They called it their Urban Utility Vehicle, but let’s face it, it’s another damned crossover that will have to be heavily modified for production. To pass the side impact tests there would have to be a center post. The interior that looks so open in the concept will be full of industrial grade plastic if it hits production.

The Audi inspired grill treatment would shrink to minimize damage during low speed collisions. But the biggest hinderence might be the name, as this is already in use by another vehicle manufacturer.

So which vehicle deserves the name Granite. The GMC? or the Mack? You decide.

Continue reading after the jump!

Chevrolet and GMC have long offered light duty pickups and vans with slightly different styling. However, after 1967, the GMC Truck Plant began building Chevrolet versions of the Medium and Heavy Duty models, so virtually all the trucks could be sold through two different dealer networks. The Chevrolet El Camino was an exception to this product sharing. But, when it came time to think about selling over one million trucks per year, the GM Managers wanted GMC to have a version of the El Camino for their very own. Such a vehicle would be an incremental sales booster for GMC dealers. By offering an attractive, personal pickup truck to coax those fleet owner-operators, and managers that made up so much of GMC’s business to buy made a lot of sense to the product planners.

By the fall of 1970, the new for 1971 GMC Sprint was introduced. Except for the nameplate, and some minor trim alterations, the GMC Sprint was virtually identical to the Chevy El Camino, and offered nearly the same options. This included their own SS Version, the Sprint SP. This package could be ordered with a 350 or 396 Cu In Displacement V8, or you could step up to the SP 454, with the LS5 version of the Chevy 454 V8, with 365HP and 465 Lb Ft of torque. The 454 came with the mandatory Turbohydramatic automatic, while you could still get the 4 Speed Stick with the 350 HP 396.

For the 1972 model year, there were very minor changes, but the 1972 engine offerings were drastically different. You see, the horsepower ratings were changed to the more-realistic SAE net power ratings, as well as a further reduction in power because of the new emission controls coming on-line. To illustrate this point, the 350 Cu In V8, with a 4 bbl Carburetor produced 175 HP, while the 396 produced 240 HP. The LS5 454 was strangled with only 170 HP. This was the same with the Chevrolet Versions, and one has to wonder why order the 454 in the first place?

These are rather rare trucks, as only 249 GMC Sprint SP’s were produced for the 1971 model year, and of that, only about 25 were the SP 454 versions. A very limited number got the optional cowl-induction hood. For the 1972 model year, SP production actually rose, to a whopping 749. Though the 1971 Sprints were priced within a few dollars of it’s cousin, 1972 they were priced exactly the same.

CarDomain Members Rides

Well what do you know, there are exactly two CarDomain Members who own a 71 or 72 GMC Sprint. Let’s take a look at Davis’ 1971 Sprint, From Little Rock, Arkansas. It looks like Davis and his dad are performing a major restoration. It may not be the rare SP, but it will look great when they are done.

Now, let’s take a look at Adams Sprint, from North Richland Hills, Texas. This is another Father and Son project, only this time it’s more of a resto-mod. Looks great guys.

So there you have it, a return to the CarDomain Obscure Muscle Car Parking Lot with a really obscure car based truck. What do you say, is this a Muscle Car, and does it belong on the parking lot, or is it just a pretender, a re-dressed El Camino that’s not all that obscure in the first place? Write, and tell me how much you missed this feature!

The base model engine is the fuel economy leader, featuring a direct injection 2.4L four-cylinder engine with 182 HP mated to a six speed auto delivering 30 MPG in front-wheel-drive only trim. The other engine option is a 3.0 liter direct injection V6 rated at 264 HP.

Some of the standard features include: standard rear vision camera, programmable power rear liftgate, Bluetooth hands-free phone capability, MultiFlex sliding rear seat that increases passenger comfort or provides optimal cargo space, remote vehicle start, USB audio connectivity; MP3 playback, seven-inch touch-screen navigation system and a 40-gigabyte hard drive, DVD-based rear-seat entertainment system with two independent screens, standard OnStar and XM Satellite Radio, and more.

Will this help GMC sell more units? GM seems to think so. This is in all reality a replacement for the unloved Pontiac Torrent, since GM has downgraded the Pontiac line to a “niche” line.

Besides the amazing integration of the video game setup, there were some other interesting details such as the guitar neck shaped external mirrors, and copious use of police-style lighting throughout the entire truck. This interesting contribution to the show was a working proof of concept showing that you can truly take your Rock Band setup almost anyplace you like!

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We blasted through larger and larger drifts until he got on my case about trying to make it over, or through, this massive snow bank. I got a huge head of steam, which was idiotic because I had no idea what was under the snow, and tried to use large amounts of wheel speed to claw through. It obviously didn’t work. Continue reading at Freiburger’s Junkyard