Chevrolet Trucks: 100 Years of Building the Future

by Larry Edsall, Alan Batey (Foreword)

Chevy has been setting industry standards for over 100 years. Chevy Trucks recounts this incredible history, from the classic Series 490 to the more recent Silverado and Colorado.

In 1917, Chevrolet introduced its first truck, the Series 490, marking the company’s official entry into the dedicated truck business. During the century that has passed since that first Chevy truck, Chevy (and later GMC-brand trucks) have become some of the most ubiquitous and recognizable brands around the world . Every year the company sells over 1 million trucks worldwide.

From the very beginning of the story to today's modern global brand, Chevrolet 100 Years of Building the Future covers the entire Chevrolet truck saga , from the early Series 490, to the medium and heavy-duty models, to the light-duty C-series pickups, right up to the contemporary Silverado and Colorado.

Officially licensed by Chevrolet and created with their full cooperation, this detailed book includes hundreds of photos from Chevrolet’s historic and design archives . Automotive journalist Larry Edsall combed GM’s archives and interviewed key personnel to weave the story of Chevrolet’s truck evolution from working vehicle to lifestyle companion.

This thorough history covers the full array of Chevy models since 1917 and is a must have for any truck fan whose heart beats with a V-8 rhythm.

224 pages, Hardcover

Published October 29, 2019

Reviews

[Donald Ohlinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chevorlet Trucks have a very interesting story they have been around since 1918 and for a 100 years chevorlet has been building trucks based on quality and dependability and capability the fullsize pickup has come a long way in engineering and design and development chevorlet has been building on these practices for years with every chevorlet truck and even right down to the new 2018 Silverado the truck keeps up with the tradition and heritage of every chevorlet truck built before it however chevorlet has come a long way since the days of building basic trucks. Larry Edsall did a fantastic job on Chevorlet Trucks 100 Years Of Building THE Future and the book is officially liscened by GM I love chevorlet trucks my father has owned 4- chevorlet trucks two stepsides and two fleetsides however I like the 1973-1987 square body pickups and the 1988-1998 GMT-400 c/k pickup plus a lot of vintage trucks like the 1947-1955 advance design and the 1955-1959 task force plus the 1960-1966 chevorlet c-10 pickups and 1967-1972 chevorlet trucks and every truck through out the earlie 1940s and through the 1930s however I will mention that there are no medium duty trucks or big over the road trucks in the book there are plenty of light-duty trucks midsize and fullsize trucks. I bought mine on Amazon and love it Motorbooks Quartodrives is the Number 1 source on everything automotive Larry Edsall has a book called Corvette Stingray that talks about the new corvette and also a book called Camaro 2016 that talks about Chevorlets new Camaro those other titles are liscened by GM also if you love GM like me get these other books as well.

[Cameron Clinebell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book taught me a lot about the history of Silverados from January 1918 through 2023 the trucks have improved and evolved through the years.
Larry Edsall did a very good job of showing and explaining the early Chevrolet. In the beginning of the book, he talked a lot about the first models of Chevrolet trucks from the first truck to be built in 1918 to the early model Chevrolet trucks in 1928. In 1918 the Chevrolet had a one-pan windshield instead of the two pan like the trucks in 1928 had in them also the first trucks had soft tops and the later models in 1928 had hard tops that were made from metal. Throughout the whole book, Larry Edsall explained the trucks with pictures and they had put pictures of old newspaper articles in the book so you could read them.
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes cars or has an interest in learning about the history of Chevrolet trucks. It shows and tells you a lot about older trucks and how they have changed through the years. If someone wanted to learn more about the motors in the first trucks and the new ones this would be a good book because it tells you about the changes they have made to the motors through the years. It also showed some changes that were made to the Chevrolet in shorter periods The first trucks that GM produced were open-cab vehicles they had small windshields and a cloth roof that could fold back. The modern trucks have full windshields and they are closed-cabs with metal bodies and roofs.

[Jose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book,beautifully done covers "Light-Duty" Trucks,it is well-written no surprise considering the author.I would have like to have seen and read about Chevrolet Vans which are not covered for some reason,they are glossed over.As well as Chevy's Foray into Heavy-Duty Class 8 Market With Models such as the Titan 90(1970-1980),Bison(1977-1980) and Bruin(1978-80).so a few models and different things are neglected or glossed over perhaps due to space or just at Chevy's(GM)request.I am glad I own the book however, I Love it. I would recommend it to any Bowtie fan,GM guy.