You might have forgotten about these five obscure GMC vehicles

When you think “GMC,” you probably think Chevy-twin pickups, hulking commercial trucks and big white vans. But the namesake General Motors brand has turned some out awesome-but-obscure vehicles that don’t quite fit that profile, too.

Luxury special editions? Hot rod trucks? Genre-bending SUVs? The company’s gone to some weird corners in its 107-year history, which we’ve catalogued below.

1991 GMC Typhoon and Syclone

syclone 1 You might have forgotten about these five obscure GMC vehicles — 1991 GMC Syclone Handout / GMC

A storm was brewing inside GMC offices in the early ’90s, the era when the Syclone and Typhoon debuted. Available only in black, the Syclone was a hopped-up version of the Sonoma pickup that saw a Mitsubishi turbocharger fitted to its 4.3-litre V6 tuned so it could deliver 280 hp, enough to embarrass Ferrari 348s, which cost four times as much as the US$30,000 truck.

The Jimmy-based Typhoon was the SUV variant of this package, and it stayed in production two years longer (through to 1993). The Typhoon was available in a wider variety of colours, including Radar Blue and Raspberry Metallic, and saw production numbers hit 4,697, to the 1991-only Syclone’s 2,995. Both were produced for GMC by Michigan’s Production Automotive Services.

1975 GMC Beau James and Gentleman Jim

gmc beau james You might have forgotten about these five obscure GMC vehicles — The 1975 GMC Beau James edition. GMC

Luxury trucks are doing better than ever today, but the concept of an upmarket pickup isn’t anything new. GMC toyed around with the thought way back in the mid-’70s. The Beau James was a special edition Sierra that offered a smoother ride by fitting a 3/4-ton frame on a softer 1/2-ton suspension. Big V8s came standard, as did two-tone blue-and-white paint schemes, velour seats, wire wheels with whitewalls, and a special “Beau James” hood ornament.

The Gentleman Jim offered that same year was similar, but with a gold-and-black theme. Just about 4,000 examples of the Beau James were ordered, and 2,500 Gentleman Jims.

2004 GMC Envoy XUV

gmc envoy xuv 3 You might have forgotten about these five obscure GMC vehicles — The 2004 GMC Enovy XUV. Handout / GMC

After developing its “MidGate” technology for the Chevrolet Avalanche, someone at GM had the idea of putting the same piece to use in a more-enclosed SUV—hence the Envoy XUV. Combined with a retractable roof piece and two-way tailgate that hinged sideways or dropped down, the idea was that the combination pickup-SUV could haul taller loads in its bed when needed – a grandfather clock, for example – or then close up that area, and make it accessible from the back seats. It was sort-of weird and didn’t really catch on, with GMC axing the XUV the next year.

1980 GMC Indy Hauler

gmc indy 500 You might have forgotten about these five obscure GMC vehicles — A 1977 GMC Indy 500 pickup. GMC

GMC had been supplying the Indianapolis 500 with support trucks for a while before it occurred to management, in 1973, that, like cars, special edition “Indy 500” trucks could be marketed to the public at a premium. The trucks arguably reached the height of their extravagance in 1980 with the “Indy Hauler” that, like the Firebird pace car that year, featured a “screaming chicken” decal on the hood. Just 300 were made, 33 of which went to Canada.

Pictured is an equally extravagant ’77 Indy 500 truck, which that year got a chin spoiler and fender flares.

1971 GMC Sprint and Caballero

gmc sprint You might have forgotten about these five obscure GMC vehicles — A 1971 GMC Sprint. GMC

Everyone remembers the Chevrolet El Camino, but its GMC-badged cousins are a little less well-known. From 1971 through 1977, these car-trucks got the name “Sprint,” but from ’78 through ’87 they were called “Caballero” instead. With the same engines and features as the Chevy, the Sprint and Caballero differed mostly in badging and trim names, with even grilles and taillights remaining mostly similar.

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