2008 Chevrolet C4500 Kodiak Pickup: Big Bear

Contemporary review originally published in CarBuzzard.com November 5, 2007

The 2008 Chevrolet C4500 Kodiak has a definite big rig look.

The 2008 Chevrolet C4500 Kodiak has almost as much room for crew as cargo.

The 2008 Chevrolet C4500 Kodiak dash has dials, rockers, knobs and a big screen all surrounded by faux wood.

The 2008 Chevrolet C4500 Kodiak with full disclosure.

Ther 2008 Chevrolet C4500 Kodiak has a standard eight-foot bed.

2008 Chevrolet C4500 Kodiak

If the difference between men and boys is the size of their toys, well, we’re not sure where that would take us with the 2008 Chevrolet C4500 Kodiak Pickup. But the driver of one of these big trucks would sure be eligible to vote, drink, run for president and serve hard time in prison, perhaps even in that order. Using a Kodiak pickup for anything other than towing a boat, horse trailer or house (trailer optional), or giving rides to every boy wishing he were manly man enough to command the helm, is surely a crime

The Kodiak pickup is huge. We recently drove one—fortunately not far enough to be responsible for fueling that rig—and can report that just driving one around town is like using a Cray supercomputer to figure your tip at the diner. The C4500 Kodiak chassis, also available in GMC trim as the Topkick and there’s a C5500 version as well, is more commonly used as a base for dump trucks, tow trucks and school buses for really big schools. Equipping one with a standard eight-foot pickup bed is underkill: swatting flies with a sledgehammer, watering petunias with a fire hose, or sending a man out to do a boy’s job.

As ludicrous as the Kodiak pickup would be as a daily driver, it’s really quite civilized in that oddly shaped cab, and with the platform-like diamond plate running boards, not all that hard to get in. The interior is cushy, especially the air-suspended driver’s seat in the air-suspended cab on our test truck. A DVD entertainment system is available (but not installed) to anesthetize back seat occupants, and there’s a lot of room for them, and XM navigation is optional (and installed). Another buyer’s choice item is side rear-view cameras. When the turn signal is used, a camera on that side shows a rearward view down that side of the truck on the nav system screen. With the big trailer mirrors this seems an expensive redundancy. However it does impress the kids. The base price of $51,303 and as equipped, including Monroe Truck Equipment So-Low Suspension—two (front) and four inch (rear) lower body height—cab air suspension, electric brake control and more, of $86,763 will impress their elders.

For serious towing or hauling, we’re sure the Chevrolet C4500 Kodiak pickup is ideal. Have at it.

For anything less, it’s like giving pony rides on a Clydesdale, reading War and Peace as a bedtime story, or waterskiing behind the USS Abraham Lincoln. The Chevrolet C4500 Kodiak pickup is a manly toy, but you know, there’s only so much manhood that even a manly man can use.