Keep in mind that the 1992 and 1993 GMC Typhoon SUV is from 1992 and 1993. Try to remember what trucks and SUVs were like back then. Now, wrap your head around this turbocharged, all-wheel-drive SUV with trick cladding, almost 300 hp, and a 4L60 automatic four-speed plucked from the Corvette. Back then, no American vehicle had all-wheel-drive except the pickup the 1990s GMC Typhoon was cloned from, the 1991 GMC Syclone pickup. 

Was the GMC Typhoon really a performance SUV?

It was so outrageous that Car and Driver pitted it against a Ferrari 348ts, just to see how close the Syclone pickup could get to that stratum of European exotic. It not only kept up, but it beat the Ferrari in both the quarter-mile and timed testing. Take that Enzo!

The Syclone pickup had hoped to be a boost for GMC, not by sales, but by truck buyers. They read about, or maybe saw one on the street, and it could translate into bigger sales for GMC. So with the pickup as the model, it was easy to translate that to the Jimmy SUV, as the two were siblings.

What drivetrain does the GMC Typhoon have?

Upfitters Production Automotive Services converted both the GMC pickup and SUV. A 4.3-liter LB4 V6 got the Chevy small block V8’s 48mm twin-bore throttle body, huffed with a Mitsubishi turbocharger and Garrett intercooler. The factory beefed up the 4.3 with hypereutectic pistons, nodular iron main caps, larger intake, and exhaust manifolds.

The Corvette automatic transmission split power to the rear via a BorgWarner transfer case. Four-wheel anti-lock brakes, a first for a production truck, suspension mods with a lower ride height, and 16-inch alloy wheels covered the bases. 

How many 1990s GMC Typhoon SUVs were sold?

GMC only built the Syclone pickup in 1991, hoping for better results with the Typhoon SUV version. Following the Syclone recipe, the only difference mechanically was the beefier 4472 BorgWarner transfer case. The Syclone used the earlier 1372 version. 

Both years of production netted 4,697 Typhoons sold, 2,497 in 1992, and 2,200 in 1993. But that bested the Syclone, which sold 2,998 for its one-year-only production run. Clearly, a truck and SUV spec’d to this extreme, while noteworthy, met with tepid buyers. Even with the amount of enthusiastic hype from the buff magazines, it didn’t seem to matter.

Was there a reason it didn’t sell well?

One thing that might have hampered sales was the price. At just shy of $30,000, it was over $10,000 more than GMC’s full-size Yukon SUV. Granted, they weren’t the same in every aspect. But it might have been too much of a stretch for a less rugged, smaller, and impractical SUV in 1992. And while its performance is impressive, pickups and SUVs were expected to have V8s. 

In some ways, the Typhoon and Syclone copied the Buick Grand National Regal playbook from 1982 to 1987. It sold an average of 5,000 a year in its six years of production. So the Syclone and Typhoon were running about one-third to one-half that number. Regardless, all three of these specialty vehicles are highly collectible for their combined rarity, uniqueness, and performance.