Aftermarket builder creates 750-hp GMC Syclone

It’s supercharged, all-wheel drive and based on the midsize GMC Canyon

Gearheads with long memories will recall the early ’90s as a time when GM was building trucks that could hang with sports cars from Maranello. The original Syclone pickup could walk away from a Ferrari 348ts in both 0-60 and the quarter mile. Dio mio!

For 2021, the Syclone name returns. This time, however, it appears as a hot-rod from an aftermarket builder and not directly from GM. Still, once again, its rap sheet reads like something from the House of Enzo.

A supercharged 5.3L aluminum-block V8 is tuned to provide 750 horsepower and 600 lb.-ft. of torque in the heavily modified midsize GMC Canyon. That’s a healthy power boost over last year’s first kick at resurrecting the Syclone myth with a meagre 455 hp. Inside the L83 mill are forged lightweight pistons, a custom ground cam, and upgraded cylinder heads. Its full-time AWD transfer case is the key to the neck-snapping acceleration, with a transfer case splitting power so that 62 per cent of it goes to the rear wheels and 38 per cent to the front at all times. Up to 100 per cent of grunt can be diverted to a non-slipping pair of tires through heavy-duty driveshafts.

With 750 hp in an extended cab short bed truck, there’s likely to be a lot of slipping tires.

Speaking of tires, SVE chose Michelin Pilot Sports for traction duty. A sport suspension drops ride height by two inches in the front and five in the rear, making for a dipped-in-ink aggro appearance that’s sure to please Darth Vader. Brakes consisting of 6-piston forged calipers and two-piece 13.6-inch slotted front rotors toss out a sturdy anchor when called upon.

If you feel the need, it is possible to spec a leather interior

in one of the two factory colours complete with unique headrest logos and stitching. We’d pocket that cash for the inevitable fuel bills. Speaking of colours, unlike the original Syclone, customers can spec

any exterior paint shade that’s available on a stock GMC Canyon.

The name Specialty Vehicle Engineering might be unfamiliar but the company is an evolution of the wellknown SLP brand that’s been hopping up GM vehicles for decades. Only fifty 2021 GMC Canyon-based 750hp Syclone Super Trucks will be built.

POSTMEDIA Only 50 of these Syclones will be made.

POSTMEDIA A supercharged 5.3L aluminum-block V8 is tuned to provide 750 horsepower and 600 lb.-ft. of torque.