1990 Chevy C1500 454 SS | Retro Review
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I like how trucks were compact in size yet they still did their job. Nowadays, they are the size of an U HAUL yet people just buy them to drive them around the town.
FACTS
@MrFloppypancakes Someone's being awfully defensive. Struck a nerve?
MrFloppypancakes shiny twuck shame? Using a fullthize pickemup twuck for the same purposes as a twenty year old girl uses her Rav4? Shoulda just gotten a Rav4 and butched it up with some black rims.
The Driver
We were doin so good until about 10yrs ago and everyone wanted big trucks again.
Fuel economy hasn’t gotten any better either, the 2016 ford work truck averages 12.5mpg, hideous.
Flat
Yea I hear ya.
There should be so much room inside a big beast.
I’m only 5’10” and it feels a little tight in the 2016 ford work truck.
to be honest when I sit in the wife’s 2004 passat I have more room all around me.
"$18k....alot of bucks for a truck". A premonition of decades to follow
$35,000 in today's dollars! So a well-equipped Ranger!
@Mike I think you missed the point there lol
@@BrendanMacWade actually a bit super weep equipped ranger lol. The new ones with any option and 4x4 are starting at a stupid price
It's not unusual now for a 2019 pickup to cost $ 35,000. and require a step ladder to climb into.
Want economy, get a 1988 Chevy S-10 with 2.6L V-6 & overdrive stick shift. today's Silverados get nowhere near the 28mpg my 1988 S-10 got, my 1986 Isusu Spacecab Turbo Diesel got close to 37 mpg on the German made diesel (Unfortunately only made 3 years before being discontinued.😯
@Mike yup you didn't understand what he meant at all. XD
The last one of these I saw in person was in a junkyard in Illinois, as a victim of cash for clunkers. It’s not the greatest truck in the world but it deserved better than that.
thanks Obama. thousands of good, cheap cars went to waste. it hurt middle and lower class citizens
thatallredheadude 1 Not to mention a lot of future collectibles. Besides the 454 SS, I saw LT1 Camaros and lots of other really cool stuff.
I can't believe someone would junk one of these like that unless the engine or transmission was beyond shot.
Or they had no clue what it actually was.
OnTheReelFishing probably was a fake lots of Sport trucks with the 350’s had 454SS stickers thrown on them.
Lower income people suffered to appease environmentalist. Affordable transportation with a few usable years left taken off the market. These vehicles would have found their own way to a crusher (or restoration) eventually depending on the value they had left. The government had no business "helping" them along. The government spent millions, if not billions, in taxes. The result? Auto manufactures sold more new cars at a higher prices, because of an incentive that we all paid for even if we did not get a vehicle. Lower income workers paying more for a used car, because the supply dropped, but not demand. Nine words that can strike terror in the heart of the average citizen: "I'm from the government and I'm here to help".
Remember how cool it was to see one of these on the road back in the day. Man it seems like yesterday
I always thought it was a sticker option on the bed that didn't mean much, therefore, I didn't pay any attention to them.
@@davidg4026
That was definitely true for some Mexican spec Silverados. Chevy put some 400SS stickers on some mid to late 90s single cab step side models even though they were 350 powered. Those stickers and appearance package returned for the GMT-800 Silverados until 2003 or 2004. Just like the older ones, there was no 400 engine anywhere, just a regular 5.3
The later SS Silverados had the 6.0 and all-wheel drive. They even made an SS Trailblazer with the 6.0 in it. I bet that thing was pretty quick.
Thanx dude
I think it's still cool to see them around. There's one guy I seen a couple years ago he stickered his up in Dale Earnhardt number 3 stickers
a customer of mine had 1 we decided on brodex heads and a lunati race cam chipped the cpu tweaked the injectors and ended up with 375hp and around 465 fpt once tuned and ran on the dyno but we weren't happy we got rid of factory intake went with edelbrock rpm through a new holly quad tbi on it with its own programmer back to the dyno we finally hit 455 hp at 520 fpt we are very happy !
Now, that's POWER, for an engine w/o super or turbo chargers. Ok, !!!!!
1 horsepower per cubic inch, nice👌
So you spent $6000 to make 450HP with a 454? Lolzzz
@@fakegibsonssuck7755 Yeah but it's almost as fast as a 3.6L Camaro.
chris chilson you are an idiot. The truck weighs 4400 lbs and has 450hp that is way faster than v6 camaro of today. I did all he did to that truck and i put twin turbos on it and im making 850hp and 1175 ft lbs of tourqe with my tune. you can scoff all you want that is alot more power you make. Plus i can haul a trailor or my quad in the bed and do work with it. Its my daily driver i get 7mpg with it. I can afford 7mpg it can you?
I saw one of these recently and it still looks cool 32 yrs later.
