Why did they only make these 6 years?

[Vintage Windmills]

? Seems kind of strange when you consider the other runs of trucks, especially the successors, which were made for 16 years!! Why were these trucks only ran until 1972? Did they have to cheapen them up? Was the body style unpopular at the time? Is a better question: why didn't the other body styles get redesigned sooner?

[Allensracing]

why was the 60-66 truck only 7 years?

[swamp rat]

Originally Posted by Vintage Windmills

? Seems kind of strange when you consider the other runs of trucks, especially the successors, which were made for 16 years!! Why were these trucks only ran until 1972? Did they have to cheapen them up? Was the body style unpopular at the time? Is a better question: why didn't the other body styles get redesigned sooner?

I doute you'll ever get an answer to that question.. I would venture to say it would be just pure speculation and or someones opinion. My guess is they change body styles to try and boost sales while at the same time try and keep costs down thru "improved" manufacturing processes.

I think it would be cool if GM would remake the body style in a modern chassie and drivetrain, kinda like the other retro look designs but hold true'er to the body style. of course lots of rod buffs would probably hate the idea.

[Tom Vogel]

Originally Posted by Vintage Windmills

? Seems kind of strange when you consider the other runs of trucks, especially the successors, which were made for 16 years!!why didn't the other body styles get redesigned sooner?

It took them 16 years to sell them. JUST kidding!

[Allensracing]

the car companies used to change styles because people got excited and bought new models. I think the smog laws of the early 70's along with the fuel crises prevented a major model change for several years. people didnt like cars during that time, and they especially didnt like trucks.

[Vintage Windmills]

Maybe the management at GM? Maybe the emphasis on new designs and developments died out internally in the late 70's and early 80's? Seems like a different culture when you think of the '69 changes, only 2 years into the body style.

I agree, we'll probably never know unless we get a GM management insiders opinion.

[Spoof]

You don't know what you got till it's gone!
I remember a gent in 1977 who had a 71 0r 72 short step chevy 4X4, it was already an attention getting classic. Similarly a blue and white sierra grand or something, the dude was always getting offers on it.
These trucks were an instant classic just like the muscle cars were from the moment they stopped making them.
A crucial part of the male ego is driving the latest, best and most expensive. Why buy new if you can drive a six year old truck that looks just like a new one, hence constant model changes.

[JCD]

Originally Posted by swamp rat

I think it would be cool if GM would remake the body style in a modern chassie and drivetrain, kinda like the other retro look designs but hold true'er to the body style. of course lots of rod buffs would probably hate the idea.

They already have...
Chevy has been using older styling cues on the trucks for a while now.
Specifically the 67-70 years.

And you're right.. they do look cool.

J.

[67chevy1series]

because back then most people were jack a$$ and didnt understand that these were the best trucks that gm would make ,and they would soon get sick of seeing the same design with minor changes and plus gm had a 6 year plan they have always done that that si how you can predict when the new body style will end for instance the new ones will end in 2013 then 2019 then 2025 ....... i wonder if 2019 they will mke it look like a 69 considering that that is 50th annv for 69

[Vintage Windmills]

Originally Posted by 67chevy1series

plus gm had a 6 year plan they have always done that that si how you can predict when the new body style will end for instance the new ones will end in 2013 then 2019 then 2025

Not really, Here are the last 4 runs.

1960-1966 (7 years)
1967-1972 (6 years)
1973-1987 (15 years)
1988-1998 (11-12 years)
1999-2006 (7-8 years)

[special-K]

41-46
47-55
55-59
60-66
67-72

It all seems fairly consistent.You can't go by what happened after '72.That hadn't happened yet.

Skip a couple generations and you have the same thing.
99-02
03-07
07-present

[67chevy1series]

thank you special k

[Vintage Windmills]

Originally Posted by special-K

41-46

Skip a couple generations and you have the same thing.
99-02
03-07
07-present

Good point on the older ones, i dont know those years much.

Not trying to be too picky but I don't think most would call the '03 change a new body style- more of a facelift only.

[swamp rat]

Originally Posted by JCD

They already have...
Chevy has been using older styling cues on the trucks for a while now.
Specifically the 67-70 years.

