Short Bed a Long Shot but Still a Possibility, Chevy Says of Silverado Regular Cab

If you’re like the dinosaurs who rumble around this here site, seeing a showroom-fresh regular cab pickup in daily life is a moment to be savored, as it’s a rare one. Barring work crews and contractors, most of which still prefer an extended-cab configuration for indoor tool storage, the once-dominant regular cab is a rare breed. A regular cab/short bed setup is even rarer.

In Chevrolet’s new-for-2019 Silverado 1500 line, regular cabs can be found at the bottom of the ladder, configured in a manner in which the automaker feels it can get the best return on investment. Low-trimmed work trucks for working stiffs, with no option for a short bed. However, the door isn’t shut on something a little more individualized.

As reported by Muscle Cars and Trucks (via The Drive), the automaker hasn’t completely scrapped the idea of a regular cab/short bed offering with additional niceties in tow.

Hugh Milne, the model’s marketing director, claims Chevy offered the Silverado Work Truck as a regular cab with long box for obvious reasons, which doesn’t mean the future won’t hold a less bare-bones one-row model.

“There were some decisions made to only do a regular cab long box Silverado… it’s only a work truck,” he remarked. “We had customers that were disappointed that we didn’t do a reg cab short box, and we’re seeing whether or not (offering one) makes sense. We’re always evaluating opportunities, but a lot of that is based on greenhouse gas and how that is formulated… good players, bad players, footprints… we’re always trying to balance the portfolio.”

Past decades has seen each of the Detroit Three offer regular cab/short box sport trucks with uplevel engines and go-fast exterior trappings, or at least in trims well above “base.” Dodge’s Ram SRT-10 comes to mind immediately, though it’s hardly alone in the field. (Just the pinnacle.)

Since the heady days of the previous century, pickups have become the new family car, meaning automakers place a far greater emphasis on the extended and crew cab models that make up the vast majority of their volume. The current round of belt-tightening in the industry has also spawned fewer build configurations, at least when it comes to passenger cars, though the popularity and meaty profit margins of certain leading truck models could convince executives to look the other way and throw this niche community a bone. That’s assuming there’s a bare minimum of demand that can be met.

And that’s question GM needs to answer before any Chevy regular cab grows more exciting than your average public works vehicle. A two- or three-seater with sporting, lone-occupant pretensions would demand a decent price to go with its side of (relative) impracticality, though pickup price ceilings already know no bounds, with no apparent downside to the automaker.

For 2020, the Silverado 1500 WT regular cab starts at $29,895 — a package that gets your rear-wheel traction, a 4.3-liter V6, and a six-speed automatic. Swapping the six for a 5.3-liter V8 brings the bill to $31,290.

[Image: General Motors]