The first Chevrolet Suburban — officially the Suburban Carryall — appeared in 1935. It was a two-door, eight-passenger wagon with an all-steel body mounted on a Chevrolet half-ton commercial truck chassis. Nothing about it looked like a modern SUV, but the idea behind it — the most passenger and cargo space possible on a tough truck frame — is exactly the idea the Suburban still follows today.

The world it was built for

In the early 1930s, most station wagons were “depot hacks”: wooden bodies built by specialist coachbuilders on car or truck chassis, used to ferry guests and luggage between railroad depots and hotels, estates or resorts. The wood looked handsome but needed constant varnishing and repairs, and it offered little protection in a crash.

Chevrolet’s insight was to build the body out of steel, as part of its commercial truck line. The result was cheaper to maintain, stronger and weatherproof — and it could be sold through Chevrolet’s large dealer network.

What the Carryall offered

  • Two doors and a rear tailgate or panel doors for loading.
  • Three rows of seats for up to eight people, with the rear seats removable to create cargo space.
  • An inline six-cylinder engine shared with Chevrolet’s trucks.
  • A ride height and durability suited to rough rural roads.

Who bought it

The first customers were largely businesses and institutions: funeral homes, hotels, schools, the National Guard and the Civilian Conservation Corps, which needed rugged vehicles to move crews. Families in the country bought them too. The name “Suburban” reflected a vehicle that could carry people and goods between towns and the growing areas around cities.

An idea others copied

Other makers also used “Suburban” for wagons in the 1930s and after, but Chevrolet kept the name in continuous use. As the decades passed, the Suburban grew doors, four-wheel drive, air conditioning and luxury trim, but it never lost its truck-based foundation.

From Carryall to chauffeured SUV

The straight line from the 1935 Carryall to the modern Suburban is easy to see in one way: both were built to carry a lot of people and their things in comfort and safety. Today’s Suburban does that with independent rear suspension, a quiet cabin and seating for up to nine. Read the full story in our Chevrolet Suburban history, or see the Suburban we use for airport transfers and group travel on our Chevrolet Suburban page.

Where to see an early Suburban

Surviving 1930s Suburbans are rare and valued by collectors. They occasionally appear at events like the Hershey Fall Meet, one of the largest antique car gatherings in the United States, and at Chevrolet heritage displays at auto shows.