Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Z71 Redline Edition to the Rescue

By Manuel Carrillo III - January 25, 2018

Chevrolet Forum - Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Z71 Redline Edition Towing Project Stork Porsche 911

While the Silverado is fully capable of withstanding a few tire stands, I wanted to keep it fresh, for this beautiful truck would soon be trailering precious cargo: the very 1977 Porsche 911 S that brought me home from the hospital after I was born.

I’m currently restoring the Porsche in a multi-episodic YouTube series for our sister site Rennlist. If you have a penchant for Porsches, you can check out the #ProjectStork restoration here.

In a perfect world, I would have skipped the Silverado’s towing services. Last November we featured #ProjectStork at the SEMA Show. I would have liked to have had the Porsche running by last fall, but project cars, unpredictable as they are, tend to come together in a tepid, rather than piping, pace.

As much as we hurried at the headquarters of Haynes Manuals to get the Porsche driveable by SEMA, in the 11th hour we had to face reality: we needed a tow vehicle. I rang the folks at Chevy, and in a pinch, they were able to lend me the Silverado Z71 Redline Edition for two weeks to get Project Stork to and from SEMA.

Chevrolet Forum - Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Z71 Redline Edition Rear

While any L86-powered Chevy Silverado is a burnout machine, the engine’s 460 lb-ft of torque loves to haul 2,500 pounds of Porsche and 2,210 pounds of trailer. If you listen closely, the high-output Chevy laughs at towing anything less than 5,000 lbs. Without anything hitched, the truck feels like a high-riding muscle car. With Project Stork in tow, the Redline Edition pickup felt like a capable muscle truck.

This Chevy beams beyond just under the hood. Redline models get a set of blacked-out wheels with a pair of crimson hashes between two of the five spokes. Combine that bit of flash with our test vehicle’s Iridescent Pearl Tricoat paint, and you’ve got an exterior brimming with the same excitement that’s bulging underneath the hood.

The Chevy Silverado Z71 Redline Edition is a truck with enthusiasm to spare, and for two weeks, it gave some life to a car that partially gave me life. I’ll always look fondly upon how well it ate up the miles for two.