During the early 1990s, General Motors got real bi-polar for a minute. Sure, they were cranking out V6-powered W-body sedans and pickup trucks by the millions, but for every yawn-worthy general car they made, there was always one or two outliers that really shocked people. As Pontiac cranked out Grand Ams and Grand Prix by the truckload, they swiped the Grand National’s turbocharged V6, shoved it into a Firebird, and let it loose with only a little bit of fanfare. Chevrolet had bungled the redesign of the Caprice, turning it from a handsome box-shaped sedan into a mess of curves, but when they gave the car proper wheelwell openings, a black paint job and some grunt under the hood, the Impala came out and turned the Orca-bodied Caprice into something desirable. Even GMC got into the game…ignoring the sport truck fad of the 1990s that saw many trucks converted into slammed, brightly painted creatures, GMC really existed to schlep trucks out the door, and they did that just fine. But then they saw what Buick did with turbochargers, took one look at the 4.3L V6 they were putting into Sonomas and S-15 Jimmys and suddenly, you could see the lightbulb over their collective heads. And that, in short order, is how two of the wildest and most potent vehicles to come out of GM in the last thirty years, the GMC Syclone and Typhoon, came to be.
When brand new, the Sy/Ty twins were compared to Ferrari 348s, Corvettes, Nissan 300ZXs, and whatever else magazines felt would make for a great comparison to a hot-rodded pickup truck and sports-utility vehicle. Nowadays, these normally fall into two camps: well-cared for collectors’ items and well-used examples. This 1992 Typhoon easily falls into the latter category, but it’s far from abused. It needs work, but this isn’t “drug out of the weeds” bad. Any vehicle that has been driven for twenty-five years will eventually need some TLC and maintenance, especially if it wasn’t treated like gold from the moment it left the showroom floor. But think about it: all-wheel-drive, on boost, and letting go of the brake so you can feel what the legend is all about. Sounds nice, doesn’t it?
eBay Link: 1992 GMC Typhoon
And I’d been thinking I might have a use for some sort of SUV in the not so distant future. Unfortunately, I don’t have the right funds for this one right now, or I’d be asking my brother in Tennessee to check this one out today.
Hmmmm… the TDI Jetta goes back tomorrow… Oh Matt? perhaps I need a word with your brother (it is friends, family and random strangers from a forum right?)
It’s need Wrecked and has had paint work on the passenger side and tailgate.
It sat with out a 1/4 window for a while and got sun faded interior carpets. The left 1/4 wheel cover carpet and tailgate carpet have been replaced.
That thing has been put back together at least once if not two or three times.
It really needs to be redone from the ground up,. All the work patching it back and they didn’t fix the drivers door. That’s not worn out bushings, no it was left until it wore in to the hinge arms.
All that Carfax certification can go up the dealers back side. anyone with 3 clues can look at the pictures and tell that thing was fubar’ed. Yet Carfax has no records of it.
I think that’s one that I’d have to cough up an airplane ticket and stand in front of it…..