The Silverado had been a staple and an icon since 1964 when the first generation of c10s were released. The GMC Syclone was what gave the idea to the Chevy development team as the Syclone was the first performance truck. The Syclone had a turbo v6, but the 454ss had a 7.4 454 big block. This specific motor was found in the 1970-1984 corvette generation and in the c20 and c30 which were made to haul heavy loads. Now this big block wasn’t in a work truck it was in a street truck that was waiting to be raced. The 454 made 230hp (which seems low now) but at the time the corvette made 245. A mere 15 hp difference that could easily be achieved with simple upgrades. 

Although this was more of a street truck that 454 gave it work capabilities that the turbo v6 did not. Don’t be mistaken by the hp, this truck could still pick up relatively quickly at a 7.7 second 0-60. At the time this was better than a considerable amount of high end cars from the Rolls Royce, BMW, Mercedes, and even Jaguar. GM knew people were going to want this truck and made them in limited numbers. GM only produced around 17k trucks.

Today you can find one of these trucks at a decent price for what the truck has to offer, prices often fluctuate depending on condition mileage and things modified on the truck. A 10/10 condition 454ss is selling right now for more than a brand new 2020 Silverado, at $53k. This truck is fully loaded and practically brand new with only 26 miles on the odometer.

The 454ss overall was a great success but had a few complaints. Gm is notorious for making bad interiors and this is no exception for most of the trucks it was almost a velvet type material that was red. The shift lever was plastic that would eventually get all flimsy. The dash was made out of a cheap plastic that would crack, and the odometer wasn’t the best as it was in the 90s and has a standard look nothing fancy. If you ask any 454ss owner why they bought the answer will be because of the motor and they didn’t even think twice about the interior.