This was the Golden Era for GM trucks. 88-98. The GMT400. They're just such good machines, good personality to the truck, good looking.... The GMT800 is a close second, but the GMT400 will always be the perfect GM trucks.
zomgzomgzomg zomg
I agree ☝️
Still have my 98 Silverado. 450,000 miles, original engine, and still enjoy driving it!
‘89 GMC 1500, only 108k miles. Wooooo!
First truck I ever owned was a '95 Chevy Silverado with a 5.7 V8 RWD. That truck was so beautiful, it killed me inside when she got stolen and destroyed.
My first pickup was a 98 Z71. Loved that truck. The 5.7L had power and would do burnouts no problem. Now im in a 2018 Z71 with a 5.3 and the computer wont let it do burnouts.
"You can have it in any color, as long as it's black."
Loving all the people laughing at the numbers, obviously having been spoiled by modern cars. This was 1990! This was a big deal back then! Keep in mind these trucks were a lot lighter and smaller than their modern brethren!
Pretty quick off the line there! faster then I expected for a heavy duty motor stuffed in the 1/2 ton
A 454 is still a pretty fucking big engine for what would today be called a small midsize truck.
@@777jones I bet if someone just coughed a mild set of headers and a cam it picks up 100hp, agreed thats like a 7.4 litre in a Tacoma, quite a lot!
...or maybe it's laughable because a 6 cylinder GMC truck came along in '91 that would blow its doors off!
Hemi R/T & Lysholm Supercharged Corrado. Use your reading glasses. You can see R/T stripes.
I owned one of these in the early '90's . At that time I was remodeling my first home, you can only imagine the look's I got from people when they would see me going to the dump fully loaded with trash !! It was a cool truck and wish I still owned it.
covert I still own mine. I had to start keeping it in the garage after repeated knocks at the door inquiring if it was for sale with no for sale sign on it. I promised my newphew he could have it when my days on earth are done. I drove this truck from Houston to NC many times and didn't care about the gas mileage. True story...I was driving it on I-10 east thru Biloxi MS when a MS state trooper started following me.(black man in a black truck lol). Well he finally hit the lights and pulled me over. I wasn't speeding and as far as I know the tag was on it etc. He came up to the truck and apologized for stopping me and told me I did nothing wrong but he just loved these trucks and was trying to talk his wife into letting him get one. I got out raised the hood he got in the truck and was like a kid at Christmas. After about 15 minutes on the side of the road talking to him about my truck he told me to have a good day and told me to punch it for him as I left. When the traffic cleared I got on the interstate came to a stop and did a burnout for him. I started down the road and he was back there pumping his fist in the air. I got to Carolina and told my dad and he called me all kinds of stupid haha. True story. I still have my truck and a Dodge Ram 3500 diesel which is a much bigger truck but it doubles the mileage of my 90 gas truck. Technology has come a long way.
@@ubecool454 - Pistons and a cam would give a big boost in HP, torque, and MPG !!! Fuel savings pay for the parts quickly...
Wow. This was a bright spot in a dark age for performance. I remember these things from when I was a kid and it was a pretty big deal to see one out on the road. They were very cool at the time. People laugh at the 230hp output today but the torque was respectable...and it’s important to keep this in context. The 454 motors in their original performance applications had much higher compression and no emissions concerns. It was a motor from a different era, strangled to work in the 80s/90s. Anyone who knows cars also knows the potential for this motor with some mods! The BBC is legendary. In any case, the 3spd auto is almost certainly responsible for the relatively weak stock performance and terrible fuel economy. I wonder how this same truck would go after a T56 swap.
A T56 swap and 4.10 years would have this in the 13's in the quarter. Now swap the cam, heads, intake, valve train and exhaust and you'd have a 650 hp monster.
Like others have said, spend a few bucks and a Saturday afternoon in your garage, and you've easily got another 100 horses out of it!
Maybe the early production models had the 3 auto, but every 1 I've ever seen, and I've worked on a few, had the 700R4 OD trans. Either way, these were very fun trucks. Lots of grunt and 0-60 sure felt a lot better than 7.7, bone stock. They also came with the 3.42 rear gear with posi, and I've been told you could have the dealer install 3.73s. At the time, a lot of die hard Chevy fans were angry that this 454 engine wasn't built by Chevy ( though it was their design obviously) but built by a company out of Mexico. That's kinda the norm now days....
@@adamtrombino106 motorweeks numbers are always notoriously high. Probably did 0 to 60 in the high 6 range.
Mike Honcho I agree but the 1990 Corvette had 250 hp. I mean having an engine from the same company that’s 1.7 liters bigger yet delivers less horsepower??? That was shameful, even for 1990 standards. I understand torque is more important for trucks but it looks like GM did little to no research on making the 454 powerful. Anyway, years later it’s easy to comment😉
7.4 liters V8, 230 HP, 385 LB FT, 3 speed Auto, MPG 10 city 11 highway, 0 - 60 MPH 7.7 seconds.
Tuco Salamanca a modern Mustang is 30 years newer and not a truck.
