General Motors says the Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana will end production after the 2025 model year. When that happens, both of these vans would have been in production for about three decades with minimal changes to their flesh. Journalists and enthusiasts often complain about cars that have been in production, but I’ll be sad when these workhorses are no longer built.
Sadly, it doesn’t sound like these vans are going out with a bang, either. As Jason wrote this morning, they’re also probably the last consumer-level vehicle you can buy without an infotainment screen. I’m with StillNotATony here, these vans need to go out with a bang:
On the Old Site, they asked what vehicle needs a sport version, and I said the Express needs an SS model.
You can already get an LS, so slap a supercharger on it, and up to 2015, you could get AWD. Bring that back, slam it, stiffen the suspension, put on a body kit, and you’ve got a Typhoon for the whole family, plus Grandma, Granddad, Uncle Daryll, etc.
Call the the ExpreSS.
Then GM can put a big ol’ screen in the instrument panel.
I’m not going to lie, I’ve had dreams of a Chevy Express done up like the Ford F-150 FP700. Just a work van with a stupid amount of power and a slick appearance package. Yes, please!
Earlier today, I received information about a new RV supposedly coming to market next year. I get these emails all the time, but this one was bizarre. It was for a 1,400-pound box pulled by an electric tricycle. None of us could figure out exactly who this thing was for, so we decided to do two completely different articles on it. Your responses to Jason’s were hilarious.
TXJeepGuy:
I didn’t read the original article because I looked at it and said “that thing is dumb and useless”. I read this one though because that thing is dumb and useless.
Jesus Chrysler drives a Dodge:
1. Take a zero off the price
2. Rebrand as an environmentally friendly nano pop up banana stand.Job done. There’s always money in the banana stand.
David recently spent more money public-charging a Rivian R1S than he would have fueling a chunky gas vehicle. Sadly, many public chargers are expensive, which leads to this unfortunate realization from JP15:
I wouldn’t recommend anyone buy an EV unless they can charge at home or at work (or unless they’re willing to deal with some inconvenience/understand the costs).
This is really the crux of it, and exactly what I tell anyone asking me if they should buy an EV. Do you live in an apartment and commute an hour each way to work? Do NOT get an EV.
I only ever charge at home, using a public charger maybe 2-3x a year at most, and my effective “cost per mile” rolling up maintenance/insurance/fuel is $0.03/mile compared to $0.33/mile on my Subaru I had previously. I tracked all vehicle expenses religiously ever since I bought my first car (a weird habit my parents taught me), so I had years of cost data on exactly how much my car usage cost. That made the calculations for EV savings when I started shopping for one pretty straightforward, but again, that only applies to my very specific needs.
I looked around on Plugshare, and it does seem like public charging rates have seen a massive hike in my area recently. I know electricity rates have gone up a lot, but stations that used to be about $0.02/kWH are now over $0.40/kWH.
I currently live in an apartment with no way to charge at home, so any EV I’d own would be 100 percent charged on public chargers. It’s something that’s been a huge pain with the Zero motorcycle I’ve had for a year and six months. Have a great evening, everyone!
Hmmm, we need Mark Reuss at GM to make this a fast performance truck.Blow the van out with a hot edition that is awesome – just before they kill it. Maybe this can be a Dajiban style racing?
Man you could get these bastards with: A 454, an 8.1, a 6.6 Duramax, just about any LS they’ve ever made, and the hottest engine GM has ever produced: The TBI 4.3 V6. I’d say they’ve already made an SS.
CORRECTION: Since the express launched in 96, it would have been a Vortec 4.3. Take 50 points from my Chevrolet account.
They don’t call it the SS, but these vans are available today from the factory with the big block 6.6L. It’s a $1,900 option. Rated for 401hp and 464 lb-ft of torque. Empty, the weigh just over 5,000 lbs, so I imagine they would be pretty quick in a straight line. I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t even allow you on an autocross course.
Looks like you need to go to the 2500 to get the 6.6L, but that might be a moot point as the configurator doesn’t show a 1500 at all for either passenger or cargo….
If old-timey power is your thing, you could get them with the 454, AND the 8.1 as well. God damn do I ever want an 8.1 plumber van
To be honest, I would probably be looking for a 6.6L diesel were I in the market for an old-timey Express.
The 7.4L and 8.1L never did much for me. Lots of displacement and fuel consumption without for the HP and torque that they put out.
Sure, if you’re going to be all “logical” and “practical”. Pshhh. But really, I can’t argue that the original duramax wasn’t a fantastic engine. If offered to me at the same price, I’d probably go for the Duramax. BUT, that sure as hell isn’t going to happen. I love the 454 in my pickup, even if shes a “bit” thirsty. Nice and smooth, plenty of torque down at the bottom, and dead simple to work on.
Alex at Legit Street Cars has built just such a van. Big box, big power.
https://youtu.be/mxRyPhnCif4?si=-5_20t7JsegDoX2E
I love that van. I love that he just left the peeling white paint too.
He should have put satin clear Rustoleum over it to preserve it. But in this case looking worse looks better.
Yeah, it’s kind of fun watching the white peel off the hood progressively.
