Cheyenne.

And then there's the one that sounds like Chevrolet turned everything up another notch:

Cheyenne Super.

Today, those names are part of the language of classic Chevrolet trucks. But when these C10s were sitting new on dealership lots, the badges actually told buyers something about how the truck was equipped. By 1971, Chevrolet was pushing the C10 beyond the idea that a pickup had to be basic transportation built strictly for work. You could still buy the work truck. But if you wanted more comfort, more trim and a little more style, Chevrolet was ready for you.

That's where Cheyenne came in.

And if Cheyenne wasn't quite enough?

There was Cheyenne Super.

1971: The C10 Was Changing

By the beginning of the 1970s, Chevrolet's second-generation C10 was already well established. Then 1971 brought some very noticeable changes.

There was the new egg-crate-style grille up front, along with other updates to the truck. But something important was also happening inside the C10. Chevrolet was giving buyers more choices in how their pickup looked and felt.

GM says the new Cheyenne interior trim package brought a new level of comfort, convenience and style to the C10. And buyers were clearly responding to Chevrolet trucks: more than 260,000 C10 pickups were built for 1971, according to GM. General Motors

The pickup was still expected to work.It just didn't have to feel quite so much like a work truck anymore.

The Cheyenne package helped bring a new level of comfort and style to Chevrolet's C10 for 1971.

Photo: Xnatedawgx / Wikimedia Commons — CC BY-SA 4.0

So What Did Cheyenne Get You?

This is where the badges begin to mean something. Cheyenne wasn't simply a different name stuck on the side of the truck. It represented Chevrolet's move toward a better-appointed pickup—one that could still haul and work but offered more comfort and visual detail than the basic truck.

By 1972, Chevrolet's factory documentation shows equipment such as a cargo-area lamp being included with Cheyenne and Cheyenne Super, while the trim packages were also tied to additional exterior molding choices. 

Inside, Cheyenne brought the C10 closer to something you'd actually enjoy spending time in rather than simply climbing into because there was a job to do. And then Chevrolet went one step farther.

Enter Cheyenne Super

The name pretty much gave away Chevrolet's intention.

Cheyenne Super sat above Cheyenne.

This wasn't an entirely different C10. It was the next step up the trim ladder.

Chevrolet's original 1972 documentation gives us some particularly good clues about what separated it. The gauge package with ammeter, temperature and oil-pressure gauges was included when Cheyenne Super was ordered, and exterior upper and lower bright moldings were also included with the package. That meant Cheyenne Super wasn't just about putting another emblem on the fender. It was about making an already upscale C10 look and feel even more finished. And some of the differences were subtle enough that today you need to know what you're looking for.

Look Past the Fender Badge

That's where identifying these trucks gets fun. Obviously, a Cheyenne Super emblem is a pretty strong clue. But the trim itself tells more of the story.

Cheyenne Super added more bright exterior treatment and additional interior detailing above Cheyenne. Chevrolet's factory documentation confirms that the Super package included equipment that was optional or absent farther down the lineup—including the gauge package and additional body moldings. So when you're looking at a restored truck today, don't stop at the badge. Look at the dash. Look at the trim. Look at the moldings.

And if you're trying to determine exactly how a particular truck left the factory, its original documentation and option information matter more than a badge that could have been changed sometime during the last half-century.

That's part of the fun—and sometimes the frustration—of old C10s.

By 1972, Cheyenne had become part of the identity of Chevrolet's increasingly comfortable and well-appointed C10.

Photo: Sicnag / Wikimedia Commons — CC BY 2.0

Two Names, One Changing Idea of the Pickup

This is the bigger story behind Cheyenne and Cheyenne Super. Chevrolet wasn't abandoning the working pickup. It was expanding what a pickup could be. The guy who wanted something simple could still buy a truck without all the extras.

But another buyer might want carpeting, nicer interior materials, additional instrumentation and more exterior brightwork. Chevrolet increasingly had an answer for both. And that idea didn't disappear when the Action Line generation ended after 1972. It carried directly into the next generation of Chevrolet trucks. The names changed over time. The equipment changed.

Eventually Silverado would become the name sitting at the top of Chevrolet's trim hierarchy—and, decades later, the name of the truck itself.

But Cheyenne and Cheyenne Super helped establish the idea that a Chevrolet pickup could be both a working truck and something you were proud to dress up.

C10 Family: Cheyenne or Cheyenne Super?

So imagine it's the early 1970s. You're standing at the Chevrolet dealership ordering a brand-new C10. You can keep things straightforward. Or you can start checking boxes.

Do you order the Cheyenne?

Or are you going all the way to:

Cheyenne Super?

And if you already own one, we want to hear about it.

What trim did your C10 leave the factory with?

Because those little badges on an old Chevrolet truck aren't just decoration.

They're part of its story.

FOREVER C10

Built around the trucks. Made for the people who keep them alive.