Re-printed article from my column from 1999
The Suburban is the longest-running non-stop nameplate in Chevrolet history; probably in automotive history
As you enjoy this look back over the years, you will notice that the Suburban didn't become really family-friendly until the 1967 model year when comfort and convenience flooded the Suburban with deep padded seats, more efficient air conditioning and heater, larger seating area and, of course, the easy access third door on the passenger side.
Chevrolet's first real step into the SUV market occurred on December 15, 1934 as a 1935 model. It was the first all-steel, factory-built station wagon on a truck platform. Ahead of its time? It took Ford over 60 years to build one. It was first called the Suburban Carryall and later shortened to just plain Suburban. GMC followed suit with the 1937 model Carryall Suburban. By the way, 1999 was the last year GMC called the GMC Suburban a Suburban. From this day forward, it will be the Yukon XL. A lot of changes have evolved with the Suburban in the last 60 years, but one thing has remained. It's a leader in people hauling and pulling power. In fact, the Texans like it so much that it is commonly referred to as the Official Vehicle of Texas! For many years, more Suburbans were sold in Texas than anywhere else in the USA.
The early Suburbans were a far cry from the plush leather, door-to-door carpeting and state-of-the-art sound systems. The early Suburbans were not much more than a covered pickup with seats. In 1947, as in all prior Suburbans, there were only two front doors. The rears were clamshell style. With one door lifting up like a hatch and the other folding down like a tailgate. The seating in the 1947 Suburban could be arranged in seven different configurations depending on how many people you wanted to haul or how much stuff you had! With all four seats installed, the Suburban could hold eight adults. You could also remove all the seats except the driver's seat and haul a half-ton load.
The front seat was split. Two-thirds of the seat was on the driver's side and a small passenger side seat would flip forward for access to the rear seating area. The second seat could be fitted with a three or two-person seat. Same with the third seat, although most of the Suburbans had a 3- person third seat. Suburbans have always been the highest-priced half tons, and
these early ones were no different. A new, half-ton pickup was going for about $1200 list price, while the Suburban rang up over $1600 list. These were prices on basic trucks without accessories or extra options. In the early 50's, panels were only available with clamshell rear doors, but the panels had barn doors. These doors opened side to side. Chevrolet decided to make both types of rear doors available on the Suburban.
When I bought a Suburban in 1988, I had to convince my wife that the barn doors were better. She did not like the look of them at first and was bothered by the center post blocking the view in the rear-view mirror. After showing her how easy it was to load parcels in the back and avoid having to lift boxes and baggage over the tailgate of the clamshell type, she was convinced. With the barn doors you can easily stand and load things right into the back of the Suburban.
Improvements came slow for the Suburban except for the changes that were carried over from the pickup. However, in 1952, Chevrolet did improve the side window seals, which were formerly attached to the sliding glass to the stationary glass. This improved sealing at the top and bottom of the glass and minimized the entrance of rain during inclement weather. Other than the redesigns that followed suit with the pickups, the Suburbans did not change much through the 50's and early 60's.
In 1966, the half-ton Suburban with panel doors, model number C-1406 had a list price of $2,437. The half-ton Suburban with the clamshell or end gate, #C-1416 listed for $2467. That same year the half-ton Stepside listed Or $1862 and the Fleetside came in at $1877. You can see that the Suburban was relatively more expensive in 1966. Today, Collector Car & Truck Market Guide lists the value of a perfect 1966 Suburban at $7950; a Fleetside at $8750 and Stepside at
$8500. These figures reflect a lot of market analysis compounded by the volume and popularity of the pickups being sold and restored. The pickups seem to run about 20 to 1 over the Suburbans. There just aren't that many left to restore and of course the lower production figures in the beginning doesn't help either.
Some other interesting information on the 1966 Suburban was the option of a third seat (an $86 item). Soft ray glass all the way around added $18; power steering was $175 (no wonder you don't find power steering options on the 1966 trucks) and deluxe moldings were $40.
The 1966 Suburban or Carryall as they were referred to sometimes, came standard with two seats: a front split seat and a full width seat. The rear side windows were flexed, but the fronts would open and close. When you added the third seat, the rear most windows would be sliders that would open and close and the full width seat was moved to the rear and a small 39-3/4 inch seat was installed in the middle. Seat belts were standard for driver and passenger seats and for the two passengers, the standard rear seat. Seats were upholstered in medium fawn. The front area had a rubber floor mat (same as the pickup) and the rear area had charcoal linoleum.
These sparse Suburbans were upgraded with custom options. The custom appearance had bright metal windshield molding, bright aluminum grill, custom steering wheel and horn ring, chrome trimmed interior knobs and silver anodized aluminum belt line moldings. The custom comfort options included a left arm rest (the right one was a dealer installed item), right sun visor, chrome trim cigarette lighter, right keyed door lock, under cooling of the cab, and special seat
covers.
The custom chrome option included front and rear bumpers and chrome hubcaps. The 4x4 models did not include hubcaps. As I mentioned before, the 1967 models were light-years ahead of the '66 models. Some of the improvements included retractable seat belts; choice of four interior colors (fawn, green, blue and red); vinyl door panels, white hardboard headliner from front to rear, and rear floor mats when seats are added to the rear.
In 1967, General Motors refocused on more plush interiors with the introduction of their 1967 model Suburban. This was also the first year that GM built the 3-door Suburban. Before
this, to access the rear seat, you had to fold the passenger seat forward and climb into the rear. The addition of the third door, in my mind, was the most important improvement ever made to a Suburban to date. It wasn't until 1973 that GM added a fourth door behind the driver's seat. The 1967-72 models only had the right-hand, second door on the passenger side. I've heard it more than once that people think that they have seen a rare Suburban because it didn't have a driver's side second door. Even my son, when he was young, but who has been exposed to a lot of vehicles, thought it was some kind of custom Suburban.
When people ask me why I think GM didn't offer the driver's side rear door earlier, I respond that I believe it was the potential danger of passengers getting out of a vehicle in traffic. I think it's the same reason why in the 50's you could only lock a truck on the passenger side. In other words, to lock your 1955 pickup, you would have to slide over to the right side, get out at the curb, and then lock the door. To further prove my point, I have to ask why it took so long
for the manufacturers to add a sliding door on the driver's side to mini vans.
As the Suburban evolved through the 80's and 90's, it became more plush and more comfortable than one could imagine way back in the 50's, much less the 30's. The headlines at the close of 1999 read, " the Chevy Suburban was one vehicle that helped push truck sales to a November record." GM had its best November ever for truck sales. Its 1999 truck sales have already set an annual record for the company.
As a vehicle that was once thought of as a nice market truck, GM has turned - or should I say the buying public has turned the Suburban into a somewhat flagship platform, redesigning and
rebadging it for just about every division they own, including Cadillac. They even made a cut-down version, the Denali, Yukon, Tahoe, and Escalade to make it more appealing to women buyers and the other divisions.
My question is, why did it take Ford so long? Not to mention Dodge. Dodge has yet to introduce a Suburban-like vehicle, though they have toyed with the idea.
Now that you've been thinking about my first statement that the Suburban is possibly the longest-running nameplate in automotive history, I'll test you. Drop me a line if you can think of one that's over 65 years in the running.