the "matrixed" organization that we still have today. Ken is retired now, and living happily in Las Vegas.

b) (continued) GMT900 - was my friend Terry Woychowski. Terry was my officemate at the Desert Proving Ground; in fact we used to sit on the tailgate of a pickup truck after hours, debating the merits of running vs walking in a rainstorm or drawing free-body diagrams of the forces that keep a bicycle upright ("precession" is what it is called). He moved back to Michigan and rose rapidly through the management ranks (and rightly so), becoming the first "Global Chief" (aka "Chief above all the other Chief Engineers"). He is currently director of all GM Program Management and is a GM Vice President. There isn't another man alive I would trust more to run this company.

His daily driver at that time was a white '68 Chevy pickup, manual trans, 2 piece drive shaft. That shaft was so beat to heck that you had to turn the radio off, so that you could focus on (and listen to) getting the truck rolling. After you were moving you could turn the radio back on and continue down the road. He's doin a little better than that now...