These Nifty Passthrough Truck Bed Boxes Were Around Way Before Rivian Made Them Cool

When the Rivian R1T was first revealed, one of its most exciting features was its Gear Tunnel, a long and practical passthrough compartment in between the cab and bed. It's a genuinely great idea that makes use of the R1T's electric vehicle packaging. However, while Rivian was the first manufacturer to offer such a passthrough from the factory, it wasn't the only company to offer one. Aftermarket companies designed passthrough compartments for the first-gen Chevy Colorado in the early 2000s that effectively did the same thing as Rivian's Gear Tunnel, albeit not as gracefully.

It was commonly called a "mid box" and it was exactly as it sounds—a box in the middle of the bed and the cab. It's unclear exactly how these mid-box trucks were designed since the bed looks unchanged. However, it seems as though they'd stretch the wheelbase out and move the bed back, drop a shorter bed, or maybe even swap a regular cab onto a crew cab frame and fit the mid box in the extra space.