Only 230 HP from a 7.4 V8???
WTF? Even for 1990
James Noble ikr... even for 1990 you say , shit they made 400 hp out of 427ci corvettes in the sixties .. not to mention the 426 hemi ! What a joke this is
It was tuned way down. Could easily get much more power.
Emissions and low compression heads, hence the low horsepower and high torque. It’s a shame because it had some potential
7:04 driving like he just got off work
Lol
Lol
IKR lol I noticed him like damn he's ready to get HOME
@@MrCasebi More like his favorite dive bar.
Fuck this job! Lol
These retro reviews are awesome! I’ve been binge watching them lol, taking me back in time
GM please put the current 6.2l in a regular cab short box pickup and sell as a limited edition, give the people what they want
The thing is, very few people really want something like this. There's a group of enthusiasts who say they do in CZcams comments, but not enough actually would buy one to make it profitable for a major manufacturer to build them. Only low volume high priced makers can really make any money selling small numbers of a vehicle. It's like "retro" motorcycles, commenters clamor for the chance to buy one, but whenever one of the big makers takes a chance and offers one in the US market sales figures are dismal and 2 years later it's gone.
@@barryervin5297 ford sells plenty of raptors, i see no reason why the idea of a modern chevy sport truck would be any crazier
they are already selling them in the middle east ,but they don’t sell them in the usa
@@fluorine7575 regular cab raptor? The majority of people want 4 doors. Sad but true. The majority of people only really NEED a Maverick or Ranger sized vehicle too, but want is greater than need for most.
With a manual transmission
5:47 John: IF YOU THINK THAT'S A SMALL NUMBER, WAIT UNTIL WE TELL YOU ABOUT FUEL MILEAGE! LOL
10 city/11 Highway
David Aubin that’s a good number because mine gets 8mpg sometimes 9
Not bad in the big block world.
Yeah mine gets that too in a 88suburban c20 with the 454engine in it.only drive it on the weekend
Lol I get 10-12 NOW with my 6.4 Hemi 2500 🤣
if that.
I had this truck for 8 years. It was rock solid. Wish I still had it. A set of headers and a true dual exhaust woke this truck up!!
Mike thats what I did. Headers,true dual, Edelbrock performer package. The only thing I regret was going to a carb but I will correct that soon with the Edelbrock Pro flo 4 multiport injection.
I hope to buy one of these, or build a clone. I'm going to upgrade the handling and power at the same time, with an all aluminum 540 (which would weigh 150-200lbs less than the all iron stock 454). Keep the power mild at around 650, with a hydraulic roller cam and multiport EFI and it'll get decent enough mileage I can drive it more than a few times a year.
I had one in 90,headers,3 inch duals with flowmasters,a chip,a k&n air filter and under drive pulley got me 14.7 in the quarter mile.A 150 shot of Nitrous got it down to 13.47.
I wonder how many comment experts comparing a 30 year old vehicle to a vehicle from 2018 were even alive in 1990? My guess...none.
I like these trucks, along with the 1st gen lightning. I was born in 1983 and remember when these came out.
I was 11 in 1990, but I'm not comparing cars of today to cars then. We lived in different times then and technology was different compared to today. Can't really fairly compare vehicles this far apart in age, even though some try to - not sure why, it doesn't make any sense to do so.
I was 7 in 90 and Id take this over any new Silverado
i still drive corvairs an have a 92 k1500 350 700r4 an i am still alive lol new trucks have to much crap inside why i wont trade
Facts
4:14 Crazy tight handling in the turns! Nice suspension.
That's a big dude that hopped in that truck. Good thing it has a big block under the hood
That's Edward Dempsey who sat in the rear seats in the 88 ford bronco
Good thing your mom wasn’t there or it would need a Duramax!
@@thetvmn88 I know right!?
I had a neighbor that had one. He changed out rear gears, after market exhaust and supercharged the motor (I have no idea what other motor mods where done). That thing WOULD LAUNCH!!!!
AFTERMARKET*!!!😪😪
Badass! Old skool! Love retro reviews
In 1988 when this body style came out, it was considered high tech, it was really sleek when it came out I never thought I would be able to afford one I got married 3 years later and we bought a brand new 91 extended cab. I pulled my brand new bass boat with my 85 z28 Camaro , so it was really nice to finally get a dream truck, especially a brand new two tone blue and dark grey,same color as my new boat, I was only 20 years old making 2 dollars over minimum wage working over time. These days, all these kids want is their I phones and Uber rides! They are not interested any new nice vehicle!
When I lived in Brazil in the 80’s/90’s my friend bought one , the then president Collor had gone visiting USA , he went back and drop the import Tarif to 0%... I was in heaven , there was 90’s American trucks everywhere... ever since that 90’s trucks stuck in my heart for ever , my friend had this 454SS very exactly same one ... everyone used to make fun of the red velour interior but I just loved it so much ... for me I I couldn’t never understand how come this truck didn’t come SportSide/StepSide bed tube .... however it’s a a hell of a truck or the “Truck from Hell” like they call it anyway, I’ve got a 454SS watch the reads on the face “454SS the truck from hell “...