And you're right.. they do look cool.

J.

I don't see a resemblence! Good point, i never put that together, i kinda figured the newer truck design was more of an answer to the Dodge front end.

Actually what i ment was an exact body reproduction, including nice thick sheetmetal. then say a different steering colum with an air bag, that kinda stuff ect..

[Jacfourteen]

When dodge changed its front end in 94, I thought it was a 67-72 knock off with the step up from the fender to the hood.

[C. M. Wolf]

Originally Posted by swamp rat

I doute you'll ever get an answer to that question.. I would venture to say it would be just pure speculation and or someones opinion. My guess is they change body styles to try and boost sales while at the same time try and keep costs down thru "improved" manufacturing processes.

I think it would be cool if GM would remake the body style in a modern chassie and drivetrain, kinda like the other retro look designs but hold true'er to the body style. of course lots of rod buffs would probably hate the idea.

Oh no, no, no, please NO! I'm having visions of GM,(the now called "Government Motors"), coming out with something like this now. Except I'm sure they'd never get passed the concept of ".Gov-Win/Win" manufacturing of this style of trucks... just like VW's "New and Improved" VW-Beetle! It's just NOT the same, to the point that it's more of an Abomination compared to the original Beetle!

*Sigh*

Michael

[Boog]

With the cost of design, developing, tooling and the like it makes since the manufacturers use a design for several years as they have most always done with only slight changes made each year such as grille, trim, etc. As pointed out above.
GM, like Chrysler has used some styling cues from earlier models that were popular with the buyers. Retro styles if you will. Chrysler with the PT Cruiser and GM with the HHR, Ford with the 'stang, etc. Many say the 2000 Chevy truck HD front end resembles the 67-68 look.
They are in business to sell vehicles, and lots of them. They will try their best to design and build what the buying public wants.
Don't expect GM to build another 67 truck. But they will use whatever design hints they can to draw buyers in.
Was the 67-72 truck the best looking, best designed Chevy truck ever? Well, we all think so or we wouldn't have one would we...

[factorystock]

Originally Posted by Boog

With the cost of design, developing, tooling and the like it makes since the manufacturers use a design for several years as they have most always done with only slight changes made each year such as grille, trim, etc.

GM must have lost a lot of money with the '69 Camaro.

[ChevLoRay]

Dodge trucks were pretty much the same basic truck for a number of years, and brought out a new body in '72. Until then, they were still using solid front axles....GM had been working on a replacement for the 67-72's, as they normally did, for several years. Ford replaced their design for '73, too. The industry pretty well knows what's up with the other mfr's and retools to keep up with the Joneses.

As for the auto industry, the fall of each year, for many years, saw the introduction of the new cars. It was a rite of passage to be the first one on your block with the latest style. Sure, there was some carry-over of basic skeletons from one year to the next among manufacturers, ala '55-57 GM; 57-59 FoMoCo; '57-60 Mopar. Trucks were more utilitarian and not as prone to facial re-do's. My dad told of seeing new models being driven with canvas covers that hid everything but the windshield and what was necessary to drive 'em.....down the highways...pre-WWII. For me, '65 was the epitome of new cars, with Pontiac getting the nod for the most changed from the previous year. Still like 'em.

[Keith Seymore]

I've got a lot of opinions on this one, such that I'm not sure I can adequately express them...

- But - I'll take a shot.

First of all, keep in mind that the goal would have been to have a new truck EVERY year! In other words, stretching out the model run was not necessarily an indication that things were going great - probably the contrary. Consider the old "G Van", which ran from 1970 until 1996. More a sign of neglect than an indication that it was a really stellar vehicle (...which it wasn't).

Recall that the passenger cars of the day were almost totally redesigned every year. Compare a 55 to a 56 to a 57 to a 58 to a 59 to a 60 to a 61 to a 62 to a 63 to a 64 to a 65 Chevy....I think you get the idea.

