The SUV That is also Truck

        What is better than an SUV.... an SUV that has a truck bed! The Chevrolet Avalanche is an SUV/Truck combo. Chevrolet first designed and produced the Avalanche in 2001. It was the first of its kind, and it would lead to the production of Ford's Explorer Sport Trac. In the first few months, the Avalanche was not the biggest hit, but then sales began to pick up. Chevrolet saw that people really liked the concept of a SUV/Truck, or as I like to call it, the Truck-U-V.
     The Avalanche shows that you can have the power and versatility of a truck without compromising comfort and class. The SUV portion closely resembles the inside of a Tahoe, which is basically what the Avalanche is, but with a truck bed and not a trunk. You can comfortably accommodate five people and six, if you have the middle front seat option. The cargo area, a.k.a the bed, is designed very well. You can lower the second row and extend cargo space, if needed. The entire bed is lined with hard plastic and has a layer of steel underneath. This means you can put anything dirty in it and wash it out very easily. Another design feature that Chevy put in the Avalanche is their first removable rear window.  All it takes to remove the window is to turn two handles and lift it off.
     There are some minor design flaws. The first Avalanche had really tacky plastic side panels that were supposed to keep mud off of the paint and prevent scratches. This particular part was a turn off for a lot people. Another issue that people have is the plastic bars that come off the roof and down to the edge of the bed. These panels tend to fade easily and in turn make the car look bad. Most people do not know that there is an easy fix to this problem. It is called Back to Black which restores the shine to the plastic.
     Sadly, the Chevrolet Avalanche is coming to an end. In 2012, Chevy announced that 2013 will be the Avalanche's last year of production. To commemorate the Truck-U-V's end, they decided  to call it the Black Diamond addition. I have always liked the Avalanche and I believe that Chevy designed a great vehicle that can really give you the best of both worlds.

link:
http://www.chevrolet.com/avalanche-suv-truck.html

2001 Avalanche

2013 Black Diamond Edition