I deeply regret the demise of these work horse vans as the Ford E350SD was the base of 3 of my work truck box van.
On the EV subject now that EVs with worthless batteries are so cheap has anyone swapped an ICE into one?
Rich Rebuilds did an LS Tesla swap a couple years back. It took him a TON of fabrication. Despite the low cost of entry, I’d imagine the project demands are way too high for most people who’d be interested.
I’ve mentioned it before, but as soon as the stars/money align I plan on shoving a 6.0 lq9 (from a 2000s Esclade et al) into my Grumman bread-truck home. That should be a hot enough van for me. If not I can always stick a blower out the tiny snoot.
When I was looking at Expresses for a camper build, it was neat reading about people upgrading the motors to the LQ9, or just throwing a cam in there, or all manner of things. I think the 6.0 would have been plenty for me already, but it was fun to think about.
The vans once had a diesel V8 for a few years.
They could’ve done so much with them–either put a fast V8 in them or one of the powerful diesels found in the pickup trucks. Either way it makes it a way more interesting vehicle.
That said, I’ve driven these things and their driving dynamics are…poor. Adding power may not be all that wise and I think it would be really hard to make it much better.
Not only is the design 30 years old, but I’m pretty sure that their underpinnings are not all that much different from a Chevy van from 1978.
100% completely different. The old Chevy G van was a unibody. They went to body on frame with the Express.
Couldn’t be farther from the truth. Unibody in the least unibody sense–the body was welded to the frame rails. Not like a unibody car/crossover at all where the frame is fully integrated into the floor pan. I’ve had three generations of these vans in my family and when you looked underneath you couldn’t tell the difference frame-wise. The proof is in the cutaways. Both chassis were designed to accept boxes for ambulances and box trucks. Both generations were just as easily capable of accepting these changes. While the Express generation made definite improvements, it felt like a modest update even in the 90s.
This is an interesting comment though because most modern minivans, which are quite big, are still much smaller than full size vans. Yet when you measure their internal spaces vs their external dimensions, you see the advantage of true unibody construction. Comparing internal to external dimensions of the full size vans is an exercise in “wasted” space, unless of course you care about the frame (and for the 1 ton you might, I suppose). This is why the minivan is the true successor to the station wagon. Wagons were made niche more by minivans than by crossovers, though they certainly played a part. Minivans also killed the conversion van for all but the most diehards, until “van-life” came around, but of course, conversion vans were mostly not campers, though when I was a kid we had just that–a conversion van with a sink and fridge and table.
I enjoy that somehow you STILL have that motorcycle.
Yeah, why don’t they have an Express SS? Or a Savana Denali? 😛
It does seem surprising that no OEM has ever really taken a shot at building a “conversion” van with a luxurious interior.
The markups on those add ons are huge, why GM doesn’t want to get in on the game is a mystery.
They kinda tried for a couple years in the early 2000s with the Express LT. TV screens for each back row, Bose audio, available leather. Standard height roof though.
I’m guessing dealers are fine with ordering basic ones to send off for custom outfitting, because it’s not like they’d be ordering enough of a factory conversion equivalent to keep much stock of, and that would be less made-to-order which that buyer probably wants. Probably avoids some crash test requirements along the way on the OEM’s part too, not to mention protects some Suburban/Expedition/etc sales.
Ya got a point. Stripper work vans sell, because that is what companies want. Meanwhile a fancy van may sell… maybe. Fleet sales may not be as profitable per vehicle, but quantity has a quality all on its own.
Does it need to be actually fancy, or can it just be not absolutely basic? I imagine some fleets would spring for a “comfort package” for, like, $1000, that adds some comfier heated seats and a head unit with Carplay/AA. For vans that are spending a lot of time on the highway (versus a local plumber van that never goes more than 5 miles) it seems worth it.
I thought a hot version of a work van was just a Northrup Grumman mail truck?
The LS swapped one at least!
GM almost did this in the ’90s with the Astro RS and Safari GT, smaller vans, granted, and they were more mildly warm than hot, but the basic idea was there
Yeah, no V8 in them 🙁
They could’ve used the LT1 of the time 😉
I still really want one though. An RS popped up for sale on Craigslist within ca 100 miles a few years ago, but sold before I could get to it
there was a local hot rodder that dailyed an Astro. But he had a v8 in it. He also had a custom muffler fabbed into the rear bumper. Lowered and chopped too.
I saw that bike thingy and immediately thought of this bizarre 1971 British children’s film, Mr. Horatio Knockers, about a child who wishes for a white rabbit for her birthday, and gets a giant white rabbit – basically a guy in a creepy rabbit costume. It’s near the end of the film where a London police bobby (office) gives Mr. Knickers a ride in a rickshaw pulled by a police motorbike.
It’s really weird. It make you wonder if the folks who made this movie were friends with the guys at Hanna-Barbera and the Kroftt Brothers. Anyone who watched Scooby Doo, the Banana splits and HR Puf-N-Stuf in the late 60s and early 70s lnew it was all about the drugs.
See also Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny.
Thanks Mercedes! Glad I could make you happy.