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Unleashing Power: General Motors’ Fastest Trucks of All Time

Vukasin Herbez July 6, 2023

Amongst many things, General Motors is known as the company that created the first muscle car back in 1964. It was also a part of the pickup truck market from the very beginning. It was only a matter of time before those two concepts merged and their trucks became super-powered.

Over the years, GM has produced some fantastic trucks. They managed to keep their products on the list of best sellers in this field. However, GM’s performance-hungry customers demanded more than just top-of-the-market sales numbers. They wanted speed. And overall, GM delivered some of the fastest trucks ever made. Check out the best and fastest GM trucks ever built right here.

GMC Hummer EV SUT

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The Tesla Cybertruck might be the first fully-operational prototype electric truck of the future. But GMC’s Hummer EV is newer, bigger, meaner-looking, and filled with several features. Before attempting to reserve one, you have to know that the top-of-the-line version cost around $100,000 (via Car and Driver).

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That may be worth it, as the features of the GMC Hummer EV are insane. The base version will have a 625 hp engine and the next in line will have an 800 hp engine. The top-tier model will have an astonishing 1000 hp at its disposal. As with all electric vehicles, the torque figure is equally impressive. Its predicted range is 350 miles. But what really excites drivers is the combination of the drivetrain and suspension. It allows the new-age Hummer to climb even the steepest obstacles and go diagonally, bringing a new dimension to off-road driving. With an EV powertrain, the Hummer EV is blisteringly quick in a straight line. It can do 0 to 60 mph in 3.3 seconds, an insane fact.

Chevrolet 454 SS

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After almost two decades of low-compression engines, slow performance, and safety and environmental laws in the early 1990s, US manufacturers finally started to produce and sell faster trucks. The wave of newfound performance was so overwhelming that every pickup brand had its fast model or limited edition. One of the most menacing was the mighty Chevrolet 454 SS. The basic idea behind this model was to offer the biggest available engine in the lightest full-size truck. It was a muscle car philosophy in truck form. Chevy engineers took the ordinary 1990 Chevy 1500 pickup truck with a short bed and added a massive 454 V8 engine (via Motor Trend).

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The enormous 7.2-liter V8 was good enough for 230 to 255 hp, a diminutive number, but it also had 385 lb.-ft of torque. That made it truly fly down the road. The big block engine was from Chevrolet’s heavy-duty truck lineup, and it was a durable machine. On the outside, the 454 SS was kind of low-key without any wild graphics or color schemes. There was a model designation on the back of the bed, and the only difference was a blackout front grille. However, despite the big torque number, the 454 SS was slower and couldn’t beat sports cars as the GMC Syclone did. Still, it was one of the fastest trucks around.

GMC Sierra 1500 6.2-Liter

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GMC trucks are often mechanically identical to Chevrolets, but GMC offered higher levels of trim and more features. In 2014, almost accidentally, GMC created a perfect stealth muscle truck in the form of its Sierra with a 6.2-liter V8 engine pushing a healthy 420 hp (via Car and Driver).

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With the same engine as the base Corvette, the GMC Sierra was surprisingly agile in a 0 to 60 mph sprint. It took 5.4 seconds to do that with the help of all-wheel-drive. Of course, the full-size trucks don’t have high top speed, but the 2014 Sierra with a 6.2-liter V8 could top 110 mph, which is decent.

Chevrolet El Camino SS 454

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The Chevrolet El Camino was a half-car/half-truck hybrid for carrying light loads and a helpful tool for small business owners. And most of them lived their lives exactly like that. But in 1970, Chevrolet introduced the wildest El Camino of all in the form of the El Camino SS 454 (via Hemmings).

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The mighty 454 V8 LS6 was a 7.4-liter Chevrolet’s big block engine with an official 450 hp rating. The engine delivered around 500 hp in real life and was a fire-breathing beast. It was one of the best engines of the muscle car era. In the El Camino SS, this engine provided performance that was close to the best regular muscle cars of the day.

GMC Syclone

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Back in the 1980s, GM experimented a lot with turbocharged engines, which was in line with industry trends at the moment. The most famous of them all was Buick Grand National or Buick GNX, which featured a 3.8-liter turbocharged V6 engine and sub-five-second 0 to 60 mph time. Those Buicks terrorized drag strips and stoplights with that kind of firepower. By the early 1990s, though, those Buicks were gone. GM engineers were looking for where to install that turbo hardware. The decision was to make a crazy sports truck out of a Chevrolet S10, a compact pickup with four-cylinder power. This is how the Syclone was born (via JD Power).

