Honoring a Legacy

Paris, Kentucky, is an old town. The post office – originally named Bourbonton – was the first in the young state’s history when it opened in 1794. In the 200 years since, this small town has been central to Kentucky culture and is the seat of Bourbon County, famous around the world for its historical ties to bourbon and equine culture. A living history steeped in tradition and made vibrant through enthusiastic engagement with our past is what makes this small town special, and we’ve been proud to operate here for over 64 years, representing a brand that shares those values. We think that’s key to how we’ve won 5 consecutive Consumer Satisfaction and Dealer of the Year awards from Dealer Rater as the best Chevy Dealer in the Lexington, KY, area!

In the Lexington region, we love the way that modern developments acknowledge and appreciate their heritage. The decades-long restoration and renovation efforts in downtown Paris are a great example of exactly that. So, to honor that tradition, we’d like to take some time to reflect on our heritage and how Chevy pays homage to that today. To do that, we’ll look back on a nameplate that we’ve sold every year since opening in 1956 and see what has, and has not, changed in all those years for the Chevy Suburban.

The Fourth-Gen Suburban

The Chevy Suburban was America’s first sport utility vehicle and was already in the 4th generation of design and production by 1956. Gone were the fender flares ubiquitous to the ’30s and ’40s – instead, the wider interior allowed increased personal space for the passengers. A distinctive wrap-around windshield improved visibility by pulling the A-pillars away from the driver’s focal point, and a flattened hood heralded a styling cue that persists to this day.

The body style of the ’56 Suburban is described as a “2-door carryall”. It’s hard to imagine in today’s market, but in the ’50s, SUVs and trucks alike only featured driver and front passenger doors. So everyone would have to pile in through the front – or through the rear panel door/tailgate in the case of Suburban. A “carryall” was a design akin to a panel truck that had been fitted to accommodate passengers by equipping rear windows and foldable seats – not limited to exclusively transporting cargo or passengers; such designs could “carry all,” hence the name. In fact, the 1st gen model went by the name “Carryall Suburban”!

On the inside, the 1956 Suburban is predictably low on features but full on style. The dashboard is smooth, glossy, and rounded in classic 50’s fashion and adorned only by simple radio and climate control devices. You’ll find no leather seating or center console, and some drivers might be surprised by the presence of a third pedal by their left foot. Most, but not all, ’56 Suburbans naturally came with a manual transmission, a feature that was in production until the ’90s. A V-shaped speedometer dominates the space behind the steering wheel, reflecting the passenger car design of the day and the family-oriented nature of the Suburban, and perhaps serving as a subtle reminder of the V8 engine under the hood.

The ’56 Suburban represented a departure from previous generations, which featured inline 6-cylinder engines; the 4th gen was the first to feature a V8. The first generation of Chevy’s small block 4.3L V8 was made for the Corvette and was good for 145 hp for the heavy, unwieldy Suburban with rear-wheel drive. The update produced 20 hp more than the outgoing I-6, representing a huge improvement for the time, but it’s hard to imagine a full-size SUV with such a low-powered engine today! Lastly, the ’56 Suburban was rear-wheel drive only, but factory-installed all-wheel drive was on the horizon (1957), and drivers who desired it could retrofit a NAPCO AWD kit in an afternoon for $995.

The Twelfth-Gen Suburban

The 64 years that have passed since then have seen seven more iterations of Suburban design come and go; the all-new 2021 Chevy Suburban represents the beginning of the 12th generation of production. It’s one of the biggest Chevy news stories of the year, literally, with a maximum cargo capacity well over 140 cu.ft. (nearly 20% more than the 2020 Suburban) thanks to a new independent multilink rear suspension and an efficiently re-configured interior design.

The wrap-around windshield is gone – it was only around until 1966 – and the current hood design strikes a balance between the truly flat designs of the ’60s and ’70s and the sloped designs of the ’00s and ’10s. The grille is elevated, and significant ground clearance signals that the huge SUV is ready for off-roading excursions, making it much more than a humble carryall. Keen-eyed observers will note the presence of 4 doors (a third, and eventually fourth, door evolved into the design during the Nixon era), making back seat access substantially easier.

In fact, a lot of design updates that occurred over the years make the back half of a Suburban a substantially nicer place to be than in years past. Improved use of space has increased leg and headroom for the 2nd and 3rd rows, for one. For another, the available pair of 12.6” rear entertainment system screens make the back a veritable movie theater, capable of operating together or independently and with controls to communicate to the front row.

Up front, the modern Suburban is unrecognizable from its distant predecessors. Today’s dashboards aren’t glossy plastic or steel but instead are covered in soft-touch matte vinyl with leather, chrome, and wood accents. Smooth, round designs gave way to sweeping angular ones, and the center stack is dominated by controls that ’50s-era engineers could only dream of. Multi-zone climate control with automatic adjustment functions. Media control buttons and a 10” touch screen for radio, MP3, Bluetooth, Apple/Android smartphones, and more. Buttons that, when pressed, heat or even cool the front seats. You even have buttons that put the car in gear (yes, buttons) instead of a shift lever.

The driver finds music, phone, and cruise controls on the steering wheel. Behind the wheel, a round speedometer and tachometer gauges frame a large information display telling the driver details like range, efficiency, and more. On their left hand, controls for the universally optional four-wheel drive system and integrated trailer brake controller allow the driver to optimize vehicle behavior for any conditions.

The 2021 Suburban still comes with a V8 engine after all these years, but the new one is a larger 5.3L that generates 355 hp, more than twice as much as in ’56. Buyers aren’t limited to only one option, though. Advanced manufacturing techniques have made it feasible to offer multiple powertrain options for popular vehicles, and the 2021 Suburban offers three. An even larger V8, displacing 6.2L, puts out a best-in-class 420 hp and 460 lb-ft of torque for a more athletic, responsive ride. Either block can tow at least 7,900 lbs, ample capacity for large camping trailers. Lastly, an all-new 3.0L Duramax turbodiesel option delivers unprecedented fuel efficiency and ample low-end torque to a segment that’s been longing for a diesel engine option for years.

A Revitalized Suburban for a Revitalized America

We’ve been selling and servicing Chevy vehicles near Lexington, KY, for a long time. We’ve watched our small home town of Paris come to life as people have vigorously restored old sites to their former glory with a modern twist, using the past as inspiration for the present and using the present to pay homage to the past. The 2021 Chevy Suburban, which is all-new for the 12th time in its unparalleled 85-year production run, does the same.

A name and styling cues that can trace their roots to the ’50s. Modern features and interior design that impart the same sense of advancement and luxury that the first “carryall” trucks did in their day. Ongoing innovation, like a more spacious interior, a more comfortable suspension, and a more efficient engine, makes every new Suburban better than the last. The Chevy Suburban, just like the region surrounding Lexington, not only has a long, long history – it has a blindingly bright future, too. If you want to experience the history of the Suburban yourself, visit us to test out the latest Chevy Suburban model.

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