Name pretty much says it all. More pics on Mike’s ride page!

Welcome back to the CarDomain Obscure Muscle Car Parking Lot, a regular feature which aims to expand the notion of what a muscle car is, and to think outside the box while doing so. It has been several weeks since the last Obscure Muscle Car Parking Lot feature, and now that LeMons is done, I now have time to re-introduce you to some obscure Muscle you may have never thought of. This time I’ve uncovered a car based pickup, that could be ordered with a Special Performance package, that you could get with a 350, 396, or a 454 Cu In V8. No, it’s not the Chevrolet El Camino SS, but it’s corporate cousin, the GMC Sprint SP.

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!

Another small crossover SUV was introduced at the Buick/Pontiac/GMC press conference–the GMC Terrain. While it shares the platform with the Chevrolet Equinox, the sheetmetal is entirely different, with more upscale features that you expect from a more expensive Chevrolet. Continue reading after the jump!

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.

For you diehard Rock Band players out there, Chevrolet has your ultimate setup in the form of a totally tricked-out Silverado. This mobile Rock Band entertainment system features lifted suspension, four doors, a trusty 4WD system, and enough subwoofers to crack the moon. All of these features combined together will let anyone get their game on almost anywhere! 

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!

So here we have my ‘93 GMC stepside 4×4 completely trapped in a giant snow bank. This was a Sunday afternoon bad idea that happened at the tail end of a boring weekend at college. We went out to some of the parking lots on campus that had large open areas and proceeded to go bombing through the snow. “We” was me and my roommate Pete, who, other than being a bad influence, was of no help mechanically or physically with, well, anything.

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

I don’t know what else to say… I really feel bad for anyone who messes with President Obama’s limousine.  There’s a friggin 50cal in the Yukon that follows him! 4,000 rounds per minute, and they’re laced with cyanide … ok probably not laced with cyanide … but still awesome.

This year’s Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale Auction can be summed up in this way: GM Heritage Collection Customized Show Vehicles, GM Heritage Collection Production Milestone Vehicles, GM Heritage Collection Engineering Studies, GM Heritage Collection Historic Vehicles, GM Heritage Collection Racing and Support Vehicles, a Ford 4-AT-E Tri-Motor Airplane (yes, they are auctioning off a significant historical Airplane!), and the remaining cars left to be auctioned. After going over the inventory listing that Barrett-Jackson plans on offering over the week long extravaganza in Scottsdale, I was truly amazed at the number of slots the Heritage Collection occupies. There are over 250 vehicles from the collection that GM needs to sell off.

This isn’t the way for GM to get top dollar for any of them, so the following prime trucks should be available at rock bottom prices. However, the Barrett-Jackson organization seems to have the magic touch as far as getting the most money for the vehicles they offer, so who knows.

The top photo showcases a 1925 Chevrolet House Car, and is scheduled for the Tuesday Auction. This was built on the Chevrolet 1-Ton chassis. Before motor homes were available commercially, many campers produced in the early days were built around plans supplied to a carpenter or cabinet maker. It rides on a 125″ wheel bass with a 171cid/35hp 4 cylinder engine and 6 volt electrical system. The custom built wood body has oak with mahogany trim, maple floor and counter tops, dark blue mohair cushions, dark blue wool carpet, dark blue roller shades with blue and white gingham curtains, a sink with hand pump water faucet using 5 gallon oak barrel for water storage, a commode with removable bucket for waste, auto flip down front step, interior 6 volt electrical lights and kerosene lamps, interior kerosene heater, single burner kerosene stove, and toll fee payment door. This is a piece that deserves preserving.

The next image is that of a 1916 GMC 1 ton Stake Bed Truck. This truck includes a 4 cylinder engine producing 33 horsepower. These had shaft drive and worm drive. There is very little information about this particular truck, but again, it’s worth preserving for future generations.

