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LOS ANGELES — The curious thing about haters of sport-utility vehicles is that they hold no similar animus toward pickup trucks or vans. Theirs is a bias stemming from perceptions of power.
Pickups, according to that bias, have a reason for being powerful. They began life as work trucks. Today, they retain that blue-collar image, though many of them have moved way upscale in content and are frequently used as limousines. Their lingering working-class persona protects them from liberal condemnation.
Vans, especially minivans, have an even stronger social shelter. They are just as big as many sport-utility vehicles, which means they are just as effective as SUVs in blocking the forward vision of motorists in smaller cars. But Mom drives vans. Churches, schools and youth athletic teams use them, too. Who wants to be against Mom, church, school and the Little League?
General Motors Corp. has thought through all of this and has come up with a super-hybrid truck that is practically hate-proof — the 2002 Chevrolet Avalanche.
It is the only passenger vehicle in the United States that can go from a full-size SUV and van to a full-size pickup truck to a convertible, simply by rearranging panels and seats.
One person can bring about that vehicular transformation in a minute or two. It is a task made easier by a simplified storage system. All of the removable panels can be carried on board.
The key to what GM calls its Convert-a-Cab System is its patented midgate — essentially an idea that was carried over from small cars with back seats that can be lowered, thereby creating pass-through cargo space between the trunk and the passenger cabin.
The Avalanche’s midgate, which is similar in appearance and function to a tailgate, separates the rear seat from the cargo box. When more cargo space is needed, the midgate is lowered into a protected spot in the cabin, creating a cargo box that is 49 inches wide and 8 feet 1 inch long.
There’s a bonus, especially valuable in large metropolitan areas such as L.A. where vehicle larceny is a growth industry. The Avalanche’s cargo box comes with a standard lockable hard cover.
As an SUV, van and limousine, the Avalanche is quite up to the task. Depending on the selection of front seats, it can be set up to accommodate five or six people in spacious comfort. It has enough cup holders to service a small restaurant, more storage bins than can be found in some expensive hotel rooms (such as those rent-a-niches in the oh-so-austere Hudson in New York City), and seemingly as many electronically operated entertainment and information systems as an appliance store.
Yet, beneath all of this, the Avalanche remains very much a truck truck — a big Chevrolet Suburban truck in fact. It has frame rails and a massive engine — GM’s Vortec 5300 V-8, which produces 285 horsepower at 5,200 revolutions per minute and 325 pound-feet of torque at 4,000 RPM. It comes already equipped to tow 8,300 pounds, or 8,100 pounds, depending on whether it is purchased with rear-wheel drive or four-wheel drive.
But mostly, with its purposefully rugged exterior, made more so by bold, functional body cladding, the Avalanche comes with lots of attitude.
I’m often asked by SUV haters if an end to the SUV craze is in sight. The answer is yes. SUVs are old hat. They’re going to be replaced by super hybrid vehicles, SHVs, such as the Avalanche.
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