Ironically, especially when you consider today’s focus on fuel and carbon footprints, the very first S10 had a base engine that was actually manufactured in Japan and shipped to the US to be dropped into the S10. The answer was to build smaller, less-powerful vehicles and GM was the first out of the blocks with a pickup in the form of the first-generation Chevy S10 in 1981 (1982 model year).
Even back then, pickups were big business for GM and the other domestic automakers but there wasn’t the technology to deliver the huge drops in fuel consumption everyone at the time thought they needed for the future. The 1973 Arab oil had a massive effect on the auto industry as muscle cars were neutered and everyone scrambled around to come up with models that didn’t use as much gas as the guzzlers of the 1970s. As well as telling you where to go to get the very lowest prices on new and used vehicles, I also cover finance, insurance, parts, detailing and other stuff too. You need to know what you’re looking for to buy at auction, but this guide is a great place to find used vehicles at incredible prices.īy the way, if you’d like to know about some of the very best products, services and companies I’ve found for buying, selling, and helping with vehicle ownership then please check out my recommended products and services page right here. If you want to get a used Chevy truck or other used vehicles for the lowest possible prices, government and police auctions are the way to go. You’ll still find plenty of Chevrolet S10 models for sale on the used market in America today, and it continues to be a popular model with those looking for a cheap used compact truck as well as customizers who find it a great platform to build. What some people are not aware of is the S10 lives on to this day in South America, but it’s really just the current Colorado still being sold under the S10 name. GM decided to replace the S10 with another compact pickup truck in the shape of the Chevy Colorado in 2004, which was also sold in slightly different forms as the GMC Canyon and Isuzu i-Series. The first-generation was in production between 19, while the second-generation was produced between 1994 and the last year of North American production in 2004. There were two generations of the S10 produced for the North American market. It was a compact pickup that would be better on gas and more affordable than larger, less-efficient trucks of the time, and it marked Chevrolet out as the first of the big three American automakers to bring a compact pickup truck to market.
The Chevrolet S10 went into production in North America in 1981 as GM and other automakers struggled to respond to the Arab oil embargo of the early 1970s. Production of the S10 continued in Brazil until 2012 when it was again replaced by the Colorado, although in South America the Colorado is still sold under the S10 name. As smaller pickups are now becoming increasingly popular with North American buyers, you could be wondering when & why Chevy stopped building the S10 pickup truck in the first place?Ĭhevrolet stopped building the S10 pickup truck in North America in 2004 because it had decided to replace it with a new model called the Chevy Colorado that was a direct replacement. The Chevrolet S10 was a compact pickup truck that GM introduced in the wake of the Arab oil embargo of the early 1970s and to try and emulate the popularity and success of compact Japanese pickups in the following decade.