While there’s no question that it had one of the best engines ever put in a Chevy truck, the Chevrolet 454 SS was more than a tire smoking brute. Chevrolet could have stuffed a 454 cubic inch big block into a 1990 Silverado C1500, given it a black-out paint scheme, slapped some contrasting decals on it and called it a day. Thankfully, they went the extra mile, working on the suspension to improve handling and laying the groundwork for a new class of sport truck.
The Chevrolet 454 SS came with the ZQ8 sport suspension package that included higher-rate coil springs, Bilstein shock absorbers, and beefy 275/60R15 BF Goodrich tires. While Car and Driver found the 1993 Chevy 454 SS prone to understeer, once the backend breaks loose, it’s easily controlled with the throttle. The reviewer’s final verdict found the truck “surprisingly sporting,” even though it still rides like a truck on rough roads.
However, what really makes the Chevrolet 454 SS special is the road it helped pave to give us sport-trucks like the Ford Raptor and Ram TRX.
[Featured image by Pokemonprime via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY 4.0]
