Chevy Cargo Van – Commercial Vehicle That Built America

Chevy Work Vehicle Brief History

Chevrolet was founded in 1911 by Luis Chevrolet, a race driver and Billy Durant, in Detroit. The company's name was Chevrolet Motor Car Company. The goal was to compete with the most popular car maker in the world at the time – Ford. Chevy, despite the fact it was very young company, quickly overtook Ford in selling cars. From 1919 to 1929 Chevrolet was the most selling car in the US.

Chevy introduced its first so to say work vehicle in 1918. The first Chevy truck was made on the car chassis of Model 490. This model engine produced 36 HP with the 3.6L 4-cylinder engine. They continued to produce trucks and became one of the main suppliers for the US army in WW2.

At the time Chevrolet’s focus was on cars. Some great models were built and quickly became legendary. But America wanted more, wanted something different. Drivers wanted to have a vehicle that is can haul heavy-load and be pleasant to drive, like an ordinary car.

Trucks became instantly popular.

In 1938 Chevy showed the world the new Chevrolet half-ton truck. It had the engine of 3.6L, producing 78 horsepower. The price was $592. Bed length was 76 inches.

Whole new series was developed just two years after the end of WW2, in 1947. Chevy 3100 Series had an extraordinary design that could accommodate 3 persons in the cabin. MSRP was $1,087. Truck bed length was 78 inches, motor produced 78 HP. Built-In radio and cabin corner windows where standard features.

Chevy Cameo Carrier was introduced in 1955. It was equipped with a V8 gas engine, automatic transmission. Color options? Only two – white and red. Interior was very luxurious for that time. Chevrolet sold 5,220 Cameo Carriers in 1955. Americans were enabled to haul a load in a 6.5-foot long bed in a vehicle that delivered 123 HP.

G10 – First Chevy Van

9 years later, first Chevy cargo van was born. As an answer to Ford E-series and Dodge Ram, Chevy created cargo and passenger van that used 2.5L, 4-cylinder petrol engine, delivering 90 HP. The van was simply called G10 Chevy Van. Before the G series of cargo vans, Chevy made Greenbrier but it was produced only as a passenger van, with side windows on the body. This model was supposed to be competition to famous Volkswagen Bus. Interesting is the fact that the engine was placed between front seats.

The first vans from Chevrolet were made on Corvair platform. Chevy saw an opportunity in growing small cargo van market and had a big success with G10 and after that with G20 series. G series was produced until 1995. During all these years Chevrolet produced three generations of vans that were used for pretty much everything - by men of trades, hospitals and ambulances, schools, military, FBI, fire departments and delivery companies.

Old Chevy G series can still be seen on the US streets. This can only tell us how reliable they are. Big engines that found a place in the third-generation van (1971-1995) like 6.2L and 6.5L paired with 4-speed automatic transmission and rear wheel drive were great for towing and hauling heavy items. The only downside was poor fuel economy, especially for the 7.4 V8 engines.