Retro 2024 Chevy Suburban Build Is the Vintage Trim GM Should Bring Back

It seems people can’t get enough retro-themed designs on modern trucks and SUVs to the point that Ford, Nissan, and Toyota have gone back to the well of their 1980s catalogs for inspiration. The Bronco, Frontier and 4Runner have all sported throwback looks from the factory lately, but trucks from Chevy, Ford, and Ram were the first to get the retro treatment from aftermarket shops. We’ve seen enough two-tone, chrome-laden Silverados that the builds are starting to feel played out, but the effect hits differently on this retro-themed 2024 Chevrolet Suburban from Texas.

Of course, it had to be Texas, but let’s humor Houston-based upfitter, Paxpower Performance, for a second. Because the custom builder has come up with a Suburban that fuses the classic looks of one of the best generations with the performance of a modern Chevy, and then some. Paxpower’s Suburban “Jackal” is retro done right—even down to the SUV’s hood ornament borrowed from the Chevy C/K Series.

The custom build starts with a 2024 Chevy Suburban High Country and adds a gold vinyl wrap around the body of the SUV just below the belt line. Two-tone paint was a mainstay of Chevy trucks from the ’70s through the ’90s. The Suburban even rocked a two-tone finish until the release of the ninth-generation (GMT800) as late as the year 2000, but the look went out of style in the early aughts. The aftermarket brought the classic liveries on new trucks four or five years ago when people started really missing their GMT400s and K5 Blazers.

The Paxpower Suburban keeps the retro theme going with a custom-designed front bumper that plays up the chrome, but also adds a light bar. I’d happily trade that for a custom design with bumper guards—or the little teeth on old Chevy bumpers—since the Suburban has extra spotlights on the A-pillars already. But that’s just me. I can’t fault the rest of the exterior mods, which include 35-inch BF Goodrich all-terrain tires on 17-inch wheels, which look like the original 8-holed chrome rims on late seventh-gen Suburbans. Although these wheels are from Ultra, you just can’t go wrong with the look of bright Mickey Thompson Classics and BFG boots.

This custom build, however, isn’t all about looks. Underneath the throwback exterior and off-road farkles, there are notable upgrades like a supercharger for the Suburban’s stock 6.2-liter V8. The 3.0-liter Whipple supercharger boosts the Chevy’s output from 420 horsepower and 460 lb-ft of torque to 650 hp and 650 lb-ft. And the stock exhaust system is tossed out in favor of a dual-tipped system from Borla—in a chrome finish, of course. The big SUV’s adaptive air suspension was also swapped out for coil-overs.

It’s unclear how much this upfit adds to the cost of a new Chevy SUV, but a 2024 Suburban High Country starts at $81,895 including delivery. All those exterior and mechanical mods can’t come cheap, but Paxpower says the cost can be rolled into your loan at the time of purchase for a new Suburban, or Silverado, for that matter. The Houston shop builds its custom Silverado Jackal models to reportedly rival the F-150 Raptor and Ram TRX, but this throwback Suburban stands out among the shop’s lineup.

Got tips? Send ’em to tips@thedrive.com