Get Shorty: GM to reintroduce regular-cab shortbox pickups

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For those of us whose head turns at the unique sight of a two-door pickup truck with a short bed, General Motors has good news. Following an absence of availability for this body style, it will be making a return in 2022.

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According to a myriad of reports from south of the border, which have been corroborated by folks in the know at GM, the 2022 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra will be offered in regular-cab models with the choice of a long or short bed (also called a ‘standard’ bed in GM marketing parlance). When the latter is paired with a two-door cab configuration, it tends to create a strikingly proportionate pickup, one which often looks sporty and can act like a personal coupe in addition to a workaday truck.

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It’ll also have the practicality compromises of a personal coupe, since its bed measures roughly 80 inches in length compared to the smidgen-over-98-inches of a longbox variant. There is also a relative lack of secure interior cargo space compared to other cab styles.

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Combined, these deficiencies tend to make this body style attractive to only a narrow demographic. Since car companies are in the business of making money, it’s only natural for them to gravitate to known quantities (four-door crew cabs, in this case) which will sell in much higher volumes and for lavish profits.

But someone in the company must feel producing the so-called Shorty body style is worth it, and we are glad for their powers of persuasion. We’ll note that reps for Chevrolet and GMC confirmed to other outlets that this type of truck will only be offered as a base model — in WT and Pro trims, respectively.

It is here we feel a twinge of sadness, since appending burly Trail Boss styling and suspension bits to a Shorty makes for a dandy-looking truck. This combination is sold in the Middle East. Your author has seen these in person and can confirm their handsome appearance with the photos in this post. However, we acknowledge GM is likely to sell just a handful of these rigs, so we understand the decision to limit this body style to base models.

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(Don’t forget: there will soon be a Silverado and Sierra; and a Silverado LTD and Sierra Limited on sale in GM showrooms, with the former getting previously announced new styling tweaks and the latter showing up for duty with the old stuff. Be a wise consumer and shop carefully.)

Still — it’s a start! It’s worth noting Ford currently offers Shorty status on XL and XLT trims of the massively popular F-150, with the latter able to be fully laden with options to the tune of nearly $60,000. This Truck Guy will take his in Race Red, please.