They wear bow ties, but they’re not from around here. MCG presents another fresh batch of Chevrolets that most Americans will never get to see.
This story is essentially a continuation of a Mac’s Motor City Garage feature, “Nine Weird Chevrolets You’ve Probably Never Seen.” As we noted at the time, “Chevrolets are known for their ubiquity. You know: Seen one, seen them all.” Yes, Chevrolets really are as familiar as apple pie—usually, anyway.
The vehicles below may not be known well here in America, but they all wear the familiar bow-tie badge. How many Chevies do you recognize?
Fans of the first-generation Chevy S-10 pickup (1982-1993) Chevy S-10 pickup will scratch their heads at this one. GM never offered a crew cab with this familiar look,ut except here it is, in a C/K size. Built in Brazil and Argentina but never sold in the USA, Chevrolet D-20 trucks were offered with 4.0-liter gasoline/ethanol and Perkins diesel engines.
This 1980 Chevrolet Caravan 250 S Station Wagon was a Brazil-built variant of the E-series Opel Rekord wagon. Produced in this style from 1979 to 1992, the three-door was propelled by a Chevrolet 250 CID inline six and three-speed Hydramatic transmission.
Would Americans buy a subcompact pickup—a baby El Camino, as it were? This little cutie, based on the Chevrolet Agile sedan assembled in Argentina, has been marketed as the Corsa Utility in Africa, the Chevy Tornado in Mexico, and the Montana in South America. But you can’t buy one in the USA, though GM did briefly consider bringing it here during the last recession, reportedly.
As noted previously, the Chevrolet brand has always been popular in Africa. The Chevrolet Kommando was based on the Holden HQ platform, but used 230 and 250 CID Chevrolet inline six engines for power rather than Holden powerplants. Body styles included a sedan, a wagon, and a pickup wearing El Camino badges.
In the previous story we featured the Chevrolet Veraneio, a Brazilian-built proto-SUV that was sold throughout South America from 1964 to 1989. (Veraneio means summer place in Portugese.) However, we’re showing the vehicle again to provide a view of the flamboyant rear fender line. This seems to be a common feature on Brazilian truck designs of the period, we’ve learned.
The face might not be totally familiar, but we’d know those doors anywhere. From 1964 to 1974, GM of Argentina produced the Chevrolet 400 line, based on lightly facelifted 1962-1965 Chevy II sheet metal. The 400 eventually evolved quad headlamps and a Super Sport version powered by a 250 CID stovebolt six.
Here in the States, we associate the Firenza badge with Oldsmobile, but at GM South Africa it was applied to a local variant on the Vauxhall Viva HC platform built circa 1971-1974. Body styles included a sedan, coupe, and wagon; powerplants included 1.3L Vauxhall and 1.9 Opel fours. A rare (99 built) coupe version, powered by a 302 CID Chevy V8 and called the Can-Am, is surely the most well-known Chevrolet Firenza model around the world today.
The South African version of the Holden, the Kommando was fitted with Chev Sixs purely to meet local content laws of the time. The Chev motors were made in South Africa. Utilities, which you erroneously label as pick ups were called bakkies by the South Africans As has been pointed out previously utilities or in this case bakkies are NOT pick ups. Pick ups have a separate chassis to which the load bed is bolted on to. Utilities on the other hand are of entirely unitary construction ie no separate chassis and the Holden and chev badged variant are of that style of construction.
The Firenza was the common UK home market model variant name given to the two door sports version of the HC Vauxhall Viva. The HC Viva ended up being renamed on the South African market as the RANGER with 2.2 litre Opel motors fitted, after GM [Chev] pulled out of the South African market as a result of the worsening political situation of the time and the management of the South African Chevrolet division bought out the company from GM.
At the time the HC Viva was introduced to the South African market, GM had actively been considering launching the Holden LC Torana, a vehicle of the same size as the Viva but which came with both four and six cylinder motors as standard on the South African market The Viva proved to be cheaper to source from Britain than bringing Toranas in from Australia. As it transpired, those CKD Torana kits intended for South Africa ended up going to Korea where they were produced and sold as the Camina and Chevrolet 1700 by the company which eventually emerged as Daewoo
L-J, I do not adhere to your distinction regarding pickups vs. utilities. It is not consistent and makes no sense. I can name many utilities with body-on-frame construction, and many pickups with unitary construction. I bet you can too if you think about it for a moment. The terms pickup, utility, depot, express, and so on have been in use a long time all around the world.
That might well be the case, however the Utility vehicle was an Australian invention and as such, as we Australians invented the thing in the first place, how or what we define as a Utility is the yardstick by which every vehicle of this type is defined. In Australia pick ups are officially described as vehicles which have a separate chassis. I’m not being arrogant, nationalistic [a trait I abhor] or indeed pedantic when I say that, I’m merely stating what is the accepted definition in this country. And as I said, we did invent the thing.
To be sure, as you say other names have been used to describe such vehicles but those names have all originated from the US and have probably been adopted in other places through the exportation of American cultural influences.
Thanks for this, I’ve always wondered, if there’s some place in South America, that has a feature, “Strange cars from North America”. Seems these cars are always from Brazil, and some are great styles too.
Lots of Brooks Stevens going on with the Veraneio. I wonder if there was a connection through corporate assimilation. Regardless, it’s my favorite.
I think recently read that GM was going to kill the Chevy brand in Europe in hopes of bolstering Opel.
You may have even read that here! We hope to keep readers on top of car biz news in the shortest and sweetest form possible.
Thanks to the Subaru Brat (both iterations), we know that a mini El Camino is not viable in the USA. There was the Chevy SSR also, but I rule that out based on cost and the complexity of the roof. Which is unfortunate. I would buy one.
You are so right. The market is littered with the corpses: Dodge Rampage and Plymouth Scamp, VW Rabbit pickup, Subaru Brat, Tracker Sidekick whatever… Hey, I think you just outlined a story.
Putting on the old product planner hat, the only hope I could see is an existing vehicle brought in for 20K annual units (or whatever the market might be) until the demand is exhausted 30 months out.
For me, the SSR is emblematic of the GM bankruptcy.
The argument about pickups is dumb. The Nissan Bakki, sold most other places as a Datsun 1200 ute is a unitary body. The HQ ute is a body on front subframe which extends to the front spring hangers at the rear.
As for the Firenza, I have seen one and it is really only a HC Viva with a Chev ‘attached’ The Oz LC Torana 6 was a FAR stronger device. Still loosely based on the horrid HC Viva.
The HQs were all CKD from Australia, a few Statesman versions escaped here with the Chevy 6. Or 350s which was a option engine here too.
Have to correct you on your assertion the LC Torana 6 was loosely based on the HC Viva. In fact the LC/LJ Torana 6s used a stretched HB Torana/Viva floor pan with the stretch being of the front chassis rails and inner guard sheet metal being extended forward from the firewall in order to accommodate the length of the Holden 6 cylinder donk. No HC Viva engineering or component was ever incorporated in to the LC/LJ Torana. The LJ/LC Torana was essentially a reworking by the Holden design team, of the HB platform During the development of the LJ Torana GMHolden did import several HC Vivas for evaluation as a possible next generation Torana after the HB SERIES but ultimately choose to rework the HB design instead – it being cheaper to do so.