Saluting the C/K | Chevy’s iconic sport truck of the 90s

The iconic sport truck of the 90s

THE DECADE IN WHICH YOU GREW UP AFFECTS YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH CHEVY TRUCKS. Maybe your dad, grandpa or uncle had an older C-10 model that was kept somewhat stock or had very minimal modifications made to it. More than likely, the odds of gramps’ truck being in stock condition would be more plausible than your pops keeping his ride free of accessories. Having an old pickup around is very influential and is a memory that really sticks with a kid.

However, if you were reaching driving age when the fourth generation of full-size Chevy pickups was being unleashed onto the public (right around the very late 80s), you just might have a naturally stronger attraction to this new wave of truck style. The 90s were coming, and so was a new style of, well, everything. Aside from the “hip” new fashion and music trends, there was a new type of truck on the streets to cruise around in with your friends. The evolution of the modern American truck had arrived.

1988-1998 Chevy C/K 1500

THE ’88-’98 GM pickup, which was technically known as the GMT400 platform, was definitely not your grandpa’s truck. Along with this fresh breed of pickup came a whole new outlook on what a truck is and what it could really be. The “OBS” (old body style) pickup, as they are often referred to now, awoke to a new breed of truck enthusiast that instantly recognized the truck’s potential to be customized. The new Chevy truck boasted an appearance that spoke to a youthful crowd across the country who were sucked in by the sleek, smooth body lines and the vast amount of killer aftermarket parts that were ready to be bolted on.

Think back to all those Belltech suspension advertisements from this era that featured brightly colored slammed trucks surrounded by chicks in high heels and high-waist bikinis. It was these images printed in custom truck magazines everywhere that helped kindle the fi re of the whole sport truck revolution.Customizers were building their new Chevy trucks to perform like monsters both on the streets and on the strip. The selection of accessories was almost limitless, and high-profile hot rod builders were even starting to take notice of the new truck platform as well. Their influx of street rod style projects hitting the streets and the pages of the biggest truck publications in print were overwhelming and inspirational to the readers at home. The introduction of the newly redesigned S-10/ Sonoma pickup and Blazer/Jimmy SUV in 1994 also caught this wave of popularity and became one of, if not the staple in the minitruck fanaticism during this period until GM pulled the plug on these wildly popular models in ’04.

Fresh off the dealership lots, this last rendition of the C/K trucks were available in trim packages from the base model Cheyenne, which was the perfect selection for a no-frills workhorse, or a relatively inexpensive starting point for a full project. The Scottsdale was designed to appeal to a much wider range of buyers as it offered some additional features, making it more of a comfortable family truck, while the Silverado trim package sat alone at the top as the premium trim selection for GM’s latest full size truck. When the C/K line of pickups and full-size SUVs were finally discontinued in ’99, the next line of pickups was to be based on and named after the Silverado trim package offering.