GMC Suburban Ducks Unlimited Limited Edition by Starcraft illustration
Don’t blame me when this is the kind of vehicle prized at your regional concours.
Actually, when you consider this truck’s range of optional equipment and level of buyer customization available, in some ways it’s equal to (or exceeds) the best Europe had to offer at the time.
What’s more, it was created in conjunction with a noted conservation group that (is still) known for its work in preserving North American wildlife habitats.
Growing up Canadian in the ’80s meant that seeing Ducks Unlimited commercials on TV was a rite of passage. Founded in 1937, the hunter-friendly organization was one of the world’s earliest adopters of the notion that the environment is worth protecting.
Seeing the collaboration on the side of a gigantic SUV as tone deaf is one perspective, but a short-sighted one. In the 1980s, SUVs such as this weren’t part of the suburban and urban landscape, and certainly weren’t being marketed to and bought by ’fraidy cats.
Hunters bought Suburbans, sure, but again — much of the aftermarket industry we know today wasn’t around to support the brush guard and fog light-needing outdoorspeople.
That this DU Suburban looks so normal is because we got closer to it, not the other way around.
Pop culture followed the conservationists.
Put another way, Ducks Unlimited did cartoony camo before Bape.
