This truck brought GM's first factory four-wheel-drive option, a NAPCO conversion you could still order in its final year, 1959.
Median 92 hp across 7 similar cars
Lead trim: Task Force 322 cu in (5.3 L) Loadmaster V8
Chevrolet Task Force / Apache1955–1959
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Nobody in Burbles has spotted a Chevrolet Task Force / Apache 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.
FactThis truck brought GM's first factory four-wheel-drive option, a NAPCO conversion you could still order in its final year, 1959.
The Chevrolet Task Force (the GMC Blue Chip) is a light-duty (3100 short bed and 3200 long bed) and medium-duty (3600) truck series introduced on 25 March 1955, Chevrolet's first major redesign since 1947, more modern than the Advance-Design without sacrificing ruggedness; GM sold both designs in 1955 (the 1st Series and the all-new 2nd Series). It brought optional power steering, power brakes and V8s to GM trucks for the first time, a standard column-shifted three-speed with an optional floor four-speed or Hydramatic, a 12-volt electrical system (from 6 volts), the truck industry's first wrap-around windshield with an optional wrap-around rear window, headlights integrated into the fenders, a taller cab and in-cab steps in place of running boards. Chevrolet used its own engines (the 235 cu in Thriftmaster and 261 cu in Jobmaster sixes; the 265 and 283 cu in Taskmaster V8s; and 322 and 348 cu in Loadmaster V8s), where GMC used its own inline-sixes and Pontiac V8s. The 1955 and 1956 trucks had an "egg crate" grille (the 1956 emblems moved above the fender line); 1957 had an open grille and hood spears resembling the Bel Air; in 1958 the light-duty trucks were renamed Apache (medium-duty Viking, heavy-duty Spartan) with four headlights, a full-width grille, the first factory air conditioning and an all-steel "Fleetside" bed (GMC "Wideside") in 6.5 and 8 ft lengths replacing the Cameo and Suburban pickups; 1959 was the last year, and the last that the NAPCO "Powr-Pak" four-wheel-drive conversion could be factory ordered. The series was replaced by the C/K in 1960 (the Apache name lasting to 1961) and formed the basis of the fourth-generation Suburban.
Collectors Spotted in the Chevrolet Task Force Lineage
No member has published a public street spot of the Chevrolet Task Force yet — the First · Worldwide stamp is wide open.
Trims & Figures
6 published trims in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Task Force 235 cu in (3.9 L) Thriftmaster I6 | 1955–1959 | 3.9 L Inline-6 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Task Force 261 cu in (4.3 L) Jobmaster I6 | 1955–1959 | 4.3 L Inline-6 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Task Force 265 cu in (4.3 L) Taskmaster V8 | 1955–1959 | 4.3 L V8 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Task Force 283 cu in (4.6 L) Taskmaster V8 | 1955–1959 | 4.6 L V8 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Task Force 322 cu in (5.3 L) Loadmaster V8 | 1955–1959 | 5.3 L V8 | 195 hp | 310 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
| Task Force 348 cu in (5.7 L) Loadmaster V8 | 1955–1959 | 5.7 L V8 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Owning one
An estimate, for the Task Force 235 cu in (3.9 L) Thriftmaster I6 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
Rivals
Same body, same money, other badges — tap any card to flip.
The GMT400 split the twins for good: 1988 was the year "C/K" became Chevrolet-only badging, while GMC's version of the very same truck became the Sierra.
GMC found 10 extra horsepower in the Sierra All Terrain X's 5.3L V8 with nothing more than a performance exhaust, no other changes needed to go from 355 to 365 hp.
This Sierra kept rolling off the line for a full extra year after its replacement arrived - badged "Classic" in 2007 just to tell the two generations apart on dealer lots.
When this GMT900 Sierra launched for 2007, GM kept selling the outgoing truck alongside it, badged "Classic," so buyers could choose old or new side by side on the same lot.
Toyota showed it as the T150 until Ford sued over the likeness to the F-150, and the production truck was renamed Tundra.
A Louisiana owner put over a million miles on his 2007 Tundra in eight years; Toyota gave him a new truck and took his apart to study it.
Toyota's Texas Tundra plant sits on land bought from the state's oldest working cattle ranch, and the 1794 Edition is named for the year that ranch was founded.
Its launch colours had pun names such as "Anti-Establish Mint" and "Freudian Gilt", sent to Lee Iacocca by a friend.