Chevrolet reveals Silverado Cheyenne concept truck bound for SEMA

Even though the SEMA show is famous for the most outlandish sports cars you could imagine (and some you probably couldn't), there will be no shortage of tuned pickup trucks this year from both manufacturers and tuning houses. And one of them will be the Chevrolet Silverado Cheyenne edition. Admittedly, it's been a while since we've been treated to a serious street-performance truck from Chevrolet, and perhaps it's the GMC Syclone that comes to mind when you think of a small performance-oriented truck from one of GM's brands.

In creating the Cheyenne, Chevrolet has taken a standard-box Silverado, lowered it, and put it on a diet by replacing the bumpers, tailgate, and inner cargo box with carbon fiber, cutting 200 pounds off the curb weight in the process. Chevrolet also ditched the trailer hitch, the spare tire, the center console, and some sound deadening material, while stuffing a new 6.2-liter V8 under the hood to replace the 5.3-liter V8. The former is good for 420 hp and 460 lb-ft of torque, an improvement of 65 hp over the 5.3-liter unit. The effort to save weight payed off in the form of a better power-to-weight ratio, and just so that the power doesn't get out of control, Chevrolet fitted the truck with Brembo carbon ceramic brakes.

Chevrolet
420 hp and 460 lb-ft of torque means this will be one mean truck, but it's staying just a concept for now.

"The Cheyenne concept explores the performance possibilities of the all-new Silverado, which is already built on a mass-efficient layout and delivers a greater balance of performance and efficiency than any other full-size truck in Chevrolet's history," said Chris Perry, vice president of Chevrolet marketing.

You'll notice that the truck has not been designed to hide its muscle, though it doesn't advertise it too loudly either. If the charcoal-painted 19-inch Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 wheels and high performance tires don't give away the truck's sporting aspirations, the sound of the Borla exhaust will let other people in traffic know that this truck isn't a fleet special belonging to a telephone company. And speaking of seeing it in traffic, there are no plans at the moment to introduce a production version of the Cheyenne, though we can't imagine Chevy not filling this gap in their lineup at some point in the future.

Would you be interested in a performance-focused Chevrolet Silverado along the lines of the Cheyenne concept if Chevrolet were to offer it?

About the SEMA Show

SEMA — short for Specialty Equipment Marketing Association — is the biggest aftermarket auto event in the world, held in Las Vegas each fall. The show fills multiple convention halls and shows off everything from high-performance OEM specials to custom wheels and graphics from local shops. Get the full rundown on what automakers and suppliers are up to at the industry's biggest trade show at our SEMA Show home page.

By Jay Ramey