This Marlboro GMC Syclone is One Super Rare Super Truck

BOLD RIDE

Copyright © 2015 Bold Ride LLC.

 

Posted by Zach Doell

 

 

General Motors did something funny in the early ‘90s. Engineers ripped apart the GMC Sonoma pickup, stuck a few performance parts underneath, and gave the world a supercar dressed in dungarees – the 280-horsepower, all-wheel-drive GMC Syclone. 

It was wild, rare, and went on to birth an equally silly SUV variant – the GMC Typhoon.

But this is no mere Syclone. This crimson 1991 Syclone was the sixth of only 10 built for a Marlboro marketing campaign. It sports a mere 3,435 miles on the odometer, and looks about 10 times cooler than anything else from ’91. It’s also sporting a price tag online, though it is sizable.

Oddly enough, the story of this super truck begins with the Corvette. In 1991, Marlboro announced a nationwide sweepstakes during which a handful of specially adorned Corvettes would be given away as grand prizes. The campaign was so successful that Marlboro decided to give it another shot for 1992. This time with another name making waves at GM, the Syclone.

Legendary designer Larry Shinoda was brought on to oversee the design of 10 sweepstakes Syclones, which certainly got their fair share of additional extras. On the outside, white fade-effect graphics dress up the Syclone’s bright red exterior and complement a set of Boyd Coddington Cobra wheels. Inside, the Syclone houses leather Recaro seats and Simpson racing harnesses, a Momo steering wheel, race gauges, and a performance racing computer. But the biggest contribution came from American Sunroof Corporation, which scalped the truck and donated a T-top roof. Let that sink in: T-top. Hot rod. Pickup truck.

Make no mistake, it’s a truck that still has plenty of pep in its step. As standard, the Syclone pushed out a massive 280 horsepower and 360 lb-ft of torque from its 4.3-liter V6 and Mitsubishi turbocharger. A Borg Warner all-wheel-drive setup granted zero to 60 mph in under 5.5 seconds. This iteration could very well be quicker thanks to its Marlboro-specific BellTech racing suspension and stainless steel Borla exhaust.

Not a super truck for the faint of heart then or perhaps the short of cash. That’s because this one-of-ten GMC Syclone is up for a lofty $79,995.
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