Why the GMC Syclone Is a Modern Classic
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Pick-up trucks aren’t just for work. All one needs to do is look at the GMC Syclone for ample proof.
At the beginning of the 1990s, the Detroit-based automaker decided it was done leaving all muscle truck fun to its sister brand, Chevrolet. In 1991, just one year after the latter released 454 SS, GMC teamed up with Production Automotive Services (PAS) for a souped-up version of its smallest model, the Sonoma.
That collaboration would transform a light-duty compact into a full-on speed demon. GMC and PAS gave the Sonoma an all-black makeover, lowered its ride height, and, most importantly, equipped it with a heavily modified turbocharged V-6 that sent power to all four wheels. The result was a street truck that could go head-to-head with a sports car—and come out on top.
Here are five reasons why the GMC Syclone is considered one of the best American street trucks of all time.
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Faster Than a Ferrari
Image Credit: Bring a Trailer PAS already had experience modifying General Motors vehicles—it was responsible for 1989’s 20th anniversary Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am—but it outdid itself with the high-performance Sonoma. The shop took the standard model’s engine, a 2.5-liter inline-four that made a little over 100 hp, and swapped it out for a 4.3-liter twin turbocharged V-6 that made 280 horses and 350 ft lbs of torque. The upgraded mill was mated to a four-speed automatic transmission that directed oomph to all four wheels, although the vehicle’s all-wheel-drive transfer case did favor the back set of wheels. It was also the first truck sold with an anti-lock braking system.
The Syclone was able to do plenty with all that grunt. GMC’s truck could sprint from zero to 60 mph in just 5.3 seconds, cover the quarter-mile in 13.4 seconds, and reach a top speed of 124 mph. At the time of its release, the Syclone was the fastest stock pickup you could buy. Even more impressive, though, was how it faired against non-trucks. In September 1991, Car and Driver decided to pit the pickup against a Ferrari 348 TS and its 3.4-liter V-8—and the Syclone came out on top.
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A Clean Design That Has Barely Aged
Image Credit: Bring a Trailer Sure, the Syclone is a beast, but it is also one of the coolest-looking trucks of all time. The two-door sports a streamlined, boxy design that has, unfortunately, all but disappeared from today’s roads. It was available in one color and one color only, black — there was talk about offering it in other colors in the future, but more on that in a moment — that was broken up only by the red of the GMC logo and the extremely ‘90s graphics splashed across its sides, windshield, and tailgate. Rounding things out was a lowered ride height that made it clear this truck was more suited to the streets than the job site.
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A One-Year Wonder
Image Credit: Bring a Trailer It’s easy to look at the Syclone from the vantage point of today and see something special, but back in the ‘90s, GMC, or at least its parent company, wasn’t convinced. Sure, the pickup was greenlit, but it was only sold for a single model year. Just shy of 3,000 examples were built during that time (2,995 of those in 1991, and three in 1992).
At one point, there were plans to keep production going for at least another model year, and in more colors, but the truck was cancelled before that could happen. A sports trim was offered in 1992, called the Sonoma GT, and while it did come with a V-6, it lacked the turbocharged performance of its predecessor, leading some to call the model the “Poor Man’s Syclone.” In a strange twist, it’s the more exclusive of the two builds, with only 806 examples having rolled off the line during its single year of production.
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A Long-Roofed Sibling
Image Credit: Bring a Trailer The Syclone may not have been long for this world, but it did pave the way for an SUV spin-off. In 1992, the same year the pickup was discontinued, GMC launched the Typhoon, a high-performance version of the company’s compact SUV of the era, the first-generation Jimmy.
Like the Syclone before it, the Typhoon was a collaboration between GMC and PAS. The Michigan-based shop didn’t deviate from the established course, even going as far as to equip the muscle SUV with the same turbocharged six-cylinder. Of course, there were some differences between the siblings aside from a roof that extended to the rear vehicle and the enclosed cargo area that came with that. The Typhoon was offered in multiple colors—various shades of black, blue, green, red, and white—and built for two years. By the time production was finished at the end of the 1993 model year, some 4,697 examples had been built.
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Finally Getting Its Due
Image Credit: Bring a Trailer The Syclone may not have been fully appreciated during its day, but today, more than 30 years later, enthusiasts have caught onto its major virtues. Combine that with a very limited supply of builds, and you have yourself a vehicle that’s seen its value skyrocket over the last few years. Sure, the majority of Syclones on the secondary and auction market sell for around the $25,000 thepickup cost initially, but we’re starting to see low-mileage examples command four and even five times that much.
In early 2022, a Syclone with just 250 miles on the odometer sold for $108,000 on Bring a Trailer. That represented the high-water mark for the car until this February, when that same example, now with 380 miles on the odometer, sold for $130,000. If anything, interest in the Typhoon is just as fierce. In March, an Apple Red example of the SUV that had totaled 688 miles sold for … $226,000.
