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.
Lead trim: Kodiak C4500/C5500 8.1 L18 gasoline V8
Chevrolet Kodiak / TopKick GMT560KODIAK-GMT560 · 2003–2009
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Nobody in Burbles has spotted a Chevrolet Kodiak / TopKick GMT560 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.
FactThe 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 2003 GM released the third-generation Kodiak/TopKick on the GMT560 architecture, built at Flint Truck Assembly (production 2002–2009, model years 2003–2010), with the Cx500 nomenclature returning as secondary to the Kodiak and TopKick names. To compete with the International DuraStar and Freightliner Business Class M2, it moved from a pickup-based cab to one derived from the Chevrolet Express/GMC Savana van, vertically oriented with a lower floor and larger doors; the 8500 Class 8 truck returned and a smaller C4500 replaced the GMT400-based C3500HD, with lower-profile hoods and smaller grilles on the C4500 and C5500. A "Deluxe Front Appearance Package" was optional. The powertrain depended on the payload series: the 8.1L gasoline V8 from the GMT530 was standard on C4500/5500s, where the Caterpillar 3116 was replaced by an Isuzu-designed 6.6L Duramax diesel V8; the C6500 and larger had diesels as standard, the Isuzu-produced Duramax LG4 7.8L I6 as standard and the 7.2L Caterpillar C7 (a redesigned 3126) as an option. Factory four-wheel drive came on C4500/C5500s (named C4500/5500 4x4, not K-prefixed), with a solid front axle, the 6.6L Duramax and an Allison transmission. The Isuzu H-Series H6500/H7500, sold from 2003 as the first conventional-cab truck Isuzu ever sold in North America, differed only by grille badge. The final GMT560 truck, a GMC TopKick 5500, left Flint Truck Assembly on July 31, 2009, after GM's search for a buyer for its truck business ended with its 2009 bankruptcy; a Kodiak C4500 pickup-style special was shown at the 2006 Chicago Auto Show, and the presidential limousine "Cadillac One" uses this chassis. The page gives no power figures or dimensions.
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
4 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 C4500/C5500 6.6 Duramax diesel V8 | 2003–2009 | 6.6 L V8 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Kodiak C4500/C5500 8.1 L18 gasoline V8 | 2003–2009 | 8.1 L V8 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Kodiak C6500+ 7.2 Caterpillar C7 diesel I6 (option) | 2003–2009 | 7.2 L Inline-6 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Kodiak C6500+ 7.8 Duramax LG4 diesel I6 | 2003–2009 | 7.8 L Inline-6 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Owning one
An estimate, for the Kodiak C4500/C5500 6.6 Duramax diesel V8 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.
When Mazda's E2000 — the truck that became the Titan — launched in January 1964, the factory was tasked with building 1,900 of them a month.
Swaraj Mazda built this truck under license in India from 1985, and the plant survived name changes all the way to SML Isuzu.
Indonesia built this pickup for 28 years with no successor, the last one leaving the Jakarta line in January 2019 after 324,960 units.
Suzuki's first-ever diesel engine, fitted to the Super Carry, is so small that it isn't able to power an air-conditioning system at all.
A right-hand-drive DJ-3A was built so postal drivers could reach roadside mailboxes without leaving the seat.
The Power Wagon name and civilian pickup design were derived directly from the WC-series military trucks Dodge built for World War II.
Suzuki kept the L20 Carry at the exact same 21 hp as its predecessor but still called it progress — the gain was a patented Cylinder Crank Injection lubrication system, not more power.
This generation of Titan quietly became the ancestor of two other trucks entirely: it was license-built by Kia as the Kia Titan in South Korea, and formed the basis of the Australian Ford Trader.