The Cameo...Forerunner of Fleetsides
By Seth Doulton
In mid 1955, Chevrolet proudly proclaimed the Cameo Carrier as the "most glamorous truck on wheels." The Gold Album of Truck Values for 1955 stated that "Chevrolet has fashioned a pickup body so practical and yet so dazzling in beauty and appeal that it may well set an entirely new style trend in the light-duty truck field."
How true this statement was! The Cameo was the true forerunner of modern truck styling.
We can thank three creative individuals who had much to do with the final outcome of the Cameo. Luther Stier, head of Chevrolet truck styling, was of course, responsible for the end result. The lion's share of design credit would go to Chuck Jordan, who initially started the Radical Cameo Concept in 1952 with his design renderings. A well-known name at GM, Ed Cole, was the Chief Engineer for Chevrolet and should be recognized for the engineering features incorporated in truck design. I tend to feel GM was "testing the market" with the Cameo for luxury pickup design. A total production run of just over 10,000 units for the four years, and the high labor costs involved in the installation of bedsides, tail gate assembly, and rear bumper with tire carrier, helped lead to the demise of Cameo Carriers. The Cameo's box was shared with the other short bed trucks, which is deceiving to non-enthusiast Cameo truckers.
The limited production contributed to the scarcity of N.O.S. parts today and there wasn't much overrun on parts.
The original purchase price of the Cameo, which most often included a load of options (whether dealer-ordered or not) and the Base Line 235 six, pushed it past the $3,000 mark. With the slow economy in 1955-58 and a comparative Big Window Custom Cab price of $1500-$1700, there existed a definite detriment in Cameo sales.
As unique as it was, the cab could be duplicated in the other deluxe cab trucks in almost every detail. All custom cab trucks used the same pattern seat cloth for 1955-57, although in a different color combination. 1955's featured a brown-beige interior scheme in the custom cab with the red-beige reserved for the Cameo. 1956 followed suit, with custom cabs coming in charcoal and gray. Cameo's for 1957 and 1958 had four interior color combinations: charcoal and gray, dark & light green, dark & light blue and red & beige. 1958 deluxe cabs changed to a completely different upholstery scheme and pattern. 1955 and 56 Cameos had red rubber floor mats and white headliner roof seal, particular to this model.
The most distinguishing feature of Cameo Carriers in in the bed area. The addition of fiberglass side panels changed the appearance of Cameos from a Stepside with the panels following the same contours of the cab, separated from the back of the cab by approximately one inch. For practicality of low production and to cut tooling costs, GM turned to the use of fiberglass, which had been successful in production for three years with Corvette bodies. The 1955 and 56 beds were identical with plain bedsides. 1957 saw the embellishment of the plain sides with cast and stainless trim, which was carried over to 1958, which really •finished off" this particular model.
1955's sported a solid Bombay Ivory body and bed highlighted by Commercial Red. 1956 Cameos were available in eight color combinations, followed by eleven selections in 1957 and 14 choices for 1958. 1957 carried the secondary color between the two stainless strips on the bed as well as between the stainless surrounding the cab windows. 1958 Cameos differed to the extent that the secondary color also covered the roof area to the drip rails, leaving just a small strip of contrasting color from the top of the drip rail to the upper stainless trim strip on the cab. 1955 Cameos featured 1955 passenger car hub caps with 1956 using full discs off of a 1956 car. 1957 and 1958 Cameos sported chrome truck hub caps in conjunction with trim rings to finish off the wheels.
Initial sales of 5220 units in 1955 slid to 1452 in 1956. The facelift in 1957 and three additional color choices helped sales rise to 2224 units. Sales fell again in 1958 to 1405, which is not a true reflection of the consumer's taste, as the Fleetside was introduced in early spring. By this
•time, the Cameo was history and the Fleetside became GM's best seller.
Although GM, Ford and Chrysler were working on Fleetside trucks, Ford was the first to introduce this new bed design in 1957. GM and Chrysler followed with their versions in 1958.
The success of the Fleetside was secured on two fronts. For about $20 extra, the Fleetside bed was an exceptional buy vs. almost $475 more for the Cameo. The Fleetside's interior payload was 50% more than the Cameos, and double wall interior panels were welded in as part of the bed construction, almost even with the tops of the inner fender wells.
Unlike Fleetside models from 1967 to present, the 1958-66 Fleetside beds retained the Southern Pine wood floor which has always been used for GM stepside beds. Being a 1957 Cameo owner, I can still say that a 1958-59 Fleetside with deluxe trim package really gives a Cameo a run for the money: stock or modified. The drawbacks of a small interior bed area and fragile fiberglass side panels were quickly forgotten, especially considering the difference in cost.