That's because it's from 1994

 

I hate the excuses that the small truck market vanished - the small truck market vanished because the choices GM, Ford and Chrysler gave people (particularly GM and Ford) were horrendous. GM and Ford were the big players and what happened - Ranger withered into a truck from the stone age and GM threw away the popular S10 name, then did a pair of unremarkable replacements. Tacoma won this segment by default.

I'd love a smaller refined pickup that is capable of 20+ in the city. Silverados and F-150s are overkill for some people.

 

Do people really want a truck smaller than this though?

 

I guess you could answer your own question by comparing sales numbers of the S-10 vs Colorado.

 

Is it a small truck they want or a cheaper truck? All the complaints about the Colorado when it came out was that it was too small. I personally thought it was a decent size. I just don't see how a truck like the one I pictured is too big since it really isn't that much bigger. Even if they made it 1-2" narrower would that really save anything in production costs?

 

I remember a big draw back in the day for the S-10 was that you could buy one for $9999 any day of the week... sometimes less.

They were even cheaper than Cavaliers at the time by a few hundred bucks for a base 2WD model.


Colorado shot up in price significantly, so I also think price point has a LOT to do with it....

 

Cheaper probably. The last time I drove an S10 was a long time ago, but it left a good impression. It was brand new, pretty stripped, with a 4 cylinder, 5 speed and 3.73 rear end. I think it had a sticker of about $10,xxx. And it was actually fun to drive around. It would even chirp 3rd gear.

The last Colorado I drove, was substantially more expensive and without a lively bone in it's body.

I liked the S10 better!

 

That was MSRP. With the rebates of the time, the Silverado was slightly cheaper. Besides the sales decline of small trucks speak for themselves. People will go to the bigger truck or car if the price is comparable.

 

Charlie, the S10 4 cylinder had 120 hp from 2.2L and ohv. The base Colorado engine was a 2.8L (now 2.9L) with 175 hp / 185 lb-ft with DOHC.

My dad has a 2.2L S10 reg cab. It's a nice little truck, but one thing it is NOT is lively. If it chirps into third, it is because you are abusing the hell out of the clutch, or you are driving on ice. You can feel the difference between A/C on and off with that engine.

He also, however, had a 4.3L S10 ZR2 4x4 ext cab. In some ways I liked that truck better than my 3.5L Colorado. The Colorado does have a little more space inside, way better fuel economy (though mine's a 2wd Z71 with an M5). It will also handily outpower Dad's truck... but not at launch. The 4.3L made gobs of torque, and when coupled to an automatic, made for a nice package to drive. The frame on mine is quite a bit stiffer, too, but I think I actually prefer the S10 interior now.

The Colorado feels "different" somehow, like it isn't quite related to the Silverado. The switchgear inside is not shared with the bigger trucks (or any other GM vehicles), so it almost doesn't feel like a GM / Chevy truck. Anyway, my next truck will be a fullsize.

 

I still have the window sticker from the '97 S10 Blazer I had. It was more than $28,000 new in 1997, and was a 4x4 LS. It had cloth seats, keyless, power options, overhead console with temp/compass, and a tow package. Otherwise, it was pretty basic. No tach, and just a tape deck (CD player was an option though).

In 2001, I was looking at buying an S10. They'd range from about $8900 (sticker) for a base (non LS) 4-cylinder, 5-speed regular cab on steel wheels with crank windows, am/fm-only radio....to the upper 20's ($28-$30k) for a fully loaded ZR2.

A lot of people maintain that these were relatively inexpensive trucks, and to be perfectly honest, they really weren't all that cheap when you made them livable.

 

Another thing is by the 2000's everyone wanted Crew cabs. How did the S-10 Crew cab do compared to the Colorado? Crew cab was also the most expensive truck and at that point it made sense to many to just go with a Silverado. If people were just buying regular cab small trucks then the Colorado would have been just fine.

Maybe something like this would be better for Chevy going forward:

 

Hard to tell, if I remember right, it was only available in 2003-2004.

 

They still make them in 2010

http://www.chevrolet.com.br/veiculos...na/index.shtml

 

i want a small 2door truck. i just want it to be automatic. it'll be my daily driver. but, nothing fits my taste.

the ranger got old,...

 

Yeah, my dad's first pickup was a Sonoma with the 2.2. That truck was an absolute dog. Of course, his was an auto - I have heard that the stick made the 2.2 somewhat tolerable.

My current truck was my dad's second. We convinced him to get the 4.3 after owning that 2.2. And while the I5 was an improvement over the 4.3 in terms of mileage and horsepower, honestly, give me the 4.3. Dad is in a Colorado now and I am still amazed at what a thrashy engine the I5 is. For what it was supposed to be I expected a lot more. And the interior....the design is more modern, but the pieces are of no better quality than my S10.

The other thing I never understood about the Colorado/Canyon is that you never had a longbed option.