Believe it or not, a brand-new 2022 Ford F-150 Raptor still isn’t as quick as a 31-year-old GMC Syclone over the traditional quarter-mile. That is not shameful for the Blue Oval truck but rather a statement of how impressive the latter remains.
Back in its day, the 1991 GMC Syclone (just three were also produced in 1992, though) was not just fast. Instead, it was among the quickest vehicles ever tested and the “Turbo Truck” remained the quickest pickup truck ever conceived for decades! Unsurprisingly, it also handled well and could keep up with contemporary supercars because it was the brainchild of a real car guy, GM engineer Kim Nielsen.
He pitted ASC/McLaren and Production Automotive Services against each other to come up with an astonishing project. History recalls that PAS ultimately won the contract for the GMC Typhoon SUV counterpart as well, with the Syclone packing an impressive 4.3-liter turbocharged V6 engine. It pushed out 280 hp and that was enough for a famous magazine test that recorded a 60 mph (96 kph) time of just 4.3 seconds!
But why are we telling you all that? Well, simply because we think that General Motors missed a platinum collector’s opportunity to double down on the astonishing Syclone with a GMC Sierra sibling. We are not the only ones feeling that, as Jim, the virtual artist better known as jlord8 on social media, continues to imagine wonderful new ways of improving our feisty classic pickup truck dreams.
And his latest idea comes through in CGI form as a quick mashup between the early 1990s GMC Sierra and the Syclone hero. Naturally, his channel’s fans are all down for such an idea, even coming up with nicknames like “Syerra,” or “Siclone.” However, one of them nailed the best possible niche framing by calling it a “Sierra GT.” Dear virtual automotive lords, what a missed opportunity...
He pitted ASC/McLaren and Production Automotive Services against each other to come up with an astonishing project. History recalls that PAS ultimately won the contract for the GMC Typhoon SUV counterpart as well, with the Syclone packing an impressive 4.3-liter turbocharged V6 engine. It pushed out 280 hp and that was enough for a famous magazine test that recorded a 60 mph (96 kph) time of just 4.3 seconds!
But why are we telling you all that? Well, simply because we think that General Motors missed a platinum collector’s opportunity to double down on the astonishing Syclone with a GMC Sierra sibling. We are not the only ones feeling that, as Jim, the virtual artist better known as jlord8 on social media, continues to imagine wonderful new ways of improving our feisty classic pickup truck dreams.
And his latest idea comes through in CGI form as a quick mashup between the early 1990s GMC Sierra and the Syclone hero. Naturally, his channel’s fans are all down for such an idea, even coming up with nicknames like “Syerra,” or “Siclone.” However, one of them nailed the best possible niche framing by calling it a “Sierra GT.” Dear virtual automotive lords, what a missed opportunity...