Photo: Mecum Auctions
Deep down inside, after we peel off our hyper, super and sportscar layers of petrolhead-ness, I’m certain most of us regard pickup trucks as cool machines to behold. They’re tough, they take you places and they also permit you to tow and haul a helluva lot of stuff.
A pickup truck’s appeal is huge if you are willing to understand that Ferrari and Porsche aren’t the only byword for four-wheeled coolness and fun. Heck, it so happens that the Blue Oval’s F-Series is the best-selling vehicle in the U.S. of A. for 32 years straight.
But a workhorse such as the F-Series doesn’t always come with a turbocharged V6 or an oil burner with a chain smoking problem. Remember the Dodge Ram SRT-10 from 2004? Yeah, the one with the 8.3-liter Viper engine shoehorned under its vented bonnet.
It may have been built in limited numbers and it’s a hugely enticing truck to hoon around, but it’s not actually the most special fast truck of recent years. That title goes to the GMC Syclone, a very hot take on the rather utilitarian first-gen GMC S-15 compact pickup truck, also marketed as the Sonoma.
Only 2,995 Syclone trucks were built in 1991 and the one you can admire below might be the best cared for example of the breed, showing just 7,436 original miles (11,967 kilometers) on the odometer.
To sum things up as simply as possible, a turbocharged 4.3-liter V6 powerhouse with a Mitsubishi turbocharger and a Garrett intercooler mated to a four-speed automatic, which sends 280 horsepower and 350 lb-ft (475 Nm) to all four wheels. 0 to 60 mph (96 km/h)? Doable in 4.3 seconds, thank you!
This baby here is heading to auction in January, with more info on it available on Mecum Auctions’ site.
But a workhorse such as the F-Series doesn’t always come with a turbocharged V6 or an oil burner with a chain smoking problem. Remember the Dodge Ram SRT-10 from 2004? Yeah, the one with the 8.3-liter Viper engine shoehorned under its vented bonnet.
It may have been built in limited numbers and it’s a hugely enticing truck to hoon around, but it’s not actually the most special fast truck of recent years. That title goes to the GMC Syclone, a very hot take on the rather utilitarian first-gen GMC S-15 compact pickup truck, also marketed as the Sonoma.
Only 2,995 Syclone trucks were built in 1991 and the one you can admire below might be the best cared for example of the breed, showing just 7,436 original miles (11,967 kilometers) on the odometer.
To sum things up as simply as possible, a turbocharged 4.3-liter V6 powerhouse with a Mitsubishi turbocharger and a Garrett intercooler mated to a four-speed automatic, which sends 280 horsepower and 350 lb-ft (475 Nm) to all four wheels. 0 to 60 mph (96 km/h)? Doable in 4.3 seconds, thank you!
This baby here is heading to auction in January, with more info on it available on Mecum Auctions’ site.
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