Chevrolet S10 is the GM’s Response to the Growing Success of Japanese Compact Pickups

Chevrolet S10 is a compact pickup truck from the Chevrolet marquee of General Motors. General Motors launched the it for sale as one of their responses to the growing success of Japanese compact pickups in the early 1980s. It was an instant success, and it didn’t take long for it to become one of the trucks to beat in the segment, at least from the consumer’s perspective. It had a lot going for it in addition to being compact. It was American, affordable, and highly customizable. When it was first introduced in 1982, the GMC version was known as the S-15 and later renamed the GMC Sonoma. A high-performance version of the S10 was released in 1991 and given the name of GMC Syclone. The Chev S10 pickup truck was also sold by Isuzu as the Hombre from 1996 through 2000. There was also an SUV version, the Chev S-10 Blazer/GMC S-15 Jimmy. An electric version of the S10 was leased as a fleet vehicle in 1997 and 1998. Together, the 1997 and 1998 Chev S10 pickups are often referred to as the S-series.

Prospective buyers may want to know that automotive critics were never very fond of the S10, and they usually leaned in favor of the alternatives from Dodge, Ford, Nissan, and Toyota. However, that never stopped the S10 from being extremely popular with the average consumer. The second-gen Chevrolet S10 was available from 1994 until 2004 as both a regular and an extended cab. In the final years of the model, Chevrolet S10 was also available with a crew cab body and either a short or a long bed.

The 1996 Chevrolet S10 saw the introduction of the Sportside bed with optional 3-door access cab. The extended cab with the third-door access panel is a great boon for loading cargo, or for allowing an adult to squeeze into that tight rear area. Unfortunately, the third-door is notorious for rattling off-road and on rough roads. There were also two levels of the Chevrolet S10 ZR2 package. The ZR2 SS trim upgraded the Chev S10 to a high-output V6 engine, sports-tuned suspension, and alloy wheels. The second-level Chev S10 ZR2 equipment package brought 4-wheel drive, an upgraded suspension, and larger off-road tires. In the 1999 Chev S10 model year, Chevy introduced a Chev S10 Extreme, which was the on-road counterpart to the ZR2. It was available only as a rear-wheel-drive vehicle, and it had 2 inches less clearance.

Safety was never a point worthy of applause for the Chevrolet S10, and the early years of this generation were light on safety equipment. Rear antilock brakes were standard, but four-wheel ABS was optional on four-cylinder models and standard with the V6. All Chevrolet S10 had four-wheel ABS after 1996. A driver airbag became available in 1995 Chevrolet S10, but there was no passenger protection until the update on the 1998 Chev S10 model year. It underwent a midlife freshening for ’98 that saw more aggressive front styling and an improved interior with dual airbags. For this reason, and the shabby interior, we’d steer clear of this early second-generation Chevrolet S10. The only other major change for this S-10′s run was in the 2001 S10 with its new four-door crew cab model with five-passenger capacity. Production soldiered on until 2004, at which point Chevy replaced the Chevrolet S10 with the all-new Colorado.