Chevrolet Part 2: Cars Since 1961 (Auto Review Album Number 214)

Author: Rod Ward

Auto Review 206 told the story of Chevrolet cars and car-derived light commercial vehicles from the beginning until 1960. This publication continues the story from 1961 into the 21st century. We include car-derived vans and pickups, such as the El Camino, and we also include those SUVs such as the Blazer and Tahoe which are based on Chevrolet pickup families to be described in Auto Review 221. Ford led the way in most market sectors in the 1960s, Chevrolet following with competitive models in an increasingly fragmented car market. These included the Chevy II, Nova and Vega compact cars, the Camaro ponycar, the Chevelle intermediate, the Malibu SS and Impala SS muscle cars and the Caprice full-size dreamboat. All of these are included here, and more, but excluded are the Corvette (described in Auto Review 175), the Corvair (described in Auto Review 206) and Chevrolet commercial vehicles, which will be covered in Auto Review 221.

Down the years Chevrolet struggled to compete with foreign imports; one attempt was the creation of the short-lived Geo division of Chevrolet, which sold Japanese cars with American badges.

By the 21st century, like other American auto makers, Chevrolet had begun to concentrate almost entirely on producing SUVs. Auto Review 221 published in 2026, will cover Chevrolet trucks, buses, pickups and vans, as well as those produced under the GMC nameplate.

Once again we have to apologise to readers in North America for the use of British nomenclature here, such as bonnet (hood), wings (fenders), MPV (minivan) and so on, though we generally use terms such as sedan and station wagon rather than the British descriptions saloon and estate car.