I’ve always felt the 1988 Chevy and GMC full-size trucks to be style leaders in the best GM truck tradition, but this facelift of the third-generation C/K series built for Latin American markets borrows quite liberally from the late ’80s F-series we knew here in the US. Like many of us, there are occasional cars I don’t recognize until I see them on CC’s pages, and I was unaware of the 1985-1996 Argentinian/Brazilian Chevy C10/C20/D20 pickup until I saw it in The Cohort, where it was posted by SoCalMetro.
As we see from the concave character line and vertical taillights, the seeming Ford influence continued around the body. Powered by a variety of powerplants, the Latin American C10/C20 was one of the later homes of the 4.1 Chevy six, available in gasoline and alcohol powered versions (badged A20), as well as a 3.9 Perkins diesel and 4.0 Maxion diesels US buyers never saw.
The passing of time bore a greater foreign influence on the ergonomics and mechanicals of the third-gen C/K, with Opel-esque instrumentation and big four-cylinder turbodiesels conceived in a different spirit than the proto-“Brodozers” that US full-sizers were becoming by this mid ’90s, reflecting divergent consumer expectations. It’s a bit visually jarring to see the rather square-rigged alterations to what was a somewhat rounded basic shape but despite a less-than-cohesive appearance, these trucks have a utilitarian look which just treads the right side of rustic. If nothing else, getting the diesels here in the US would’ve been pretty cool.
The windshield, cab windows and roofline certainly look identical to the 73-87 US C/K trucks. I didn’t notice it until I saw the picture of the crew cab version, though. The alloy wheels in the D-20 ad look identical to the 88-92ish K1500 wheels. Not much else appears to be shared, very interesting variant!
I had a Novacar diecast (made out of plastic) of this truck. at the time I assumed it was some generic pickup, and not based on a real vehicle.
Here’s the same casting, but done in metal:
i cant believe how much these look like an 87 ford. Even the graphics package is ford reminicent, as well as that steering wheel. strange.
Wow. Great article. I offhand thought that first pic was a 83-92 Ranger. I’ve never seen these.
The last pic really reminds me of the “Tropical Cabines” style trucks that are still around Brazil. Lots of customized crew cab trucks, SUV’s and “sedan trucks” like this F100. I’ve still never seen an English write up on them, come on Perry!
Or this F250 “sedan”
These truck based cars were the norm in Japan…
A truck based sedan from the 70’s, based on the Datsun 620.
With Focus taillights, no less!
Or here’s one made out of the subject Chevy truck
That’s what I thought too, I see a lot more Ranger there than F-150. Especially the graphics.
That picture combined with the Chevy headline confused the heck out of me at first.
The truck based sedan, Japanese style.
The Isuzu Florian based on what, we know, as the Chevy Luv. 🙂
That Latin American C10 looks like a 1st gen S10 on steroids. 😛
Or the Chevy LUV was based on the Florian.
I saw the blue on the grille and my brain saw an oval even though it’s clearly a bowtie. Interesting find!
How weird I thought that was a Ford at first. This is pretty good proof of Ford envy over at GM, something you never see documented as clearly as in this case. The Brazil operations must have been run on a very long leash.
Wow…Looks like an F-150 mated with a 1st gen. S-10 or Ranger.
Even the grill looks like it is borrowed from a period Ford Transit.
Holy moly! When I saw this truck I immediately thought it was a Ford Ranger too!
This reminds me, Ford also sold a Suburban knockoff in Old Mexico too, in the mid to early 1990’s. I saw one or two driving here in LA.
You’re probably talking about the Centurion, an independent company in the US actually made them.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/curbside-classic-ford-classic-350-centurion-vehicles-creates-a-frankenstein-suburban-fighter/
From the photo I saw at
http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1270101-1970s-ford-excursion-2.html
http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1175582-argentian-fords.html#post12060239
There some passengers version of the Mexican B-100/B-150 panel truck.
Neat! Those South Americans were pretty innovative with what they had, the old 4.1L straight 6 was given port EFI and the 4X4 versions of these trucks featured IFS in later years. The Chevy 153 4 cylinder and 261 truck Blue Flame 6 lasted in Brazilian Chevy trucks into the late 70’s. Ford had 2.3L F-100’s based on the ’67-’72 models, and a real oddball 292 Y-block V-8 with Windsor heads in the larger trucks.
I see a heavy Ford Ranger influence but the front end has a subtle Chevy Astro vibe to it.
These were sold here in Chile too. I think what I like the most are the side graphics!
Wow even the steering wheel was copied from Ford!
That front clip looks all S10 to me. I had to look real hard, actually squint, to be able to see the 1973 C/K cab, so much did my brain want to make these trucks S10s.
Ah the love child of a Ranger and a S-10
Nice find Perry. I don’t have a real good feel for the size of these things. C10/20 you say so are the same size as the North American variety?
When it comes to looks, I’d love one. Power choices are excellent. What could go wrong?
This site is an education… Appreciate everyone’s input.
Wow, that just looks weird! Are the headlights ripped off of the ’87-’93 aero Fox Mustang? That crewcab actually wouldn’t look bad with the lift and fat tires from the red one….
look at those cute six lugs…A heavy duty little sucker.
Otherworldly indeed. The Chefordlet. I can see some C/K in the crew greenhouse, but otherwise, mind boggling.
I drove one of these a few times about 20 years ago. That truck is still driving around and in nice shape.
Did you notice the vent hatch in the roof of these trucks? Loved it. No need for A/C + some kind of trucker feeling.
These days (late 80’s) brazilian Ford competition was the F-1000. Needless to say, if Chevrolet took some inspiration from Ford, then definetly not from brazilian Ford trucks of the day. It was not until 1992 that Ford “updated” their trucks, with early 80’s sheetmetal
This is the “updated” ’92 Ford F-1000. Who inspired who here?
The truck in the first picture looks like a hybrid of sorts. The doors look like they came from a full-sized Chevy/GMC pickup truck. The bed looks like it came from the compact Ford Ranger.
I didn’t really notice many resemblances between these South-American Chevy C-Series and the Ford F-Series, even though many Americans tell me the Chevy looks like a copy of the Ford. These ones, actually, have more Opel influence as it has been noticed, but the roofline shows clearly its Chevy roots in spite of the Opel-esque front clip.
By the way, the Argentinian version of the GMT400 Silverado ran on the same chassis of this C-Series, even the rear-mounted fuel tank with the right-side filling neck is there. The 250cu.in. straight-6 soldiered on at least until ’99, so did the 4.0L diesel in both naturally-aspirated and turbocharged versions, until it was replaced by the same MWM 6.07 Sprint turbodiesel also fitted to the Brazilian F-250 from ’99 to 2005, but the intercooler was only available in the F-250.