Ever since I saw the first article about it, the GM “Toy Box” collection and subsequently appropriate concept and one-off vehicles has captured my attention. Summed up, it’s what GM should and could be doing for the performance world if beancounters, insurance agents and advocates of plastic body cladding weren’t busy making vehicles for the masses. When cut loose, the performance denizens within the halls whip up some brilliant concoctions, the kind that make enthusiasts drooling, pleading piles of their former selves. And every now and then, the Toy Box gets full and some stuff has to go to make room, and instead of squishing these one-offs into a pancake, GM tends to sell them off. Or, rather, they auction them off to the highest bidder. This time, the venue is Barrett-Jackson Palm Springs, and the cars and trucks are some of the more memorable ones. Check them out below…we are gonna go break into the piggy bank and see what we have…
1. 1999 Chevrolet Silverado “Coolside II”
575 horsepower, 605 ft/lbs of torque out of a worked-over 8.1L Vortec big-block pushed to all four wheels…the Coolside II had a lot to live up to compared to when compared to the original Coolside pickup. Think of it as a Silverado SS that has consumes a massive dose of anabolic steroids and Redbull for each and every meal. Yes, the 8.1 is more or less a truck mill, but search “The Shocker Oldsmobile” if you want to see what one sounds like in anger.
2. 1998 Chevrolet Suburban “X-Plorer”
A Suburban packing a 502ci V8 with a B&M blower on top. It’s probably a good thing that Chad found a replacement for the recently totaled $200 Hauler, otherwise he might be on the phone waiving cash in somebody’s face right about now.
3. 1994 Pontiac Firebird “Lingenfelter 383”
As part of a PR campaign, Pontiac handed off this Firebird to John Lingenfelter to use for development of the 383 engine package system. Lingenfelter took the resulting product to the Texas Mile in 1995, competed in the Maunfacturer’s High-Speed Shootout and cleaned house, with the black Bird running 196 MPH. In 2005 the car was restored by GM, which begs the question: why wouldn’t you want it?
4. 2002 Chevrolet S-10 “Little Red Truck”
2002 Camaro LS1 and T-56, 4.10s with a Posi in the rear, ZQ8 suspension, and traction bars. Anybody need a shop truck, or the living daylights scared out of them? Sign on the dotted line! An S-truck with an LS swap and suspension work makes for a formidable track-day weapon and can carve cones with little work.
5. 1994 Chevrolet Corvette 572
How better can you market a 572 cubic inch crate engine than with a demonstration car? Stomp on the throttle and before you can say “cracked fiberglass”, this Corvette would be hazing it’s Gatorbacks off like there was no tomorrow.
6. 1997 Chevrolet Camaro 510
In 1997, the idea of a modern-day big-block Camaro was beyond lust-worthy, it was borderline pornographic. One of the true “Toy Box” cars that the Specialty Vehicle Department cranked out, the numbers still hold up today: 510 cubic inches, 600 horsepower, 556 ft/lbs of torque. And, we bet, an exhaust note that would set off car alarms for blocks. Subtle? Hell no.
7. 1993 Chevrolet Camaro “ZL-1”
This car is the entire reason I like fourth-generation Camaros. It’s excess to a “T”, it’s badass in black, it’s just right. This 1993 Camaro was the car that John Moss used to piss off Jon Coletti over at Ford, and the two got into a pissing match together throughout the 1990s, Moss’s ZL-1 Camaro against Coletti’s 10.0L SN-95 Boss Mustang. How wicked was this machine? Motor Trend’s Randy Lorentzen said this: “I half expected this god-awful-fast Camaro to rip my organs clean out of my body and grind them into the pavement as I watched in horror.” In other words, the Donovan-powered Chevy is perfect.
