What commentary can I possibly add to this? It speaks for itself rather loud and clearly. I like the Creamsicle paint job.
CC Outtake: Lowdown Suburban
– Posted on November 26, 2013
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Curbside Classics Archives
What commentary can I possibly add to this? It speaks for itself rather loud and clearly. I like the Creamsicle paint job.
I’m in! If I could justify the gas…
The radio cluster where I work has a deal with GM that puts the four stations in new Tahoes/Suburbans every few years. Then the outgoing vehicles are offered to employees before going to whatever leasing company will dump them. This last happened around ’09 so I figure it won’t be long before they do it again. Only thing is they’re LS or base models but still if the price is right I may consider…my ’97 Blazer is at 284,700 miles and a 5.3 equipped Tahoe may get similar mileage…
This does make a lot more sense than a slammed Dually and it’s one less Suburban in the scrapyard. Not crazy about the color and although I’d never do this to a vehicle…I actually kind of like it. Looks like nice bodywork/craftsmanship too.
I’ve never understood the craze over slamming heavy trucks. At least this one looks like it could still be used as a truck, if you wanted/needed to badly enough.
Stand it back up to proper 2×4 height, and I could go for it. Always liked this generation of Suburbans… never owned one because they rust quickly and badly around here (none to be had).
That is cool… very cool. I’d cruise it.
The way that roof panel was designed, these always looked goofy with a contrasting roof. This would have looked so much better in a solid color.
I can’t look at one of these without feeling the sensation of the one I used to drive in a job – underpowered 305 with horrible hesitation on acceleration. Lunge, sputter, sputter, lunge. Or the other one, a high-mile one with a 350 and a dying transmission that would not shift out of second.
I am sure that this one has a proper drivetrain, which would go a long way towards overcoming my (probably isolated) bad experiences.
I agree that a single color would have worked much better or at least a two tone that didn’t look like it was split at an arbitrary point.
Regarding the color scheme: I think you are seeing a case of form following function for a change. The white roof and tinted windows make me think this is an un-air conditioned vehicle. Added to it being a PNW find makes me double down on that.
I like it. If you parked it in my driveway today I would remove that un-. Still have a jug of R134 out in the shop.
From the red river on south, this is known as the national car of Texas.
I think wstartvingteacher is correct. Allow the principal to say that school bus roofs are now being painted white because the white roofs reflect a greater portion of the sun’s rays and lower the temperature inside. Someone did a study on the idea about a decade ago and the manufacturers have followed suit. If you buy a white car your air conditioner will not have to work as hard as a dark colored car.
My argument has been if you live in the United States, miss the B-body wagon, and want a custom vehicle, lowering a Suburban is the closest you’ll come to capturing that old station wagon magic.
I remember the height of the Sport Truck craze when ads for lowering spindles for the front of 2wd SUVs seemed to be on every other page of enthusiast magazines.
Can’t help but think of the ’77 Suburban brochure that was (and still is) in my grandparents’ magazine rack growing up. It must have worked, since Grandpa bought one – cream paint, 2WD, 454, posi, all chosen to tow their 26′ travel trailer. Gone and replaced with an ’87 C10 when I was still a tike, unfortunately… most of my memories of those days involve the pickup and not the longroof.
But I digress. Throughout the brochure, they didn’t call it just a Suburban. On every page, it was… SUPERWAGON.
(As an aside, the orange one in the picture is more how I’d do an orange/white paint scheme on one of these, unoriginal or not!)
An interesting side bar is that there are still companies that will sell lowered suspension systems for the last of the BOF Explorer/Mountaineer/Aviator. I always thought a loaded up one of those with lowered suspension would be close to the luxurious Buick/Mercury/Oldsmobile wagons of yore. 😉
When I was a kid I saw these and marveled at their size, they were the biggest, heaviest things on the road that anybody could buy. But now look at ’em! This lowered one may well be dwarfed by some modern ‘minivans.’
I’m pretty sure (but not entirely certain) that even the largest minivans are slightly narrower than a full-size SUV, and certainly not any taller than a new model.
As for this one, all I can say is at least it’s an 80’s Suburban, which is a dime-a-dozen ’round these parts.
LS-Series 5.3 + LPG/CNG = damn the petrol costs.
I’m guessing that was taken in L.A. because I’ve (repeatedly) seen a truck that looked exactly like that. (How many candy orange slammed Suburbans can there be?)
Doubt it, the scenery is not correct, all I saw in LA were Palm Trees. I had to go to Fawnskin to see Pine Trees.
I think Paul caught it on the fly–it has Oregon plates.
AUWM: all of my posts that are identified in the title as “Curbside Classic”, “CC Capsule” or “CC Outtake” were shot by me, usually in Eugene. If I use shots from the Cohort, they’re identified as such in the title.
If this was taken in/around Ohio, I remember seeing the ad in Craigslist when the owner was selling it/had sold it. He said he was headed out west to make gay porn. Then again, it might not be the same one as the roof was a different color. You be the judge.