Australia 🇦🇺
Hell Yeah!! Love them trucks...
The really haven't made anything comparable since then either.
The cloth interior on those trucks is so much better than the plastic shit of today, regardless of what the critics say. I loved the "difficult to use" walking gauges on my 1990.
Andy Bassham walking gauges?
@@tacomas9602 the heat/a.c. And volume gauge kind of walks down the line when you hold in the button.
This was my first ride at the age of 16. I worked hard at a carwash fulltime and also worked construction to pay for it . My God do I miss this truck. I was very Lucky to own one . What a Beautiful truck and a head turner for 1990.
This was the beast!!!! Thanks Motorweek I grow up to you guys
I once owned a 91 ss454 !! Change the ecm chip to a hypertech!! The performance differences are amazing!!.
Also needs pistons and a cam...
@@BuzzLOLOL right? The compression ratio in these 454's were ridiculously low
Yeah, claimed 8's but actually down in 7's... like many engines after 1970...
That hp was lack luster lol
And MPG sucked....
To those of you commenting about the Service Engine Soon light being on, it was on because the ignition was in the Run position. The engine was not started. They did this to show the gauges and so it wouldn't pick up a lot of background engine noise. It occurs in every vehicle when you place the ignition in the Run position and do not start the engine. It amazes me how many of you don't pay attention and it also amazes me that if you do drive, that you don't notice it in your own vehicles...
Its obvious those who comment are not even old enough to drive.
I felt blown away by the Chevrolet 454SS because it is a cool and performance pickup truck. The cherry red velour interior in the 454SS looks cool and nostalgic! 💪😀💖🚛🎅
It was a sexy looking truck then and still is today.
@@pmvaldez1 It sure is! I prefer the original Chevrolet SS trucks over the people who put fake badges on them.
@@theKevronHarris I was a 15 year old pimply kid when this truck came out. I built a 1/24 plastic model of this truck. 😁
i have the same color on my 92 k1500 looks great wears like iron
@@animalcorvair Nice! Modern vehicles with cloth interiors got an upholstery that reminiscent of athletic apparel and footwear from brands like Under Armour, Adidas, Nike, and Russell Athletic.
Back when trucks were trucks.
No, these were just car performing, small pickup trucks and perform nothing like a real truck does off-road. Toyota ruled off-road from the 80s to the 2000s
Challenge accepted. Modern trucks have big chrome wheels for pavement, luxurious car like interiors not ment to get dirty... Rediculous chrome trim everywhere, and overall usually not built ona rugged chassis. They are no longer simple durable machines but have gone in the direction of modern cars, becoming more complex than they need to be... Working on your 2018 chevy silverado at home? Good luck. Btw i am 33
Back when trucks really really sucked you mean.
Great bird of hope
A friend has a 2015 Silverado one day he scraped a wall with the front bumper the chrome peeled off like a sticker 😂
:D
"$18,000 alot for a truck..." bwahahahaha Bwahahahaha
No $99,000 for a POS super duty platinum is alot of money.
If we could only buy a brand new truck now for 18k...lol
@@showcasecharlie11 I'd settle for normal inflation which would put today's equivalent of this truck at $35,000 or 36,000.
In 1990 it was expensive.
Yeah & $130,000 for a Ford Shelby F150
NO NEW TRUCK POSTS!!!😪😪😪😪🤬🤬
I love these v8 single cabs, so cool.
Regular cab sport trucks need a comeback with manual transmissions. The last one was Ram SRT10.
I had a chance to drive an SRT10 6 speed Ram when they first came out and Chrysler was a sponsor for our college's auto tech program. That thing was scary! I didn't like the school bus shifter in it though. As far as reg cab 2wd short bed trucks, I'm with ya. I special ordered a 1998 Dakota sport 2wd, std cab, std bed with the 5.2 Magnum, and NV3500 5 speed manual ( which I still have today) and it is as quick as the Dakota 5.9 r/ts that came out later that yr. And it will still haul/tow things, which the R/T's can't....
YES!!!!
Imagine a short bed standard cad coloado with a 5.3 and a 6 speed. It would be awsome fun.
As of now, doesn't look like ram or gm will offer a reg cab short bed for 2019. Gm will come out with a fleet model, long bed only, some time next year.
I want to see Ram take a modern short-wide, give it the SRT10 treatment but stuff the Hellephant in it.
Hey random person scrolling down the comments..
Have an awesome day :)
GuelphRacing u too and merry christmas!
hi!
Haha I see ya all over.
I don’t always comment but usually hit the like.
Thanks buddy. You too
just watched Cleetus's Ruby blows up video last and saw u there too lol
Dad bought one new. 34 years later my son has it. Great classic pickup! The grandkids will be next owner's 😊
Still my favorite ...454 SS .....
