The reincarnation of Holden Special Vehicles (HSV) as a vehicle converter – following on from parent Walkinshaw Automotive’s joint venture with Ateco Automotive (American Special Vehicles) that builds the Dodge Ram in right-hand drive – looks to have hit pay dirt with the Chevrolet Silverado full-size pick-up truck coming to Holden dealerships this year across Australia and New Zealand.

Holden and HSV confirmed late last year that right-hand-drive production of the Silverado was set to commence in April at HSV’s new production plant in Clayton, Victoria – just around the corner from its previous facility – starting with the 2500HD that will be offered in four variants: WT, LTZ and two LTZ special editions (‘Midnight’ and ‘Custom Sport’).

The top-of-the-range 3500HD LTZ is expected to come online around mid-year.

There is no firm timetable at this stage to bring in the new-generation Silverado 1500 – a more affordable entry model revealed at the recent Detroit motor show – but Holden is known to be studying the case for local right-hand-drive conversion.

Australian pricing and specification for the launch range were still to be released at the time of writing, but expect pricing on a similar scale to the Ram, which starts at close to $140,000 plus on-road costs.

All five hulking 2500/3500 pick-ups from the bow-tie brand are 4×4 crew cab models that carry a big cast-iron 6.6L Duramax turbo-diesel V8 that produces 332kW of power at 2,800rpm and a prodigious 1,234Nm of torque at just 1,600rpm, driving through an Allison 1,000 six-speed automatic transmission.

Towing capacity will range from 3,500kg (2500HD) to 6,100kg (3500HD), while payload will start at 1,140kg and top out at 1,848kg, depending on the variant.

Four-wheel disc brakes with ABS and an automatic locking rear differential will also be fitted standard, while overseas specs indicate that brake rotors will measure 350/360mm diameter front/rear and wheel and tyre combinations will span 17”, 18” and 20”, depending on the variant.

The front suspension is a long- and short-arm torsion bar set-up while a semi-elliptic three-stage multi-leaf spring configuration is used at the rear. The steering is a power-assisted recirculating ball design.

Based on the North American version (with a standard 6’6” box), the 2500 4×4 crew cab sits on a 3,904mm wheelbase and measures 6,083mm long, 2,045mm wide and 1,987mm high. It has a 4,536kg GVM, 3,385kg kerb weight and 1,140kg payload.

The regular US-spec 3500 has the option of a dual rear wheels and, in standard form, ups the ante on the 2500 in areas such as GVM (5216kg, meaning a light rigid truck licence will be required), kerb weight (3,424kg) and payload (1,781kg).

Standard safety equipment across the range should include a full complement of airbags (frontal and side/thorax up front and head-protecting curtain type across both rows), a rear-view camera, stability control (with rollover mitigation, trailer sway control and hill-start assist) and, on top-spec variants at least, driver-assist technology such as lane departure warning, forward collision alert, ‘safety alert seat’ and front/rear park assist.

As the name suggests, the Midnight will add black-painted 18” alloy wheels (with Goodyear Wrangler DuraTrac off-road tyres), black grille and bumpers, black Chevy bowtie emblems and a spray-in bed liner (black, of course).

The Custom Sport will feature 20” polished alloy wheels, body-coloured grille, bumpers and bed liner, chrome body side mouldings and chrome doorhandles and mirror caps.