Chevrolet Van/Medium Duty Chassis Cab

[Fabrux]

I have been trying to track down images and information on an oddball chassis cab vehicle manufactured by GM. I have only seen this a couple of times but it seems to be a heavier duty version of the G30 van chassis with some kind of tilt hood that uses the grille from the C70 truck. The ones that I have seen were Class C motorhomes so I'm not totally convinced yet that this was a factory offering.

I do know that in 1993 Chevrolet started offering a G30 cab on the P30 chassis that had a fibreglass tilt hood, but it had the same grille as the equivalent G30 so what I'm looking for seems to be something different. I'm hoping someone here is familiar with this vehicle and I'm not imagining things...

[Warren D]

I think I know what you are talking about, but would have to see a photo to be sure.  They weren't common....

[iamsuperdan]

Are you referring to the medium duty GMC Topkick and Chev Kodiak?

Depending on the generation, they used either a C/K cab or a full size van cab, plus a full fibreglass tilt front. I've seen these as motorhomes quite a bit.

 

 

Edited January 8, 2018 by iamsuperdan

[iamsuperdan]

Or do you mean this? Itasca motorhomes used GM chassis and other parts.

 

[highway]

22 hours ago, kataranga said:

I have been trying to track down images and information on an oddball chassis cab vehicle manufactured by GM. I have only seen this a couple of times but it seems to be a heavier duty version of the G30 van chassis with some kind of tilt hood that uses the grille from the C70 truck. The ones that I have seen were Class C motorhomes so I'm not totally convinced yet that this was a factory offering.

I do know that in 1993 Chevrolet started offering a G30 cab on the P30 chassis that had a fibreglass tilt hood, but it had the same grille as the equivalent G30 so what I'm looking for seems to be something different. I'm hoping someone here is familiar with this vehicle and I'm not imagining things...

Using image searches for G30s, C70s, and Class C motorhomes, and Dan's countless pics of the Topkick and Kodiak, is this what you are describing?

If so, as Dan's pics show, the Topkick and Kodiak are medium duty trucks and not the G30 van and chassis. The older models of the Topkick and Kodiak had the same cabs as the C/K line of full size trucks, though it does like as if the newer ones like the one labeled as a 2008 that Dan posted and the motorhome I posted does appear to share the cab of a G series van, because this G30 van chassis cab motorhome seems to have the same cab with the normal van front end. 

Other than that, the only other thing I could find that was a G30 van chassis cab with a tilt hood was this, and I'm sure glad I haven't eaten recently! 

[Warren D]

I was thinking of that last pic above.  Unfortunately, I did just eat breakfast......

[dieseldawg142]

.....

 

Edited May 9, 2018 by dieseldawg142

[Fabrux]

9 hours ago, iamsuperdan said:

Or do you mean this? Itasca motorhomes used GM chassis and other parts.

 

This is the beastie I'm talking about!

So this is not a factory offering but something cooked up by the motorhomes manufacturer?

[Rob Hall]

29 minutes ago, kataranga said:

This is the beastie I'm talking about!

So this is not a factory offering but something cooked up by the motorhomes manufacturer?

I think that was a custom nose used only by Winnebago and Itasca (both were brands of the same company).   I remember seeing those in the 80s when I did a lot of RVing w/ my folks.    It wasn't the only custom nose Winnebago had for Chevy cab RVs, they also had this sloped nose for the Warrior in the 80s..

 

Edited January 8, 2018 by Rob Hall

[iamsuperdan]

2 hours ago, kataranga said:

This is the beastie I'm talking about!

So this is not a factory offering but something cooked up by the motorhomes manufacturer?

The Itasca was a very common RV. At least it was around here. I beleive they were part of the Winnebago group. Maybe their entry level offering?

The version pictured is definitely based on the GM HD van chassis, and obviously uses the basic cab structure. Nose is fibreglass with a pseudo-GM grille. They used very GM-like grilles and headlights on their class A motorhomes in the 70s too.

I think like most RV manufacturers, they switched to Ford based chassis at some point in the mid-80s.

 

 

 

[rsxse240]

On 1/8/2018 at 6:06 AM, Rob Hall said:

I think that was a custom nose used only by Winnebago and Itasca (both were brands of the same company).   I remember seeing those in the 80s when I did a lot of RVing w/ my folks.    It wasn't the only custom nose Winnebago had for Chevy cab RVs, they also had this sloped nose for the Warrior in the 80s..

 

This one is a Dodge offering.  Definitely wasn't a good looking van, at least not with that nose.  *Barf*!

[Rob Hall]

2 minutes ago, rsxse240 said:

This one is a Dodge offering.  Definitely wasn't a good looking van, at least not with that nose.  *Barf*!

Nope, that's a Chevy/GMC cab---look at the door.  Definitely not a Dodge.  

Edited January 14, 2018 by Rob Hall

[rsxse240]

OMG, you're right.  That thing is so ugly I just couldn't see GM letting it get produced.  Lol. 

 

I really did think it was a Dodge!

[Rob Hall]

Just now, rsxse240 said:

OMG, you're right.  That thing is so ugly I just couldn't see GM letting it get produced.  Lol. 

 

I really did think it was a Dodge!

I assume Winnebago bought chassis-cabs from GM then put their own fiberglass nose on them. 

[Aaronw]

On 1/7/2018 at 8:58 PM, highway said:

 

Other than that, the only other thing I could find that was a G30 van chassis cab with a tilt hood was this, and I'm sure glad I haven't eaten recently! 

 

I think this is the one used on some box style ambulances in the 80s and 90s. From memory it looked better as an ambulance.

[TheGuiltyflea]

I have this motorhome 1975 with the front end you are talking about its not a g30 chassis its a p30 chassis with a g30 cab and itasca nose in 2020 it is the only one I have seen in person and makes anybody over 50 excited this is what chevy offered before the g30hd in 1993 with the fold up hood and g30 grill

Edited October 17, 2020 by TheGuiltyflea

[junkyardjeff]

I remember seeing them and must have started making them after I left the Chevy dealer,had a few of the normal looking ones come in but not that one. Must have been the heavier duty version.