Continuing on, here is another significant GMC. It is a 1948 GMC Firetruck, and utilizes the first post-war styled body for GMC. According to the listing, GMC offered 347 different body and chassis models. This particular fire truck was part of the Pontiac, Michigan GMC Truck Plant Fire Brigade. This should find a home, and will be very interesting to see what the final bid price will be.

SUVs became quite popular in the mid 80’s right up to this past summer. This next truck is actually part of the foundation for their success. It is a 1978 GMC Suburban, featuring a body style introduced in 1973. This GMC Suburban has tri-tone stripes on its exterior and the custom interior of the super-graphics era of American Design. How can you not love a truck from the 70’s?

Any history about GMC Trucks would not be complete without a couple of real performance trucks. And at this auction, there are two such examples. The first is a 1991 GMC Syclone PPG Pace Truck, that saw track usage at many venues and is a great example of the now legendary first super truck. The second truck is equally as impressive and it’s a 1993 GMC Typhoon. This one-year-only GMC Typhoon represented a highwater mark for high performance compact sport utility trucks. With its conservatively rated 280hp blown and intercooled V6 and AWD, the Typhoon could easily cover a 1/4 mile in under 14.3 seconds and accelerate from 0-60 in less than 6.0 seconds with little effort and with its specially tuned suspension. it handled as well as it looked. Classy and comfortable, this polite street brawler is the last one built.

These are some of the tacky trucks that will be auctioned off for the GM Heritage Center. Most of them will be available on Tuesday, January 13, with a sprinkling available during the rest of the event right up through Sunday January 18th. Most of the trucks illustrated are one-off custom jobs, with wild paint, jacked up, or lowered, non production wheels, and questionable taste. Continue reading…

Many were commissioned for SEMA, or were done as a cooperative venture. All I know is that these trucks are all pretty wild, and I will be surprised if Barrett Jackson doesn’t get top dollar for each of them. So without further ado, here are some of the contestants:

You will notice that the top image is a “Tonka” truck, but i never realized that this was a 1999 Chevrolet Silverado. It still looks good, if a little garish. However, the next truck actually tosses good taste right out the window. It is a 2007 Chevrolet 3500 Silvarado titled “Country Music”. The use of chrome, and the rather tasteless decals can easily be removed. There is few details as to who commissioned it, or what it was used for.

Here is a current generation Silverado, done up to look like a roadside assistance vehicle. There is almost every piece of gingerbread hung on this thing, so much so that there will be a lot of reconstructive surgery to bring it back to something useful.

Speaking of show trucks, this one is made up to proclaim the advantages in using E85. Remember the Live Green, Go Yellow campaign GM used to showcase their Flex Fuel vehicles? Here’s what’s left of that experiment.

How about this one? A collaborative effort between GM and the Orange County Chopper team inspired this one-of-a-kind chromed, slammed and flat out sinister looking Silverado. Powered by a LS7 7.0 Liter/505hp Gen IV V8 with GM Performance Rockers. It also features custom OCC inspired wheels/tires, chopper-like “Big & Littles” that are 22″ x 9″ on the front and 20″ x 16″ rear. The bed also features a custom engine rack with four H & L Performance 124cid engines, a twin chopper “fuel tank” bed, OCC tribal flames on grille/tailgate and Billet OSRC mirrors. Isn’t this show canceled yet?

The next truck is actually kind of cool, as it’s a re-interpretation of the classic K5 2 door full size Blazer. This special was built off a chopped 2000 Tahoe, and has an open-air rear cargo bed with removable carbon-fiber top and 180-degree rearward opening rear doors. It actually looks production ready!

I’m a sucker for the really big trucks, and I will leave you with this image. It’s a 2003 GMC C7500 Topkick Crew Cab, including an aluminum Rollback Car Carrier. It’s truly a good looking recovery vehicle.

This truck won the GM Design Award at SEMA last year. Now it’s on CarDomain—and it’s for sale to help fund future projects!

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

I couldn’t find any info on this cool little truck, but after passing it about twenty times on the way to and from the media center, I finally decided to stop and snap some pics. More after the jump.