Another reprint of my articles in Truckin' Magazine from the 80's
What’s Inside That Counts: Highlander Not a High Seller
By Seth Doulton
There were four very popular interior trim packages in 1972. The “Custom” was the standard interior: the colors of this plain interior were black, bIue green, or parchment. “Custom Deluxe” was the next step up. It added 7 inch thick foam seats in cloth and vinyl. Colors included black, blue, Olive and parchment. Stainless trim was also added to the door panels as well as color-keyed floor mats, cigarette lighters, door switches for the dome Light and special floor insulation (sound deadener). The “Cheyenne” was the next level up the ladder. The seat was all Vinyl tuck and roll with scrolling tooled right in. The colors were blue, black, Saddle, parchment or olive. Bucket seats with consoles were available in this Trim package. Headliner vinyl with chrome trim, color carpets, trim bezels on foot pedals and wood grain door panels added to the features from the Custom Deluxe and the Custom. The top of the line on regular production 1972 trucks was the “Cheyenne Super.” The seats were upholstered houndstooth patterned Nylon cloth and walrus-grain vinyl in parchment, blue or olive only and could be ordered in bench or bucket. Besides the woodgrain door panels, the dash and glovebox also had a woodgrain applique. These, along with all the other Cheyenne goodies, made this one of the hottest trucks of the seventies, and maybe even all time. The “Cheyenne Super” was introduced April of 1971 as option number RPO YE9. In December of 1971, the Highlander package was introduced to try to Pep up some of the last of the 1972 remaining inventory. They needed to Clean out the rest of the “72 body style trucks to make room for the brand New look of the 73 trucks. The Highlander package was available in the “10,” “20,” and “30” Fleetside as well as the Suburbans and Blazers. It was a basic, “Custom Deluxe” truck with loud, plaid seat cloth sewn inserts surrounded by vinyl with scroll tooling. The cloth came in blue, orange, avocado and gray. April and May ushered in three levels of the Highlander package. The First group added carpeting, special hub caps (series 10 only; series 20 & 30 Had chrome hub caps), chrome bumper, below-eye level mirror, upper moldings and door edge guards. The second group added Turbo Hydramatic Transmission, power steering and comfort tilt steering column. The third Group rounded out the Highlander package with air conditioning and tinted, Soft ray glass. You saved money if you bought the items by group instead of ordering the options one by one. With all three groups, you could save $260.50 over ordering a regular production truck with the same options. Chevrolet cut corners on these family trucks and kept the price low to try to move as many as possible. Interestingly enough, the Highlander used Standard marker lights instead of the more “Custom” deluxe markers with the chrome trim. Today you have to look high and low to find a Highlander truck or its Unique seat or seat cloth.
