Although General Motors has built some mighty fine rugged SUVs over the years, there is still, currently, no proper Chevy or GMC response to the retro-styled Ford Bronco and Jeep Wrangler off-road marvels.
Entire hordes of GM fans have been asking, begging, crying, and even screaming for a Chevrolet to follow up on the K5 Blazer legacy and give a measured answer to those natural foes every time the company's General Motors Design Center social media page posts the ideation sketch of a cool, yet tough SUV. But that was no incentive for the Detroit automaker, as it continues to offer bland or quirky crossover SUVs such as the current 2023 Trailblazer or Blazer.
As such, it may be the right time to start thinking about a potential GMC solution out of the conundrum. No worries, it seems like the specialist carmaker is well-equipped to handle the query. After all, we just saw them offer proper siblings for the first-ever Chevy Silverado HD ZR2 and Silverado HD ZR2 Bison, aka the equally all-new GMC Sierra HD AT4X and Sierra HD AT4X AEV Edition. And if heavy-duty trucks can do it, then it shouldn't be a problem for SUVs to follow suit, right?
Well, if not in the real world, maybe at least across the imaginative realm of digital car content creators. As such, meet the collaborative effort between virtual artist Oscar Vargas (aka wb.artist20) and YouTube's Brian Mello, aka the highly off-road capable GMC Acadia 'AT4X.' Currently, no such trim exists, as the real world's GMC Acadia, with seating up to seven, starts at $36,500 and can only go as high as an AWD AT4 with the 3.6-liter V6 engine and nine-speed automatic transmission for $44,795, if off-roading is what you are looking for instead of Denali comfiness.
Sure, we know that the second-generation Acadia – which has been around since 2016 and went through a facelift for the 2020MY – is a mid-size crossover SUV based on the General Motors C1XX architecture. But the Buick Enclave, Caddy XT5, and XT6, plus Chevy Blazer and Traverse twin, is better than nothing and already can be had a bit more rugged in the AT4 configuration. As such, no one should be surprised that both the pixel master and the YouTuber had an overwhelmingly positive reception from their respective fan bases when asking if this would be cool to build and sell in the real world.
Too bad it's just wishful thinking, and most likely, GMC will never dare cross the GM directives that seem to awkwardly state that the Grand Cherokee, Wrangler, 4Runner, and Bronco SUVs are to be left alone and not to be jeopardized by anything from General Motors. Well, as always, unknown are the ways of the GM-based corner office head honchos!
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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