For a decade, GM sold its Kodiak/TopKick school-bus chassis to exactly one body builder — Blue Bird — an exclusive arrangement that was unusual for the industry at the time.
Median 72 hp across 31 similar cars
Lead trim: Kodiak 7.4 V8 (1999–2000) · up to 290 hp
Chevrolet Kodiak / TopKick GMT530KODIAK-GMT530 · 1990–2002
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Nobody in Burbles has spotted a Chevrolet Kodiak / TopKick GMT530 yet. See one on the street, point the app at it, and the first card is yours — with your @handle permanently credited on this page.
FactFor a decade, GM sold its Kodiak/TopKick school-bus chassis to exactly one body builder — Blue Bird — an exclusive arrangement that was unusual for the industry at the time.
GM released the second generation of the Kodiak/TopKick on the GMT530 architecture for 1990 (production from August 28, 1989 to June 26, 2002), the largest vehicles the company assembled after it ended heavy-truck production in 1988 and the whole GM medium-duty range, at Janesville, Wisconsin, with export production from Toluca, Mexico (1994–2008) and local assembly in Bogotá, Valencia and São José dos Campos, Brazil (all Caterpillar 3116, badged by metric tonnage and horsepower as the GMC 12-170, 14-190 and 16-220). The cabs came from the GMT400 platform, with a single hood length, 5500, 6500 and 7500 payload series (skipping the 4500), Chevrolet base and Silverado trims and GMC SL and SLE trims until they were phased out in 1994, a raised-roof cab option from 1991, a "Lo-Pro" 6500 with 19.5-inch wheels and a frame about 5 inches lower aimed at rental and delivery use, a 4-door crew cab option after 1992, a C8500 Class 8 variant for 1997 with single or tandem rear axles, and anti-lock brakes on all wheels the same year. A lower-profile "aerodynamic" hood arrived for 1997 (C5500–C8500 badging instead of Kodiak/TopKick, extended to standard hoods for 1998), and from 1998 GM added the T-series medium-duty cab-over-engine trucks (Isuzu Forward cabs on the GMT530 chassis, built until 2009). The engines: gasoline became standard, the large-block 6.0L (standard) and 7.0L (optional) V8s returning with fuel injection, both replaced by a 7.4L V8 for 1999 and that by the 8.1L Vortec V8 for 2001 (the largest V8 ever offered in a mass-produced Chevrolet); diesels were a 6.6L Caterpillar 3116 inline-six turbodiesel (165 hp, 170 hp from 1991) and, for 1997, a 7.2L Caterpillar 3126 inline-six for larger trucks. From 1992 to 2002 the Kodiak/TopKick was sold as a school-bus chassis solely to Blue Bird. The page gives no power figures for the gasoline engines or the 3126 and no dimensions for this generation.
Collectors Spotted in the Chevrolet Kodiak Lineage
No member has published a public street spot of the Chevrolet Kodiak yet — the First · Worldwide stamp is wide open.
Trims & Figures
7 published trims in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kodiak 6.0 (366) V8 (1990–1998) | 1990–1998 | 6.0 L V8 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Kodiak 6.6 Caterpillar 3116 turbodiesel I6 (1990; 165 hp) | 1990–1990 | 6.6 L Inline-6 | 165 hp | — | — | — | — | — |
| Kodiak 6.6 Caterpillar 3116 turbodiesel I6 (1991–2002; 170 hp) | 1991–2002 | 6.6 L Inline-6 | 170 hp | — | — | — | — | — |
| Kodiak 7.0 (427) V8 (1990–1998) | 1990–1998 | 7.0 L V8 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Kodiak 7.2 Caterpillar 3126 turbodiesel I6 (1997–2002) | 1997–2002 | 7.2 L Inline-6 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Kodiak 7.4 V8 (1999–2000) | 1999–2000 | 7.4 L V8 | 290 hp | 410 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
| Kodiak 8.1 Vortec V8 (2001–2002) | 2001–2002 | 8.1 L V8 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Owning one
An estimate, for the Kodiak 6.0 (366) V8 (1990–1998) trim: fuel on its EPA figure and a dated national price, upkeep on a per-mile average for the kind of car it is.
Owners’ builds
Nobody has claimed one yet.
Photographs
The President's armored limousine, "The Beast," doesn't share its chassis with any Cadillac sedan — in 2009 it was seen testing alongside GMT560 GMC TopKick trucks, the same medium-duty platform as this Kodiak generation.
For a decade, GM sold its Kodiak/TopKick school-bus chassis to exactly one body builder — Blue Bird — an exclusive arrangement that was unusual for the industry at the time.
The 1981 Kodiak's hood sits taller than before to clear a bigger diesel — yet the hood itself is actually shorter, front to windshield, than the truck it replaced.
Rivals
Same body, same money, other badges — tap any card to flip.
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