Photo: jlord8 / Instagram
It was the year 1991 when General Motors took one of its most intelligent decisions of the year, allowing GMC to outsource part of its limited series production for a high-performance model.
The titular character that got modified was the GMC Sonoma pickup truck (aka the sibling of the Chevy S-10), and the resulting high-performance version was dubbed ‘Syclone.’ With manufacturing help from Production Automotive Services (PAS), which previously aided in the creation of the iconic 1989 Pontiac Turbo Trans Am, the GMC Syclone unsurprisingly turned into the king of production trucks for the year 1991.
It had four-wheel drive, a 4.3-liter LB4 turbo V6 mill under the hood, the four-speed 4L60 automatic transmission, just two doors, a short bed, and an overall menacing atmosphere. By the way, be sure not to confuse it with the similar-looking 1992 GMC Sonoma GT truck that was merely a sport package piggybacking on Syclone’s design, but lacking the high price and big performance of the turbocharged pickup.
Next up, since the special Syclone series was quite successful even at the time, came the 1992 and 1993 GMC Typhoon, a high-performance vehicle following in the same turbo V6 AWD footsteps of the Syclone, but all dressed up as a quick and feisty two-door SUV. Note how everything revolved around a few parameters. It had to use a ‘little’ turbo V6, four-wheel drive, menacingly dark looks, and just two doors. Nothing less, nothing more. As such, is anyone surprised about the massive cult following?
Both in the real world, where examples of documented survivors are highly coveted, as well as across the virtual realm. Over there, digital automotive artists are always happy to bring back the GMC Syclone or the Typhoon to a digital lifestyle. Some even travel across the nether to resurrect them both, as it turns out.
So, meet Jim, the virtual artist better known as jlord8 on social media, who after a long series of arguably boring classic nameplate CGIs has decided that he had enough of vintage edits, and now it is the right time for some modern virtual automotive art. First, he again brought a new installment of his Buick revival series (with a turbo Grand National based on the Caddy ATS-V), and now he fully focuses on the GMC Syclone and Typhoon siblings.
Naturally, his prime suspect for the transformation is an easy one – that would be GM’s third generation of the 2023 Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon. And seeing how just recently he created a Canyon ‘Xtreme’ with help from the Chevy Camaro ZL1, the return of the Syclone and Typhoon based on the modern underpinnings of the Canyon was also quite logical, indeed. Right, or wrong?
It had four-wheel drive, a 4.3-liter LB4 turbo V6 mill under the hood, the four-speed 4L60 automatic transmission, just two doors, a short bed, and an overall menacing atmosphere. By the way, be sure not to confuse it with the similar-looking 1992 GMC Sonoma GT truck that was merely a sport package piggybacking on Syclone’s design, but lacking the high price and big performance of the turbocharged pickup.
Next up, since the special Syclone series was quite successful even at the time, came the 1992 and 1993 GMC Typhoon, a high-performance vehicle following in the same turbo V6 AWD footsteps of the Syclone, but all dressed up as a quick and feisty two-door SUV. Note how everything revolved around a few parameters. It had to use a ‘little’ turbo V6, four-wheel drive, menacingly dark looks, and just two doors. Nothing less, nothing more. As such, is anyone surprised about the massive cult following?
Both in the real world, where examples of documented survivors are highly coveted, as well as across the virtual realm. Over there, digital automotive artists are always happy to bring back the GMC Syclone or the Typhoon to a digital lifestyle. Some even travel across the nether to resurrect them both, as it turns out.
So, meet Jim, the virtual artist better known as jlord8 on social media, who after a long series of arguably boring classic nameplate CGIs has decided that he had enough of vintage edits, and now it is the right time for some modern virtual automotive art. First, he again brought a new installment of his Buick revival series (with a turbo Grand National based on the Caddy ATS-V), and now he fully focuses on the GMC Syclone and Typhoon siblings.
Naturally, his prime suspect for the transformation is an easy one – that would be GM’s third generation of the 2023 Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon. And seeing how just recently he created a Canyon ‘Xtreme’ with help from the Chevy Camaro ZL1, the return of the Syclone and Typhoon based on the modern underpinnings of the Canyon was also quite logical, indeed. Right, or wrong?
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