Learn all about the tough and sturdy 1979 Chevy Suburban in this original dealer training film.

It seems like every automaker offers a full-sized SUV these days, but when this dealer film was produced back in 1979, they were still narrowly focused vehicles for serious applications, and the Chevy Suburban was a leader of the class. Chevrolet was an SUV pioneer, in fact, as the first Suburban appeared in 1933 and helped to define the category: essentially, a station wagon body on a pickup truck chassis. Now in its eighth design generation, the Chevy Suburban is still in production in 2021 along with its GMC stablemate, which is currently branded as the Yukon XL.

In the GM Square Body truck era (read all about the Square Bodies here) the Suburban was prized for its versatility, thanks to the nearly endless configurations available. For 1979, buyers could choose two or four-wheel drive, small-block and big-block V8s, seating for up to nine passengers, and towing packages rated at up to 15.000 lbs. The top line of the sales pitch was “built to stay tough,” and in the dealer film below, courtesy of the GM Heritage Center, the message also includes passenger car ride comfort and extensive anti-corrosion measures—which weren’t entirely effective in the road-salt region, owners would learn. Video below.

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