History of the 1955-59 Chevrolet Cameo Pickup

Though highly-optioned, “factory custom” trucks brimming with luxury like the 2019 Silverado High Country are readily available at Landers Chevrolet Cadillac of Joplin today, driving the feature-packed 2019 Chevy Silverado will make you forget that there was once a time in the recent past when trucks were all business, with only an AM radio, a heater and a bench seat for amenities… if you were lucky.

By 1955, however, American tastes were changing. With World War II over and the industrial economy in full swing, incomes were up and Chevy owners were clamoring for vehicles that didn’t just get the job done, but looked great doing it. That year, Chevy capitalized on America’s newfound thirst for more refined cars and trucks by introducing a pickup that would be a groundbreaker, ushering in a new age of factory custom pickups: the 1955 Chevrolet Cameo Carrier!

Building on the revolutionary styling of the “Task Force” Chevrolet 1500 trucks built between 1955 and 1959, the Cameo Carrier proved that a truck could be as stylish and elegant as the best-optioned Chevrolet Bel Air sedan, while still working hard too.

1955 Chevrolet Bel Air

The father of the Cameo Carrier pickup was General Motors designer Chuck Jordan, who would go on to be named Vice President of Design at GM. In 1954, as the styling for the Task Force truck design was being finalized, Jordan sketched out a version of the pickup that included what were, at that time in automotive history, radical design elements for a truck, including stylish two-tone paint, full car-style hubcaps, wide white wall tires, and — most importantly — a wide, slab-sided pickup bed that flowed back to intricate chrome tail-lights and a sculpted, sedan-style rear bumper that recalled that of the 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air.

Eager to reach affluent suburban buyers, GM’s powers-that-be speedily approved Jordan’s design for limited production. To sidestep the high cost of building steel stamping dies to create the flowing Cameo bed Jordan had designed, GM instead turned to the then-new technology of fiberglass, which had already proven its usefulness and strength in the construction of the first-generation Chevrolet Corvettes. A contact was reached with Corvette body supplier Molded Fiber Glass Inc. of Ohio. and for the entire run of the Cameo, the flowing bed sides would be built in the same factory as Corvette bodies before being shipped to Chevy for installation on a standard “stepside” bed without the steel exterior fenders.

Sticking closely to Jordan’s original design, in addition to the fiberglass pieces, Chevrolet installed the chrome tail lights from the recently-discontinued 1954 Chevrolet Bel Air at the trailing end of each fender. Hubcaps for the truck were borrowed from the beautiful 1955 Chevy Bel Air, with wide whitewalls, and a chrome rear bumper with a hidden spare tire compartment to finish the look. Every 1955 Cameo featured a deluxe wide rear glass cab, painted Bombay Ivory with the rear cab pillars and the interior of the bed painted eye-catching Industrial Red.

Inside, the 1955 Cameo Carrier included every available option, including carpeting — a feature almost unknown in the bare-bones trucks of the day — a two-tone red and ivory dash, two-tone upholstery, and a radio. For power, buyers could choose from either the 235 straight six with a three-speed manual, or the groundbreaking 265 cubic inch Chevrolet “small block” V8, backed by a four-speed Hydramatic automatic transmission.

The first year, the Cameo Carrier was an unmitigated hit with buyers, selling over 5,000 units despite the fact that the option package added almost $500 to the $1,400 base price of a Chevrolet 1500 pickup. That first year, however, would be the best-selling model of the Cameo. Though Chevy would continue adding options throughout the life of the Cameo, including more interior and exterior color options, power steering and air-conditioning, cheaper highly-optioned trucks from other makers soon diluted the uniqueness of the Cameo and sales declined steadily.

In total, around 10,000 Cameo Carrier trucks were produced between the introduction of the Cameo and 1960, when the Task Force design architecture was retired along with the Cameo package Today, the Cameo Carrier is popular with both collectors and customizers, who are willing to pay upwards of $100,000 for restored or low-mile examples of this pioneering “factory custom” from Chevy.

Want to own your own piece of Chevy truck history? Then stop in soon at Landers Chevrolet Cadillac of Joplin and check out the beautiful, all-new 2019 Chevy Colorado, 2019 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 or 2019 Silverado HD today!