QOTD: The New Silverado - Matinee Idol or Bride of Frankenstein?

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

You can’t quantify beauty. The emotional appeal of a particular vehicle’s styling is no different than that of a Florentine mural or Greek statue, save for, perhaps, the 1958 Edsel. But even that homely dog has its fans.

This past weekend we got our first glimpse of a vehicle destined to ply the roadways in great numbers for years to come: the 2019 Chevrolet Silverado, this one a jacked-up, blacked-out Trail Boss variant. Like it or not, it’ll be everywhere.

Beauty remains forever in the eye of the beholder, there’s nothing wrong with stirring up a debate on the merits of a makeover. A little game of vehicular Dud or Stud, if you will.

I’ll bite. The 2019 Silverado’s face haunts my dreams.

It’s hard to describe exactly why I find it so repellant. My own tastes gravitate towards the simple, the flowing, the cohesive. Give me a current-edition Ram 1500 and I’ll stare at it all day. I think the pre-refresh Ford F-150 got it right, too. The right lines mixed with the right proportions.

And then there’s this. It’s a face so tall, it seems the narrow headlights risk violating protected airspace. (It’ll be interesting to see how the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety rates these peepers, as they seem capable of projecting a beam over the roof of a Chevy Colorado.) Viewed from a glancing angle, the Silverado’s sharp fender crease and bulging wheel arches makes the upper face look pinched. Or maybe it just has a case of the mumps.

It’s a jowly, Nixon-esque visage. Not helping matters is a front bumper that’s extremely flush, even though it’s actually no more flush than a 2018 F-150’s. This only accentuates the impression of grille height.

Having said all of this, I don’t think the next-gen Silverado is a hopeless case. There’s little to get upset about once you move past the face (squint and it suddenly becomes much more pleasing), and I applaud the move towards boxy, truck-like styling, complete with well-defined, straight horizontal lines. It wasn’t long ago that cars and trucks were as angular as a marshmallow. Pity the featureless Oval Era.

What say you, Best and Brightest? It isn’t every day we can gaze upon a wholly new domestic pickup and let fly with our opinions (though as luck would have it, we’ll be doing this again very soon with the 2019 Ram 1500).

Do your worst. Is the 2019 Silverado just another pretty face, or is its countenance something only a mother could love?

[Images: General Motors]

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

More by Steph Willems

Comments
Join the conversation
2 of 75 comments
  • Tim Healey Tim Healey on Dec 21, 2017

    I like it -- it's a good-looking truck. To each their own.

  • Smapdi Smapdi on Jan 23, 2018

    Well... this is the least ugly of the entire full size lineup for 2018/2019. This entire generation of full size pickups look ridiculous (outside of the special trims like Raptor). Either they have gigantic chrome lips (F150 and Ram), excessive/random grill designs (F150, Ram, Tundra), or curves that just look bad (Titan, Tundra). This is the least offensive of the new batch. What a terrible generation of full size truck styling.

  • TCowner We've had a 64.5 Mustang in the family for the past 40 years. It is all original, Rangoon Red coupe with 289 (one of the first instead of the 260), Rally Pac, 4-speed, factory air, every option. Always gets smiles and thumbs ups.
  • ToolGuy This might be a good option for my spouse when it becomes available -- thought about reserving one but the $500 deposit is a little too serious. Oh sorry, that was the Volvo EX30, not the Mustang. Is Volvo part of Ford? Is the Mustang an EV? I'm so confused.
  • Mikey My late wife loved Mustangs ..We alway rented one while travelling . GM blood vetoed me purchasing one . 3 years after retirement bought an 08 rag top, followed by a 15 EB Hard top, In 18 i bought a low low mileage 05 GT rag with a stick.. The car had not been properly stored. That led to rodent issues !! Electrical nightmare. Lots of bucks !! The stick wasn't kind to my aging knees.. The 05 went to a long term dedicated Mustang guy. He loves it .. Today my garage tenant is a sweet 19 Camaro RS rag 6yl Auto. I just might take it out of hibernation this weekend. The Mustang will always hold a place in my heart.. Kudos to Ford for keeping it alive . I refuse to refer to the fake one by that storied name .
  • Ajla On the Mach-E, I still don't like it but my understanding is that it helps allow Ford to continue offering a V8 in the Mustang and F-150. Considering Dodge and Ram jumped off a cliff into 6-cylinder land there's probably some credibility to that story.
  • Ajla If I was Ford I would just troll Stellantis at all times.
Next