Car and Driver: Chevrolet Silverado 1500 High Desert: Like the High Country, But *Totally* Different

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What’s the difference between a high desert climate and high country? Both exist at higher altitudes, and, uh, one is a desert, while the other could just be country that’s high up. Okay, so we actually don’t know the answer to that one, but we do know what sets the new Chevrolet Silverado 1500 High Desert apart from another, similarly named Silverado, the High Country. The Silverado High Desert is a special-edition package that can be applied to several Silverado trim levels, including the High Country, and it includes Avalanche-like sail panels/a psuedo-roll bar behind the cab.

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The Avalanche we’re referring to is not an actual avalanche, but the defunct Chevy pickup that was carved out of GM’s full-size SUV and was killed after the 2012 model year. The Avalanche featured a pair of plastic buttresses that ran from the top of the rear window down to the top of the pickup bed, a flourish reproduced faithfully on the High Desert.

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• The Life and Times of the Chevy Avalanche—A Eulogy-
• Gone without a Trace: These Are the Forgotten SUVs-
• Chevrolet Silverado Research: Full Pricing, Specs, Reviews, and More-

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The rest of the High Desert package is cribbed from a concept truck by the same name that Chevrolet displayed at the 2014 SEMA show in Las Vegas. Its chief feature is a clever trunk-like compartment built into the bed. Essentially a reconfigurable, drop-in plastic hold, the storage compartment is fitted over the bed and incorporates a tonneau cover. The box is split into three main volumes, with two compartments on either side, and a large main area with a movable divider. It’s not as mold-breaking as the old Avalanche’s fold-down “mid-gate” between the bed and the interior, which could be dropped to extend the pickup hold into the interior, but it’s a neat alternative to the weatherproof trunk seen on Honda’s Ridgeline.

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Better still, the High Desert kit will be offered on the popular Silverado 1500 LT trim level, as well as the glitzier LTZ and High Country (would that make the latter a Silverado 1500 High Country High Desert?). Pricing is still to come, and likely will be released closer to the package’s introduction this fall.

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