Awesome, awesome truck. Loved them back then; love them even now.
Dear Motorweek , Thank you for the Christmas present 👍
The dude showing the interior damn near maxed its cargo capacity. Wouldn't be bitching about the seats if people would lose weight
I’d kill for one of these man. They just look so damn clean 😩
I remember those! I loved those cool early 90s ideas like the awd gmc syclone, 5.0 rangers, f150s with 351. For those times it was our "challenger hype" I've seen a few up close, its too bad it didn't catch on then.. I have to admit gm had some great ideas from 84 to 96 like the GNX , olds 442,454.
Towing ratings are based off of braking capability. You can tow all kinds of shit with trucks, cars 4wheelers, utvs, etc. What you can't do is stop so well under a load.
my elantra is rated for 1500 lbs and my Buick Ranier is rated for 6700 lbs with 3.73 gears and 7200 lbs with 4.11 gears. 5000 lbs with a full size truck is not good. 1000 lbs cargo is also very low.
Had mine almost 30 years now...Well respected everywhere she goes...
Wit say it again. mine has been with me almost 30 years too. I love going to get my "safety" inspection lol. I live in texas and i paid $7....sweet
For insurance purposes, it was common for auto makers to under rate horsepower. These trucks were very powerful and had a lot of torque.
I have 2 friends that own/ed a 454 and just met another guy that is rebuilding his. These 454 pickups are instant classics which means the value would go up.
Kill People have a guy up the road who has two. Both are junk and sitting in his back yard, yet for some reason every time I’ve asked if he wanted to part with one he gives me the same answer if I’m gonna fix them up one day, well it’s been 15 years since he parked the second, I don’t think he’s ever gonna do anything and if they don’t move soon they will just rot.
Own(ed)*
This video proves that real men prefer velour interiors.
Well said! Today's vehicle interiors have a feel of Under Armour, Nike, and Adidas apparel along with their footwear instead of the velour trim.
@@theKevronHarris To be fair, this was some of the most butch velour money could buy at the time.
And pants
make mine *sunbaked dry orange
Velvet Velour.
This was a period when vehicles were starting to get fun again. Considering what we experienced in the early 70’s, this truck (along with a few other vehicles) was helping remedy over a decade of stale performance.
This was still 1972 crap emissions tech...
I love the dashes on these 90's Chevy Trucks. My Grand father had several Chevy's and I always liked them.
I'm glad they had that dude behind the wheel instead of some 5' 5'' 135 lb. guy.
SilvioManfredDante85 you’ve offended all the vegan hipsters 🙄
HahahxD
I mean I’m 5’6 and would rock one. However I’d be stopping to get gas every 2-3 days lmao!!
4:34 I'm not sure it's the seats that need more support on the sides...
😂😂😂😂😂
😅😂🤣
I love how the top trim level, Silverado, means it comes with floor mats and a stereo.
When this debut’d I was drooling. I mean a 454 in ‘90 ? Loved it. A friend of mine had a Big 10 454 and with just a few mods was very fast for a large truck.
I've always been a fan of performance trucks, so I was excited to watch this one! Now I want to see the dodge ram srt-10!
7.7 second 0-60 and a 15.7@87mph is hilariously slow by today’s standards. It’s amazing to see just how far technology has come.
my grandpa bought one off the showroom floor, then my dad had it. I remember riding on the middle console and bouncing my head on the back glass door when we’d hit bumps.
I remember watching these reviews on TV. The highlight of my week back then
Low compression, peanut port cylinder heads, and an induction system fit for a school bus. That truck could be made dramatically faster very easily.
Heads, cam, headers and better intake/fuel delivery and you have a 400 plus HP monster with huge torque like it should have been from the start.
Peanut port heads can make 450 HP...
@@BuzzLOLOL you can..but for $3k or less, you can have new aluminum heads, manifold, valve train and cam. Be pushing over 650 hp with that and a computer chip enhancement.
You dont buy this for its power numbers. Its a nostalgia truck.
This truck was quick in its day!
Dyno Don; This truck was slow, a Ford lightning with 100 less cubes would win every race.
Yeah, by ''regular truck'' standards they were kinda quick for their time, but as already stated, the first gen Ford Lightning's shit all over these trucks with a significantly smaller engine.
You need to read the comment and control your emotions. I said it was quick in its day and it was. I didn’t say it would beat a Lightning, Mustang 5.0 or V8 Camaraderie etc. but it was faster than most trucks and many cars . In the early 90’s any attempt from a manufacturer to add muscle was welcome. Take your Ritalin and go to bed.
@@melrose9252 A month late and a dollar short eh?
@@daleostrom3613 The Lightening came out 3 years later. This 454 was the same unit in Chevy’s work trucks. Nothing special. Still, it had much more torque than the 351 in the first year Lightening.
