Texas Surprise: 2019 Chevrolet Silverado Trail Boss

Chevy threw itself a birthday party today at the Texas Motor Speedway, celebrating 100 years of making trucks. It had a surprise gift for the audience in the form of the new 2019 Chevrolet Silverado … delivered by way of Sikorsky helicopter, naturally.

The truck shown here is in new Trail Boss trim, which will add a factory two-inch lift kit to the off-road gear included in the already available Z71 package. Company reps were mum on powertrain details but your author’s ear definitely heard a V8 engine as the truck drove across stage at the Texas Motor Speedway.

Meaty Goodyear tires with aggressive tread were wrapped around black five-spoke rims in this Trail Boss model. There surely will be a myriad of rim and tire combinations when the truck goes on sale next year, depending on the model. Styling confirms a lot of what we’ve suspected from spy shots over the past few months, with a neat C-shaped LED trim underneath a narrow set of headlights. Side mirrors are a lot more streamlined and there’s an aggressive character line plunging towards terra firma just aft of the front fender. Shunning decades of tradition, the wheel-wells are no longer square.

At the rear of this crew-cab Chevy, the Silverado name has been hammered into the tail gate and the exhaust pipes are narrow, flat units. This will probably be different on other trims, as well. The bumper steps remain, confirming that Chevy is not interested in designing a ‘Man Step’ in the visage of the Blue Oval. Bookending the tail gate are a set of tail lights that have a flared appearance, pinched in the middle near the reverse lamp.

GM reps said the truck will next be seen at January’s North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The 2019 Chevrolet Silverado will go on sale in the 2018 calendar year.

[Images © 2017 Matthew Guy/TTAC and Chevrolet]