Gmc Jimmy Convertible (like Chevy Blazer K5) Head Turner! New Paint & Upgrades! on 2040-cars

Auto blog

GMC Syclone pickup returns via Special Vehicle Engineering

The original GMC Syclone was a 1991 mid-size Sonoma pickup turned muscle truck. Its heavily modified 4.3-liter V6 sported a turbocharger, intercooler, and modified internals, raising output to a Corvette-baiting 280 horsepower and 350 pound-feet of torque. The engine was paired with a four-speed automatic, rear-biased all-wheel drive, and four-wheel antilock brakes (the coming thing). With an all-black livery and a lowered ride height, the Syclone looked the business, and backed up those looks with a 0-to-60 time of 4.3 seconds and a 13.4-second quarter-mile, according to contemporary magazine testing. Given all the recent interest in high-performance pickups, it's amazing that GMC hasn't revived the Syclone. But where manufacturers leave an opening, the aftermarket steps in — in this case that's Specialty Vehicle Engineering, which as CNET reports is resurrecting the nameplate for a build of 100 new Syclones, based on the GMC Canyon, which will update the idea a lot more horsepower. The 2019 Syclone takes as its starting point the extended-cab version of the Canyon. The engine is again a V6, this time a 3.6-liter fitted with a supercharger and a custom cat-back exhaust system, upping output to 455 ponies from the stock 306. SVE's Syclone can be had with rear- or all-wheel drive, and it, too, features upgrades to the brakes and chassis. Six-piston front calipers are fitted in place of the standard four-piston units, and the slotted front rotors are upsized from 12.2 inches to 13.6. The suspension is lowered by two inches up front and five inches at the rear, with stiffer traction bars, bushings, dampers, and a heftier rear anti-roll bar. Unlike the original, the modern Syclone can be had in colors other than black — any of the standard Canyon hues are available — but the appearance is customized with rocker-panel extensions, body-color grille and rear bumper, and a composite hood insert. The interior gets embroidered logos and badges, including a numbered plaque on the dash. The price for the Syclone is $39,995 — that's for the package, on top of the cost of the truck. But at least ordering is easy: The Syclone package can be ordered through select GMC dealers.

2020 GMC Sierra gets small price bumps, package discounts and tweaks

A couple of months ago we covered a brace of changes GMC made to the 2020 Sierra 1500. Those included availability of the 2.7-liter turbocharged four-cylinder with 310 horsepower and 348 pound-feet of torque, the 5.3-liter V8 getting the 10-speed automatic transmission, the CarbonPro Editions debuting for AT4 and Denali trims, and a new bed view camera. But GMC has made a few more smaller changes throughout, as GM Authority found, part of a detailed overhaul among GM's pickup lines that's already changed trim names, trim volume, and prices on the Chevrolet Canyon and GMC Colorado. We'll start with MSRP adjustments on the 2020 Sierra: 4WD drivetrains in SLT, and the AT4, and Denali trims that only come in 4WD, see a price increase of $200. There are also more MSRPs to consider this year, with a handful of new Elevation models filling price gaps.  The only changes inside are AT4-logoed all-weather floor liners that come standard for that trim, and adaptive cruise control joining the Driver Alert Package II available on the SLT, AT4, and Denali trims. Speaking of packages, the Value Packages represent truth in advertising. The new base-model Sierra Sierra Value Package costs $860 to combine the Convenience Package and Trailering Package. Those two cost $1,640 when ordered separately. Sticking with the base trim, the Chrome Exterior Package disappears because the chrome bumpers it added are now the standard finish. Black bumpers front and rear can be ordered at no charge, and the 17-inch Bright Silver painted aluminum wheels can be ordered alone. One trim up, the SLE Value Package lumps Convenience and Trailering, too, but it only costs $380, which is $15 less than the Trailering Package by itself. The Elevation Value Package gets cut by $1,330 to $585. On the AT4 trim, GMC dropped the price of the CarbonPro Package from $1,060 to $560, and the Premium Package comes down by $500 as well. The same $500 discount applies to the SLT Premium Package. The new 2.7-liter turbocharged four-cylinder is the optional engine on the base, SLE, and Elevation trims, saving $235 on the first trim and $395 on the other two compared to ordering the standard 4.3-liter EcoTec V6. Smokey Quartz Metallic exterior paint is expected to disappear come Q2. Two new wheels enter the range in the upper reaches, one being a 20-inch Carbon Grey painted rim available on the AT4 CarbonPro Edition.

Could the GMC Jimmy come back as a Wrangler fighter?

Every three or four years, two cars go into heavy media rotation in stories about supposed new competitors. The headlines go something like, "X automaker working on a vehicle to fight the iconic Y." The Y cars are the Porsche 911 and the Jeep Wrangler. For this story, the X automaker is GM. And since GM already has its 911-fighter poised for debut next month, we speak here of the Wrangler. Car and Driver writes that GMC might take another shot at a Jeep challenger, this time by rebirthing a body-on-frame Jimmy SUV. For any who don't know, GMC sold an S-15 Jimmy from 1982 to 2005, a twin of the Chevrolet S-10 Blazer. Those SUVs started their lives as the Chevrolet S-10 and GMC S-15/Sonoma pickups. The Blazer name has returned to the light, albeit without its old-school rugged manners. There's still an opening on the GMC side, though, so C/D says the idea would be to work that old magic on the GMC Canyon pickup. The report is more chaff than grist for the rumormill, with liberal application of phrases like "looking to come up with," "could be," "could take," and "could arrive." Having said that, a potential Jimmy model could come in a few years, could use the same six-cylinder gas and four-cylinder diesel engines as the Canyon, and could start around $30,000. The Jimmy could wear GMC's new mud-and-guts AT4 trim name, or become a mud-and-guts trim for the Canyon just as the ZR2 is for the Colorado. It's not an entirely crazy idea, however, when a body-on-frame Trailblazer SUV based on the Colorado sells in Latin America, Asia, and Australia and does pretty well in the mud and muck. GM's been on the edge of going to war with the Wrangler for at least 12 years, when a Hummer exec said the HX concept would debut at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show and go on sale in 2010 as the H4. In 2015, The Wall Street Journal said GM was canvassing GMC dealers about something to get in the ring with the Wrangler. And all that was before every other automaker had to watch Jeep open a money-counting operation to handle its Wrangler profits, and dealers started charging $20,000 markups on Gladiators. In May, spy shooters caught a sensor-laden Jeep running at GM's Milford Proving Grounds in Michigan. Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported GM is considering a Hummer revival as an all-electric hardcore SUV. So we will not be surprised if GM rolls out a Wrangler fighter in the near-ish future. But we won't be surprised if GM doesn't, either.