Silverado 3500HD

Make
Chevrolet
Segment
Sports Car

At "The Work Truck Show" this week in Indianapolis, Chevrolet pulled a giant sheet of its newest Silverados, marking the first time the nameplate has ever been affixed to a truck larger than a heavy-duty pickup. The Class 4, 5, and 6 medium-duty trucks are for those who need a bigger truck than a heavy-duty pickup but not a full-on semi. Have a car trailer for more than 2 cars or large RV? This is how you get them to the track.

Chevrolet was fairly light on details for its new 4500HD, 5500HD, and 6500HD models, but expect 350 horsepower and 700 lb-ft of work-ready torque from its 6.6-liter Duramax V8 turbodiesel. As these rigs are the mules of the commercial-trucking world, General Motors has attempted to make them as comfortable as possible without sacrificing capability. "Chevy's designers and engineers were obsessed with making this Silverado the most customer-focused medium duty truck of any major competitor," said Ed Peper, U.S. vice president, GM Fleet. "By customer-focused, I mean work-ready trucks that are easy to upfit, easy to drive, easy to service and easy to own."

That means the Silverado medium-duty trucks will get commercial-grade features such as seven cab-to-axle configurations, an easily accessible engine bay by way of a clamshell hood, power take off (PTO), and the venerable Allison transmission. As the same time, Chevrolet has fitted the trucks with air suspension for comfort, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and wireless mobile charging via an inductive charging pad. OnStar's 4G wifi hotspot makes an appearance, too. For those of you who simply want the biggest truck money can buy without having to get a commercial driver's license, an aftermarket upfitter like Monroe will gladly fit it with a traditional pickup bed at some point.

The new Silverados take the place of the discontinued Chevrolet Kodiak and GMC TopKick trucks. The latter appeared as "Ironhide" in the blockbuster silver-screen hit Transformers. Both of those models went out of production in 2009.