Chevrolet has certainly taken the burgeoning 4-door full-size SUV/pickup segment in a new direction with the Avalanche, since it clearly intends it to be the meanest model on the market. When Avalanche was being designed as the Ultimate Utility Truck, Chevrolet's truck-meisters decided "their powerful and rugged new vehicle needed a new and equally impactful name.
According to Ed Schoener, Chevy Avalanche Brand Manager, the development team wanted a name that captured the vehicle's core qualities: strength, capacity and an action-orientation for an outdoors appeal.
"We wanted a brand new name that not only would express the character of the vehicle," explains Schoener, "but also one that was memorable and stood out in the marketplace."
Avalanche definitely fits those qualifications, he says, and "It's a little edgy and aggressive, like the truck itself."
Whatever it's called, it is easily the most menacing hunk of sheet metal I've seen in some time. Thanks to its hard edges, pieces that fold with military precision, and armored-car appearance, It looks like something you load with ammunition. As a matter of fact, Chevrolt has gone to a lot of trouble to see that you can load Avalance with just about anything.
Avalanche's particular cargo-carrying usefulness is centered around its Convert-a-Cab System, which is a trademark-registered device. Convert-a-Cab has a gate (called the Midgate and also trademark-registered) which opens between the cabin and the pickup bed so things can be moved back and forth, a rigid, three-piece cargo cover, folding 60/40 rear seats, and a lockable tailgate.