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GM took an ordinary S10 body shell and installed a 4.3-liter V6 with a turbocharger, good for 280 hp. The Syclone also had a special four-speed automatic sourced from the Corvette and performance-biased all-wheel drive. Its power figures don’t sound much these days, but the Syclone was able to sprint to 60 mph in just 5.3 seconds. That made it faster than contemporary Ferraris. The key was its light weight and lots of torque from its turbocharged engine. Of course, the price was significantly higher than the regular model. There were less than 3,000 made, almost all of them in its signature black color. Today, the Syclone is very much a collector vehicle and a sought-after model. It is still relatively fast and can hold its own against much younger and more powerful cars.

Pontiac El Catalina

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Before you say that the ill-fated Pontiac pickup truck is not part of a muscle car or performance car history, we beg to differ. If this car had been built, the Pontiac team of engineers would have presented it with a Super Duty, GTO Tri-Power or Ram Air IV engine at some point to compete with the El Camino SS or Ranchero GT (via Silodrome).

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In 1960, Pontiac wanted to expand their portfolio and even thought of producing some sort of light delivery vehicle or truck. The closest thing GM had at that point was a famous and usable Chevrolet El Camino which was based on a full-size Chevy car platform. Pontiac’s R&D department took the El Camino and mounted its own 1960 Catalina body, chopped and reshaped with the El Camino’s rear glass and truck bed. The finished concept was called El Catalina, and it was arguably more beautiful and elegant than El Camino.

Chevrolet Big 10 1976-79

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In the late ’70s, only Dodge presented muscle trucks and sold them as such. Chevy had the same idea but cleverly disguised it as a special version of its main pickup line. Back in the day, Chevrolet sold many special versions, which were mostly trim and color choices. The Big 10 even started as one of them. However, if you ticked the right boxes when you ordered your new Chevy truck, you could end up with a machine almost as fast as the 1979 Corvette (via Barn Finds).

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The trick, of course, was in the engine choice. If you paid extra for a 454 big block V8 and four-speed transmission, you could get a 245 hp beast that was more powerful than any other muscle car from the same period. Of course, the pickup truck construction put obvious limits, but this muscle truck could still accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in the eight-second range.

Chevrolet Silverado SS

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Introduced in 2003, the Silverado SS was basically the spiritual successor of the legendary 454 SS model from the early ’90s. However, it was somewhat more refined and with more power and options. Under the hood was a 6.0-liter V8 that put out 365 hp, which provided sub-seven-second 0 to 60 mph times. The Silverado SS was offered in four colors which makes them easy to recognize on the street (via GM Authority).

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The Silverado SS was the attempted answer to Ford F150 Lightning. However, it was less extreme since Ford had a supercharged V8. Interestingly, the Silverado SS was a better-built and more usable model since it had two cab formats on offer, whereas the F150 Lightning was only available in one.

Chevrolet SSR

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Built on an SUV platform with a Corvette V8 engine, fold-down hard top, and tight cabin for only two passengers, the SSR was something like a modern hot rod. It had the glorious soundtrack from a small block V8 with around 400 hp and dual exhaust pipes (via Slash Gear).

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The performance could have been more impressive. The sprint to 60 mph took around six seconds but it wasn’t slow either. With the retro design, big wheels, and strange silhouette, it was definitely something different on the street. The SSR wasn’t your typical muscle truck, but it had a V8 and a truck bed so it could be considered one.

Chevrolet Silverado 1500 RST

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The Silverado 1500 RST might be the perfect performance truck. It’s not as extreme as a Ford Raptor or RAM TRX and it doesn’t need to be. It’s a standard Silverado with Rally Sport Truck trim, exterior details, proven technology, and a very elegant, sporty design (via Penske Chevy).

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Of course, it’s powered by a venerable 6.2-liter V8 with 420 hp mated to an eight-speed automatic powering all four wheels. That results in a 5.4-second 0 to 60 mph time, which is quicker than some muscle cars. Also, the 2021 Silverado 1500 RST is a great value for money, too.

Chevrolet Cameo

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Before the 1955-’58 Cameo, pickups had a step-side design in the truck bed. This means that beds were made with sculpted rear fenders, often with wooden sides. It was a production method that dated to the first trucks from the early 1920s. But as one of the biggest pickup manufacturers in the U.S., Chevrolet introduced the fleetside truck bed on its new 1955 model (via Hemmings).

