The new car market is out of hand. As more cars get loaded down with more and more tech features, and fewer manual mechanics, the average price of a new car has grown higher than ever. That is why it is particularly rad that the 2021 Chevy Silverado has somehow held on to a nearly forgotten, old-school truck feature, and no, I’m not talking about the transmission. 

Do any cars still have manual windows? 

We are pleased to say that the 2021 Chevy Silverado still offers manual crank windows in the base model. This is a happy welcome to anyone who doesn’t care to have all the modern features with the modern price tag. With pickup trucks, in particular, there should always be a spartan model available as a work truck with a price to reflect its simplicity. However, those days are quickly disappearing. 

Chevy is keeping it real by preserving the manual window crank in some models. According to The Drive, this old-school relic is available on the 2021 Chevy Silverado 1500, as well as the Silverado 2500 HD and Silverado 3500 HD as well. 

Chevy is only offering manual windows on the simplest Silverados

This is as it should be. Manual windows used to be the only show in town if you wanted to get some fresh air in the ride. For a long time, automatic windows were seen as only a luxury because they required way more work and the weighty motors, well, weighed more. These days, automatic windows are a given. However, you have this option if you want to get the simplest and cheapest 2021 Chevy Silverado. 

It makes perfect sense that this old-school truck feature wouldn’t be on the top-trim or even mid-trim stuff. Manual windows are only offered on the absolute bottom-barrel trim 2021 Chevy Silverados. Not only is it just the simplest trim getting the manual windows, but also only the two-door regular cab is getting the old-school pickup feature. The four-door and larger cabs models still all come with power windows as standard. 

Thankfully, you can still spec your WT trim in 2WD or 4WD guise, and you can even have a Silverado 3500 HD dually with the wind-up windows if that’ll do it for you. 

It makes perfect sense that the 2021 Chevy Silverado would still offer such a low-spec trim

Like many pickup truck models, the 2021 Chevy Silverado hasn’t had the smoothest year. Despite the many production delays, factory shutdowns, and limited staff, Chevy has managed to pull out a decent showing for its second-quarter sales. 

The Chevy Silverado, in particular, is purchased in the thousands for various government fleets. For this reason, it makes perfect sense that Chevy would continue to offer these very spartan trims with manual windows. 

The government’s plain taste is why we get this option, but it works just fine for folks looking to spend less on a solid work truck. For many people in the market for such things, the nicer the truck is, the less they want it.