Man, these old GMT 400s were awesome trucks. I have a 99 Tahoe with 105,000 miles, only issue was the transmission. People say the intake gaskets fail but it's never happened to mine. It's a great truck. This thing looks awesome. My automotive teacher has a K5 blazer which he took the 350 V8 out of and put a 454 in. After watching this video, that sounds awesome.
Always loved these trucks, I turned my tahoe into an SS clone with the wheels and decals and true dual exhaust.
Thanks for uploading this great blast from the past! I loved this truck in my youth and wouldn't mind owning one today. The body style still looks good today in my opinion.
While it was a great truck for it's time, anyone else think it would have been amazing if they offered a 454 option in the 90's Impala SS? I think the 10 mpg killed any chance of the 454 engine being dropped into a sedan.....still would have been cool!
Jason Roberts there was a prototype impala ss with the ZR1 corvette LT5. Tim Allen owns it.
10 MPG
LOLOLOLOLOLOOLOLZ!
@blackandgold51 - engine is still 1972 emissions crap tech...
This started the nascar truck series
when those trucks came out they were the best looking truck on the road and stayed that way for more than 10 years.. i was 6 when they came out and a guy down the street bought one..what people seem to miss when they start to bash this truck is that there were no V8 cars that came close to this truck on the market.. i would buy this over a 90 corvette all day and night
I remember these trucks were the coolest back in high school. Wish I was still there
230hp from a 7.4L V-8...The absolute pinnacle of engine efficiency right there 😂
Hyundai Sonatas are faster. Boy have times changed.
@@joshblack4291 possibly...but you won't have the torque. These mid 90s 454s were decent enough but were seriously neutered with the ridiculous smog crap. A couple grand or so into a top end kit, some exhaust work, and you'll increase the torque close to 500 and hp between 550 to 650. Where a 454 should be.
This was 1990 when manufactures were hit with smog crap and had no clue what they were doing.
And 10mpg 😂
91 much better with 4 speed automatic
MrDjh66 Mine had the 3 speed and damn did it eat gas. My gas bill was almost as much as the truck payment.
Manual even better
blackandgold51 oh I'm very well aware of that, I'm just agreeing with the original posters comment.
91 also had the better gauge package regular analog gauges and a tachometer!
MrDj you are right. my 90 has a TH 400 3speed. I'm driving 65 and wrapped up at 3000 rpm but if you punch it it will launch again. I bought mine when it was 6mos old in San Antonio and drove it back to Houston which is only 198 miles. When I got home to houston I had about 1/4 of a tank left lol. I knew then this was a thirsty truck.
I have nothing but respect for these old trucks. They were beautiful trucks.
This thing would be awesome with a 4 or 5 speed manual.
6 speed and a turbo would be a blast
We have one with 30,000 original miles!! great truck!!
For sale too!!
$18,000🤔??
What's the price on it ?
I remember when this truck came out. It was awesome for it's time. I've seen one recently redone with the LS motor and new suspension. Still looked awesome
This guy never ages
Very beautifull Chevrolet 454 SS, i love this truck
Dashboard is soooo quintessentially 90s GM.
92 was better more power and actual gauges
Cheap hard plastic that rattled, became misaligned and developed god awful squeaks before you even hit 20K miles.
I remember going to the drive thru at taco bell and seeing one of these brand new,i was behind it in my 4x4 s-10 and it sounded great!
I was a sophomore in high school in 1990, i wanted this truck VERY badly back then. Still do, actually
Yup. Lol. I was about 13 when this came out. I thought they were sick back then too.
I really wish Chevy would bring back the SS pickup, as I never felt the last iteration did the name justice vs the likes of the Lightning and the SRT10. The 454 SS was a great example for the time, when the Lightning was still naturally aspirated, before the rebirth of the Hemi, and before the release of the Viper's V10.
Robert Snyder just get a shortbed 2wd Silverado with the 5.3 . It would feel like a sport truck
@@gregrowe1168 The 6.2 liter would seem more sport truck to me with 420 hp, but I'm talking more purpose-built similar to the Raptor or TRX trucks but for the street: lowered suspension, big brakes, fire-breathing engine. Maybe a detuned LT4 from the Corvette.
The 5.3 is the most powerful engine available in the 2wd reg cab short bed configuration. I actually went to the Chevy website. You can configure one with minimum accessories(only thing I added was the trailering package with rear locker) and it comes out right at 30K. If they actually built an SS version, I'm sure the 6.2 would be the engine of choice though. A 2wd Colorado SS with the 5.3 would be great too. For comparison, I went the Ford website and configured a reg cab 2wd F150 shortbed with the 5.0 V8 and it was about the same price with similar options. If I opted for the 2.7 ecoboost in the F150, it would have been $1000 less and still more power and torque than the 454 had. Either of these trucks would smoke the doors off the old 454 SS for a price that is lower by comparison in today's dollars.
