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Produced for only two years, 1992-1993, the GMC Typhoon is still a relative unknown to those outside of the high performance community, but if you own or have ever raced one of the 4,697 unleashed on the street, you will remember what to watch out for.
This example found on eBay looks like one of the few that was not modified and driven to within an inch of it's life; a survivor if you will. The turbocharged and intercooled 4.3 liter V6, probably underrated at 280 horsepower, appears to be unmolested save for the requisite K&N air filter. Many of these trucks have topped 300 horsepower when dyno'd in stock configuration, and acceleration numbers vary from the high 4's to the low 5's in runs to 60 mph, continuing on to a high 13-second quarter-mile.
Check out what a Typhoon does to a C4 Corvette in the video after the jump!
[Source: eBay]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
brinks @ Feb 5th 2007 5:13PM
Sweet...any word from the SyTy crew on how this stacks up pricewise?
Adam @ Feb 5th 2007 5:21PM
That truck will be worth a lot in about 15-25yrs.
Scott @ Feb 5th 2007 5:28PM
This is like an inverse of the strategy used by many street tuners, all go and no show. It is certainly an impressive vehicle for not only its own era but the current one as well, but man is that thing homely.
Bob R. @ Feb 5th 2007 5:28PM
I like it because it's a sleeper. Not to many people would know this truck has 280+ HP underhood.
Christobevii3 @ Feb 5th 2007 5:48PM
Man, some guy on the s10 forum has one built up with like 600hp, i can't even imagine! I'll be happy when my 01 blazer has the 335hp 5.3L in it in a month!
John @ Feb 5th 2007 5:52PM
Man, what I wouldn't give for a Typhoon or a Syclone. I just hope by the time I'm old enough and have enough money that there are still unmolested examples such as these still (affordably) available.
It's those special edition cars that relatively no one knows about that really appeal to me (think about the Pontiac Turbo Grand Prix in the 80s that McLaren had a hand in building).
steven @ Feb 5th 2007 6:06PM
Ahh yes. My first speeding ticket (on my 17th birthday, no less) was in a black Typhoon. 92 in a 55. In the rain. Good times.
Moose @ Feb 5th 2007 6:32PM
I remember when one of the big domestic mags (Car and Driver or Road and Track) reviewed this and the cover of the magazine said something to the effect of, "4 seconds 0-60, IN THE WET" and it really felt like a paradigm changing moment when trucks were giving supercars a run for their money. I remember being incredulous, even as a kid. I now think twice, even in my S4 when a lumbering pickup pulls up next to me and starts to rev... who knows what they are capable of nowadays. Really amazing.
Ralph @ Feb 5th 2007 7:56PM
GMC TYPHOON IS THE KING OF 1/4 MILE IN CENTRAL EUROPE,IT MAKES 1200 HP AND GOES IN 2,8 SEC TO 100 KM/H WHAT A BEAST!
http://moto.wp.pl/gid,8277916,kat,43960,galeria_zdjecie.html?T%5Bpage%5D=1
James @ Feb 5th 2007 8:39PM
moose, i wouldn't get too concerned - there hasn't been a truck or pickup as fast as the Sy/Ty twins since then.
the Lightning has a ton of power but none of the grip. Ditto the SRT-10.
Plus they're both utterly classless and brash.
chuck goolsbee @ Feb 5th 2007 9:05PM
#2: There is a saying in the car collector hobby that goes like this: "all valuable things are rare, but not all rare things are valuable"
Just because a handful were made does NOT guarantee that it will be worth a lot of money in X years. All rarity really guarantees you is hard to find parts usually. True value requires other elements: reputation of the marque, racing history, status when new, striking and/or beautiful design, etc. In reality, these are a *version* of an existing platform, not a truely distinct model on their own. They are just an option package, and not a stand alone model. While some in the business *cough*B-J!*cough* try to build value around obscure option packages, I doubt that will really work in a rational marketplace in the long run.
In the end, this thing is still just a truck. A very fast truck, but a truck nonetheless.
--chuck
James @ Feb 5th 2007 9:39PM
The GMC Typhoon is one of the only American cars I truly was in love with at the time. I would totally have owned one of those puppies.... oh, the memories.
todd @ Feb 5th 2007 9:43PM
Chuck,
Looked into 60's muscle car prices lately?
There are dozens of "option packages" on common as popcorn muscle cars that are worth orders of magnituded more than the basic models.
Boss/Shelby/Hemi/454/Mach1/Yenko/455SD/ZL1...
And oddly enough, lots of these cars languished on lots when new or were of little value in the 70's.
matt @ Feb 5th 2007 10:47PM
good to see that autoblog is endorsing street racing.
Big jim @ Feb 5th 2007 11:36PM
I would of sold my left nut to own one of theses back in the day
mbc @ Feb 6th 2007 1:08AM
steven... i too was 17 when i got my speeding ticket driving a typhoon... weird
Richard @ Feb 6th 2007 9:14AM
There is one of these sitting in the back lot right next door to my work. Has been there, never moved, since I began working here over a year ago. Don't know the mechanical condition but it looks near pristine from the exterior... oh if I had the money. Might have to go over and inquire as to what it will take to get it off his hands... You do not know how many times I have reached through the fence just to try to touch it. Always loved a sleeper.
Sean Morris @ Feb 6th 2007 11:27AM
Typhoon...Syclone. The Syclone was 0-60 in 4.6 in the rain. The Typhoon was about 5.2 or so. Fast for their time. Fast on the street because of AWD and an auto tranny. Also the tranny being the weak link. I think the price on this one was about correct.
LaughingTooHard @ Feb 6th 2007 3:42PM
Knew of this guy who saved for years to buy a Typhoon. Find a cherry once and plunked down a lot of cash in the last 90's for it. Went to go see his girlfriend and some bastards flat-bedded it, stripped it, crashed it a little then went joy riding.
Cops found the car with the criminals in it.
The owner got nothing since his insurance company wouldn't pay and the punk who stole it had no money.
Out his money, out his Typhoon, the kicker is to find out the little thief must have made some great friends down in the NYPD and two years later as the criminal case was ending (with no jail time for the driver or his occupents) he joined the NYPD.
Just goes to show why the general public LOVE cops so much and thinks they are so trustworthy.
DC @ Feb 6th 2007 10:54PM
Badass, I've seen 9-sec Syclones.