The problem was that, during that time period, trucks were the "red headed stepchild" of the Chevrolet brand. Trucks were "pedestrian", work vehicles, and would not become popular as general "personal use" vehicles until years later. As a result, Truck got the short end of the stick in both workload (design personnel) and capital expenditures. Shortly before I joined General Motors, (I joined in 1979) the Truck group was unceremoniously "kicked out" of the Chevy headquarters building at the GM Tech Center, scattered to rent office space wherever we could find it from multiple different job shops located throughout southeast Michigan. I think that is a picture of the Chevrolet mentality towards trucks at the time. (It wasn't until we all moved to the Truck Product Center in Pontiac in the mid 1990s that we all became "co-located" once again).

In fact, we used to actually host events at the GM Desert Proving Ground called "the Happening" - semi legitimate "boondoggles" held specifically with the intent of familiarizing GM upper management with truck offerings and capabilities. One year we hosted a truck "rodeo", complete with truck pulls, a barrel race, a contest backing a steerable hay wagon - all using current GM truck offerings. (We had a couple professional pullers and monster trucks, too).





(Having a stash of Suburbans in the fleet, for them to pull their boat/snowmobile trailers with, certainly didn't hurt, either )

It wasn't until later that pickups and sport/utility truck "wagons" began to exceed passenger cars in popularity. I'm convinced it's not really as a result of anything we had done, but we were simply in the right place at the right time. Cars were getting smaller, and front wheel drive, and if a person needed to pull a trailer or wanted full frame/front engine V8 configuration then a a truck was the logical choice.

Bottom line is trucks got the short end of the stick, compared to passenger cars, until the GMT800 and GMT900 eras. By this time, truck was the dominant force within GM, both in terms of profit and political clout, a position which lasted until the most recent crash in 2008.

Secondly, the mid and late 70's were the formative years of all kinds of automotive legislation and regulation. Emissions testing, barrier testing and passenger safety considerations greatly slowed the design/release process, causing product development cycles to go longer and the model changeovers to be pushed out. We used to do a new vehicle every year; now it takes several years just to do a new grille! I think that's part of the reason you see such long product cycles for the '73-87 C/K programs, both as the truck group tried to adjust to the increased outside pressures, and also as we covered for our passenger car bretheren while they tried to sort it out all.

In summary, I guess I'm saying that the length of the model run is no indication of (a) the model's popularity with the general public, or (b) the model's popularity with GM management. There are lots of internal and external factors, both controlled and uncontrolled, which affect the product lifecycle. These days I think the desired product cycle for any vehicle is going to be 3 to 5 years. Never again will we ever see new product every year, like we used to.

My $.03 -

K

[67chevy1series]

i think that , that is why i am digusted with the square bodies ,the government had to much say with what went and what didnt and gm had to just bite their tounge and deal withit

[19seventeeCustom]

WOW, Mr Seymore you always amaze me with your GM stories an insight, thank you for your contribution to this site!!

I think you hit the nail on the head, alot of different factors we the result and you mentioned some that we would have never equated.

And I agree with an earlier post, these 67-72 chevy trucks were the best designs to date.....instant classic.

[67chevy1series]

Originally Posted by 19seventeeCustom

WOW, Mr Seymore you always amaze me with your GM stories an insight, thank you for your contribution to this site!!

I think you hit the nail on the head, alot of different factors we the result and you mentioned some that we would have never equated.

And I agree with an earlier post, these 67-72 chevy trucks were the best designs to date.....instant classic.

i second that keith is a wonderful edition to this site

[factorystock]

6 to 7 years was pretty much the norm for changing pickup designs for GM ( like special-K noted) except for the 73 thru 87 era. I guessing the ecomomy was so bad in 1980, fuel crisis, high inflation and high unemployment ( Chrysler got their first bailout ), GM put there major full size pickup restyle change on hold. They choose to spend their resources during this era on their new compact S-10 pickups. GM probably didn't have cash for both truck lines. They went the cheaper route in 1981 and warmed over the front end and made mechancial changes to make the trucks more fuel efficient.

[68gmsee]

Salesmen and sales departments live on change and inovation. New designs (most of the time) spur more sales. Nobody wants to be seen with outdated stuff. It's just human nature. If all the cars and trucks kept the same design, there would be no reason for some people to buy new ones.

Look around as you drive around town. You can immediately spot an older design compared to the new ones. It works on everything but it really is noticeable in cars and trucks since we drive them every day.