Dodge singlehandedly invented the muscle pickup with the Li’l Red Express from the late ‘70s, a formula that Chevrolet duplicated for the first high-performance truck of the ‘90s. Based on the single-cabbed and rear-driven C1500, the 454 SS numbers 16,953 examples of the breed.
The half-ton sibling of the GMC Syclone didn’t make any excuses for the black paintwork, red accents, bucket seats and bedside graphics because the 454-engined Super Sport isn’t your average workhorse. As the name implies, the belly of the beast comes in the guise of a big-block V8.
The 7.4-liter plant with electronic fuel injection is a gas hog in every respect, a lovable one of those and a durable motor as well because Chevrolet borrowed the 454 from the 3500-series line. Rated at 230 horsepower and 280 pound-feet (380 Nm) of torque, the archaic engine helps the full-size pickup shoot to 60 miles per hour (96 kilometers per hour) in 7.7 seconds.
“Isn’t the Syclone, like, much quicker?” It surely is thanks to the wonders of turbocharging, but don’t forget that GMC charged more than $25,000 for the V6-engined truck whereas the 454 SS retailed from approximately $18,000. This particular truck, chassis number 1GCDC14N7LZ176693, still features the original sticker that shows a total vehicle price of $18,863.
The sole option listed is the locking fuel tank cap, but that’s not what we’re interested in. This fellow is probably the nicest 454 SS on sale today because the odometer is reading just over eight miles (13 kilometers) since new.
Outfitted with the factory plastic, air conditioning, power front discs, power drums out back and three-decade-old BFGoodrich tires wrapped around the original 15-inch wheels, this unicorn wouldn’t look out of place in any respectable collection. Housed in a private collection for its entire life, the brawny pickup has only one issue – if you can even call it as such - in the guise of surface rust on the driveshaft and rear differential. That’s it!
Totally unmodified, the one-owner survivor is offered by RK Motors Charlotte of North Carolina for the princely sum of $75,900. For reference, the aforementioned sticker price translates to $39,482 in today’s money.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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