We’ve been huge supporters of everything SyTy since day one, or in your author’s case, since 1991, when he was a lad of 11-years old. Having always wanted to acquire a boosted S-series truck ever since, we sometimes spend our alone time cruising eBay, Craigslist and just about everywhere else looking for the right example. We’re not actually in the market but we can dream, can’t we?
During one of our browsing endeavors, we spotted this ultra-rare, one-off typhoon prototype on eBay. Based on the info we have, and what we’ve researched in the past, this is a 100% legitimate example and was used as a rolling test bed, not only for the production 2-door version that ultimately followed, but for potential Oldsmobile, Cadillac and GMC 4-door models as well.
the story goes, the team at Production Automotive Services (PAS) used what started off in life as a run-of-the-mill GMC Jimmy 4-door as a rolling test bed to develop the the drivetrain, electronics and streetabilty of the production vehicles. It served double duty as a way to show the bean counters, corporate execs and so on, what could be a potential Oldsmobile or Caddy version, utilizing the 4-doors and possibly implementing it with their respective marques styling quest.
The closest Oldsmobile ever came was with the split-grilled Bravada, but with natural aspiration. Cadillac flat out rejected the idea, but released the Tahoe-based Escalade several years later in response to the popularity of the Navigator. If they would have acted sooner, we could have seen the birth of V-series vehicles over a decade earlier than what we had, but we’ll never know.
In the meantime, this prototype Typhoon 4-door is currently available with a “Buy it Now” price of $8,995 and is part of a collection that includes multiple SyTy vehicles, including the PPG Syclone Pace Truck, A Marlboro Syclone, Saudi Syclone, a 200-mile Syclone, a 300-mile Syclone, the last Typhoon ever built (with 100 miles) and a slew of regular Syclones and Typhoons. If we had an extra $9,000 burning a hole in our pocket, you can bet it would already be sitting in our garage, but we don’t So it looks like it’s all yours for the taking. Good luck!
Rick Seitz is the owner and founder of GMEFI Magazine, and has a true love and passion for all vehicles. When he isn’t tuning, testing, or competing with the brand’s current crop of project vehicles, he’s busy tinkering and planning the next modifications for his own cars.
