A year ago, nearly to the day, my wife and I found "Casper" - a 2004 2500 AVA - being sold in Reno, NV. We were on a flight there in a week, and driving home the next day. Living in Chicago, whose idea of snow control is "more salt", my '04 1500 Z1 ("blue"
) is pure rust down below.
The 2500 has ZERO rust. I swapped out the battery, and once I broke the hold-down bolt free, was able to loosen the dang thing BY HAND! Amazing. So, casper now lives in the garage, and is my "2020" AVA! <100K miles, the big block, lifted 6", and with a matching snug top. I will see antique plates for him, where ever that might be. Blue will need a frame-off resto, but because I drove him off the lot brand new in '04, he's got a special place in our hearts, and that restoration will likely be in my shop.
IMHO, the *next* AVA, if that day should come, would be built on a 3500 chassis and work like a truck. The engineering for structural integrity using the truck frame isn't that difficult to achieve, and a duramax power plant is the only way to go. An electric midgate (or at least the window) would be a great option. I love pulling the rear window, but it's kind of a pain in the butt to do.
Regarding the electric trucks... When I'm 80 miles out into the woods and my battery dies, where the heck do I plug it in?
Seriously?
Cheers,