Chevy Trucks Don a New Bowtie for 100th Anniversary Party

Chevrolet has gone to great pains to remind everyone that the 2018 model year marks the 100th anniversary of Chevy Trucks. A hundred candles is a big deal, so Chevy reached into its lengthy history for a few design and detail cues to mark the occasion.

I’d wager a hefty amount of money that most people reading this either had or has a Chevy truck in their family or know someone who did. They’ve produced over 85 million of the things, after all.

Kicking off the centennial year are a brace of special edition trucks, one each for the Silverado and Colorado line. The Silverado Centennial Edition is available on the LTZ Z71 crew cab trucks, adding a few emblems and door badges advertising their status to lesser Chevy truck drivers.

I know a few of you are rolling your eyes at the addition of a special edition badge being news, but Chevy has done a clever job of imbuing the new bowtie with just the right amount of heritage. Spelling out the brand within the badge and framing it with a couple of hashmarks recalls what was found on Suburbans in the mid-1930s. Plus, let’s face it, those who get misty-eyed over the vehicles in which they grew up often have the cash to indulge in their nostalgia.

“The Chevy Trucks Centennial is a huge milestone for us, and is equally important to our customers,” said Sandor Piszar, Chevrolet Trucks Advertising and Marketing director. “That’s why we will be celebrating 100 years of Chevy Trucks over the course of the next 100 days. It’s important that we share this celebration with our loyal customers who have helped us achieve this accomplishment.”

Chevy put more than a couple of badges on the truck, of course, recognizing that you can lose with 22s and slathering the whole thing in a great shade of Centennial Blue. matching the badge. The heritage emblem shows up on the floor mats, spray-in bed liner, and tailgate, too.

Lead designer for the Chevy Truck brand, Rich Scheer, told me the new bowtie actually uses the same font as one of the historic logos, and that they drew upon some of the old plans and design material from back in the day. He also has custom a ’71 Camaro resto-mod in his garage. Just sayin’.

The mid-size Colorado gets the Centennial treatment too, with the same paint scheme and heritage bowtie. Nostalgic customers of the littler truck can choose between crew and extended cabs, so long as it’s a Z71-equipped model.

The General is actually devoting a full 100 days to celebrating 100 years of trucks, capping off with a Centennial Celebration at Texas Motor Speedway on December 16th. The event will feature opportunities to experience the latest Chevrolet products, such as the new HD diesels and a range of Corvettes. Newly-retired Dale Earnhardt Jr. will also be in the house.

Chevy also announced that the Silverado nameplate will be extended to the 4500 and 5500 Medium-Duty line of trucks. Apparently, the hard working folks running dump trucks and stake bodies like the Silverado name as much as the rest of us.

[Images: © Matthew Guy/The Truth About Cars; General Motors]