In the ’60s, Chevrolet was a major player in the commercial truck market with a complete lineup of haulers, from Corvair vans to Tilt Cab semis. See them in action here.

From a 21st-century perspective, Chevrolet’s historic presence in the commercial truck market may not seem totally logical. Wasn’t that GMC’s department? Sure, but the gigantic Chevrolet dealership network was just too great a sales tool for General Motors to leave unexploited. So for decades (until 1981) GM offered complete commercial truck lines through both its GMC and Chevrolet dealer organizations, and while the two brands could vary significantly in their equipment and specifications, there were some obvious similarities, too.

Legendary racer Smokey Yunick, who made his living operating a truck dealership in Daytona Beach, liked to joke in his local newspaper ads that GMC was the only truck manufacturer with two complete engineering departments: GMC did the ash trays and hubcaps, and Chevrolet did the rest. We suppose that depending on the truck’s size, the gag could be told either way.

In the 1961 promotional film below, the theme is variety. No matter what your commercial needs, Chevy had a truck for you, from the dinky Corvan and Rampside (recently featured here) to the big Tilt Cab and 80 Series heavy haulers. “Name your job, mister. Your Chevrolet dealer has the truck to handle it—profitably!” the announcer boasts.

One notable feature on big Chevy trucks of the period we see touted here is independent front suspension, an innovation that lasted only a few years. We’re not sure why the IFS was dropped. Some old timers say the torsion bars were prone to failure, and maybe the feature increased manufacturing cost but not sales volume. It’s also interesting to note how the Corvair-based vans and pickups were heavily pitched to commercial customers. Video follows.  (Note: Please click and subscribe to our YouTube channel, where we host our videos and feature tons of great content. Thanks!)