Chevrolet 3116

I saw this vintage car in my rear view mirror this morning and had to take extraordinaire risks to snap a few decent photos of it. It carries the name "Chevrolet 3116" in chrome on its sides. I believe this is a 1957 Chevrolet 3116 Suburban Carryall that traced its roots to a model first introduced in 1935 and at the same time, had some elements of what we'd recognized today as a sport-utility vehicle. Its cousin was the Chevrolet 3106 Suburban Carryall.

Chevy's 1935 Carryall predated the modern all-steel station wagon by over a decade. Back then, it was nothing more than a panel delivery truck with windows in place of solid panels. However, it was all steel, and a lot easier to maintain than the conventional woody wagons of the time. The Carryall continued as Chevy trucks evolved from single-purpose workhorses, to civilized transportation in the mid-1950s, to upscale Chevrolet Suburban SUVs in the 1980s, but they always remained truck-based. Carryalls began to get civilized in 1955, with up-to-date car-like styling touches. The 1957 Chevrolet 3106/3116 Suburban Carryall was a mild facelift from the 1955-1956 models, led by a "floating" trapezoidal grille.