People are talking crap about the power output of the truck, but the performance numbers aren't bad. The 04-08 5.7l Hemi trucks were putting down 345hp/375lb-ft of torque and still running slower than this, while getting slightly better mpg. It could even run with the modern 6.0L silverado. On top of that, the TBI 454 was choked by emissions and could be built pretty easily.
Hemi trucks were much faster...
My brother had one in 92. She was bad ass and people loved her!
Oh this was cool to find in 2022! See back in 93, I was in the market for one of these in the last year. I had one all lined up, on my way to the dealer to look at the last one around. By the time I got there it was SOLD! I was so p!o! But the salesman asked me why I wanted one. I said a wanted a reg cab pickup with a V8 and the lowest gears and loaded. But reg cab trucks back then were mostly work trucks with not many options available. He told me of a truck that was specially ordered and refused. It was a 93 C1500 reg cab Silverado with every option but an automatic! Wow I found a short bed reg cab with a 350 and 5 speed! Especially with 3:73 gears!! But the best part was it was a loaded Silverado! So the interior was exactly like the 454SS, except in Grey, on a met silver truck with chrome bumper, mirrors, door handles, grill, side trim and the same chrome slotted 15x9” wheels as the 454SS! Very nice! The best part was the price! They we’re afraid they could never sell it because of the standard trans! So I bought it for cost! About $4,000 less that the 454SS, plus gas mileage was rated at 14-18! But I got 20 hyw at 55 of course, plus over 100 lbs lighter especially in the front! Plus insurance was less. The best was when I raced against a 454SS the next town over! Especially after I had replaced the standard 245/70-15 tire with 285/60-15 Dunlop Sp5000 Sport Truck tires! I got a full truck length jump on him, but he passed me as I shifted to third and was gone! That was one of the best trucks I ever had.
I'd rather look cool getting 10mpg, than looking like a weenie driving a Prius.
Most Prius drivers are probably eating weenies too
The same with me
And then a year later the gmc typhoon came out and blew this out the water
the 454 was not fast ,,but it could pull a lot of heavy stuff,, the typhoon was made to go fast,,big diff
No, you're thinking of the Syclone, the Typhoon was 2 years later, and an SUV at that.
@@markbrinton6790 it was 1 year after the syclone. 1992.
@@animalcorvair typhoon and syclones could pull ALOT more than they said they could. You could easily pull another truck on a trailer with 360 LB - FT torque. And you could easily put well over 500 pounds in the syclone, probably 1000 at the most. They only say that because since the syclone is lower, when you have a heavy load in the back, the sump on the back and the exaust is gonna scrape the ground and get messed up. They were ment for speed but had well over enough to tow. And the 454 SS was fast
@@ReadingAreaRailfan no shit. That's exactly what I said. The SS 454 was 1990, and the Syclone, not Typhoon, was a year later, in 1991. And then in 1992, came the Typhoon. So two years later, exactly what I posted. Reading comprehension is key.
Back in the day, everyone considered this truck a beast. It was almost like spotting a unicorn in the wild if a 454ss passed by.
That and the Ford Lightning.
My friend kept his 1st vehicle from when he was a kid: a 1979 Chevy stepside pickup. He built his own "SS" by dropping a 600hp 454 that he built using aftermarket heads and all kinds of high performance parts. It kicks ass!
Bil-shteen
I can by 55
Bilshtine
I read this comment just as he said it
He definitely said it weird like that
I had the '90 Silverado 3500 454 4X4 which had raw power to spare. I'd run out of room in the bed before running out of weight- carrying capacity. It was fast alright but one needs to remember that Saddam Hussein had just invaded Kuwait and fuel prices were heading way up. This action sparked a recession corresponding with the oil crisis. I could never coax more than 14 MPG out of mine with the 3 speed automatic transmission but that thing could pull a house off of its foundation.
No pickup truck now built anywhere in the world looks this good. That said, the lack of a manual transmission option was a huge mistake.
I bought one of these trucks brand new 1990 and still have it I was born in 1960 in Detroit and lived in the muscle car era and built several hot rods in my day , I did a few modifications to it and it is one Bad Ass truck ! Chevrolet had to deal with emissions and stuff back then because of the government and didn't have the technology they do today But my opinion is like most women Bigger is Better!
Low hp numbers but a quick truck for it's day with a lot of low end grunt. to my recollection, at the time gm truck engines, 4.3 made 160hp, a 5.0 "305" made 180hp and 5.7 "350" made 200-210hp just about everything was low hp then, a mid size sedan, say something like a Honda accord or chevy Corsica with a v6 made maybe 130-150 horsepower, the same size modern car makes close to or more than 300 with a v6 or turbo4.
1990 Corvette/Camaro TPI 350" made 245 - 250 HP...
@@BuzzLOLOL yep, the corvette and some others were higher hp, i was referring to the tbi engines that were available in full size trucks at the time. Thanks
Check engine light is on already. lol
Cana box The key was on the Run position. The engine wasn't running because they didn't start it and they wanted to show what the gauges looked like. Pay attention!
