2002 Chevrolet Avalanche in Plainfield

The Chevrolet Avalanche had been in our Four Seasons fleet barely one week when it became apparent that we were in for a contentious year. In the very first logbook entry, truck aficionado and editor emeritus David E. Davis, Jr., expounded on the qualities of the big and chunky Chevy: "This is a remarkable vehicle. The harmonious interrelationship of ride, handling, roadholding, and power is very sweet. It is very carlike. In fact, there are a lot of cars that aren't this good."

Almost immediately, there followed the prickly comments of executive editor Mark Gillies: "How light can steering be? How on earth can you get away with such awful interior quality for $37,000? Can you see anything out the rear-view mirror? Which twit put the seatback adjuster there? If this is carlike, I may have been driving the wrong cars."

Clearly, we were still figuring out what to make of the Avalanche-which bills itself as "the industry's first 'configurable' truck"-and its signature folding Midgate. The Avalanche is carved from a Suburban, one of our longtime favorite SUVs, but we still had some questions about where this curious truck-SUV hybrid belonged in the automotive firmament. Was it an innovator that would define a new market niche, or was it simply another clumsy automotive novelty act such as the Suzuki X90 or the Isuzu VehiCross? Was it unrealistic to expect carlike handling from a 5900-pound truck? Was its $37,000 price justifiable? Reaching a consensus after twelve months looked unlikely, however, given the wildly divergent opinions of the pro- and anti-Avalanche contingencies within the editorial ranks.... Read full article