The 454 SS was just a good truck with a huge assed engine under the hood!
I remember working for GMC when the Chevy guys came over and seen OUR 454 truck in the RD shop.
They got their panties in a bunch so we gave them the 454 SS and we built the Syclone.
Today in 2018 you cant buy a truck like that for less than $ 50,000. Crazy
Today is Chevrolet C1500 454 SS is rare
@@fernandorocha6486 i own one and when I see one on the road I always look and smile.
Eh, you can still get an F150 or Ram Classic, single cab, RWD and a V8 for under 35 grand. Just get the highest rear diff gearing you can get for it and that baby will get to 60 in around 6 seconds.
I live in McMinnville tn. an there's one of those 2 blocks from where I live an it just sits... With only 53000 on the speedo...makes me sick .it's in pristine condition..
Have you asked if it's for sale ?
I owned one of these trucks, I can't say I was all that impressed. I regretted buying it soon after I bought it. This was my last GM product I ever bought. I bought a Ford and was even more dissatisfied. Finally, I bought a Toyota Tacoma and have never looked back. i just recently bought my second Tacoma.
While Tacoma's are great and all, American vehicles have come a long way in quality since the early 1990's, I've seen a couple of gas powered Ford trucks with over 1/2 a million miles on them and at least one GM with about the same. The rhetoric that Japanese vehicles are superior is pretty outdated realistically these days, Toyota may still have a slight quality gap over anything American, but its far smaller and less significant that it was 30 years ago.
This was one of my dream vehicles in my college days, along with the Monte Carlo SS
3:01 I guess they never tested the Dodge Little Red Express from 1979, which beat that at what most people could agree was an automotive low period.
The 78s were even faster, since they had better flowing exhausts, w/o cats. Though not built for handling, nor hauling too much, they had factory HD everything, including the 9 1/4 rear gear with choices of 3.21, 3.55, 3.91 and 4.10 available. The LoadFlight trans was calibrated for higher upshifts, and crisper downshifts. The E58 360 4bbl was specially tuned with every h/p part Chrysler could get away with, including a Holley carb, performance advance electronic distributor, windage tray, dual roller chain, h/p oil pump, police cam, and of course, the air induction system which actually worked. They were conservatively rated at 225 hp and 295 lbft of torque, but surely made more than that as the track numbers can attest to.
perhaps they never tested the Lil Red Wagon
Motorweek came out in 1981, so it was two years too late to test a 1979 model.
And then the GMC Syclone and Typhoon came and outshined this truck
@@zachrohr9972 yeah, but those came later. The Ford Lightning wasn't even out yet. Same with the SST Dodges even later. Other than the Lil Red Express. This was a new concept.
I feel like by 1990 they could have gotten more than 230 horses out of a 454. Yeah it's got tons of torque, which is what you want in a work truck, but for a sport truck I would have expected more, even in 1990...at least at that point you were getting fuel injection in most vehicles, and emissions technology was somewhat better than in the early 80's.
Throttle body fuel injection, with two injectors. You can't make a ton of hp with that small a setup. Plus emissions regulations at the time.
I agree. Ford made 240hp in their first gen Lightnings but they did so with a significantly smaller 351ci V8. If Ford had decided to up tune their 460 for the first gen Lightning's they likely would have made closer to if not a little over 300hp which would have further shamed the 230hp output of this 454. In typical GM fashion they just took the 454 out of one of their 1-ton trucks, dropped into a regular cab short bed 1/2 ton and slapped some SS stickers on it then called it a day. The Lightning actually had real mechanical improvements to its engine to make it more race worthy.
Car makers were slapped with highly restrictive smog laws in the early 90s and they had to come up with new "technology". Everything was slow.
I have seen two of these beasts in person, one was at a car show, the other was being driven by a gentleman that was likely in his mid 60s, the truck was absolutely clean, and had an obvious aftermarket exhaust. When he left the parking lot, he barked the hell out of the tires, and damn I want one so bad.
I installed a paxton supercharger on my friends 454ss back in the day. I dont remember the exact numbers but horse power was in the mid 300's and torque was 800ft pounds. I had a heck of a time getting the intake tube to seal above 2 psi as it was held down to the throttle body with a single offset bolt that would bend letting the tube lift. Power was instant and it would smoke the tires at any time even in 3rd gear without downshifting. The coolest part of the truck was for sure the sound it made coming down the road . Just a loud supercharger shrill. It only had a turbo 400 tranny was its biggest problem for fuel economy .
Okay so u definitely never got it dyno and saw real numbers because those numbers are so ridiculously off theirs no way u had 300hp to 800ft lb torque it’s just impossible u got only 120hp more but gained almost 500lb of torque 😂
did they forget to put oil in it at the factory? Motor sounds like it's worn out
Alex's Bikes and Motors So does your ass when you fart 😉