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The fleetside construction was revolutionary in many ways. First, the truck bed looked more elegant because it was flush with the cabin’s lines and the truck design. Second, it allowed for the use of the maximum width of the truck bed, making the truck more capable of carrying a wider load. And third, the innovative construction was more durable and stronger than ever before. The first model to feature this construction solution was the Chevrolet Cameo, but it wasn’t successful at first. The Cameo was an upscale version of a standard Chevy truck. It featured a V8 engine and updated equipment. It was fast for what it was.

Chevrolet Silverado EV

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Ford beat Chevy to the punch in the electric truck war with the introduction of the successful Ford Lightning electric truck. However, GM is fighting back with Hummer EV and the upcoming Silverado EV. This electric vehicle will arrive later this year as one of numerous future EV debuts from GM. Built on the Hummer platform, it will have similar characteristics, but it will be somewhat more affordable and produced in higher numbers.

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We can expect a range of 400 miles on a single charge, which is quite good, and an overall power figure of up to 662 hp. However, since the Silverado EV is going to be a working truck, we also can expect numerous exciting and advanced features designed to make it more practical and usable. The EV powertrain will result in some astonishing 0 to 60 mph times that are, in fact, faster than the contemporary Camaro.

Home Cars Beyond The DeLorean: Marty McFly’s Ultimate 1980s Car Wish List
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Beyond The DeLorean: Marty McFly’s Ultimate 1980s Car Wish List

Cameron Eittreim July 5, 2023

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The 1980s were a unique, one-of-a-kind time for the automotive industry because things were changing at a rapid pace. Automakers ditched the oversized land yachts of yesteryear for more fuel-efficient imports. Compact pickup trucks made a splash as well. The Toyota Hilux was one of these trucks and happened to be a focal point of the hit movie, ‘Back to The Future.’ But the Toyota Hilux was just one of many cool cars that hit the road during the 1980s. Today, a lot of these vehicles are more popular than ever. So we looked back at the cars that 1980s icon Marty McFly would be proud to own.

There’s no denying that these are some of the most iconic cars that hit the road during that decade. When today’s drivers get behind the wheel of some of these rides, they experience instant nostalgia. Most of us remember a time when these cars were all too common on the roads, and now many of them have spiked in value and become classics. Buckle up as we look at several cool cars from the 1980s that Marty McFly would be proud to own.

Ford Mustang SVO

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Nobody considered a four-cylinder Mustang fun to drive until the Mustang SVO hit the scene. The SVO was a turbocharged beast of a Mustang that took the 5.0 Fox Body platform to new heights. The car was everything an enthusiast wanted in a Mustang from this era. The four-cylinder engine was fuel-efficient and reliable, and the car had a monstrous amount of pep in its step when drivers got behind the wheel (via Ford Performance).

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The Mustang SVO was a car that redefined what affordable performance could be. Its great price tag coupled with its fuel-efficient performance was the right recipe for the time. Consumers didn’t want oversized, inefficient gas guzzlers anymore, and the SVO was a completely different type of car. Not to mention its radical styling, meaning it was definitely a car Marty McFly would enjoy driving.

1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am

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1982 was the last year for the second-generation Firebird model, and it offered quite a bit for the price. The second-generation Firebird wasn’t much of an improvement over the first-generation model. The fuel crisis of the 1970s certainly didn’t help. But by the early 1980s, a lot of the design and performance flaws had been ironed out, and the car was a lot more modern. The final years for this generation are among the least common models you’ll come across (via CarFax).

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But it was cool because it had that distinct 1970s flare with a mixture of the ’80s too. There’s no doubt that a young Marty McFly would have been enthusiastic about this car because an entire generation of young people were as well. The second-generation Firebird was an iconic car that had many flaws, but they didn’t take away from the fun factor. The Firebird is the quintessential 1980s car, but a lot of people don’t equate the early 1982 model with the decade.

Dodge Omni GLH/GLHS

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The Dodge Omni was everywhere in the 1980s as it was one of the best-selling cars for Chrysler. But there was a slick black version of the Omni that Marty McFly would have gone for, the Shelby GLH/GLHS. The paint job was just like that of his Toyota dream truck, and it wasn’t your father’s Dodge Omni. The turbocharged engine and AWD design gave the car a serious amount of horsepower at the wheels (via Car & Driver).

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The car was rare, and therefore, there aren’t a lot of them on the market. As previously stated, this was a serious piece of automotive performance power. There weren’t a lot of cars that were in this Omni’s league at this point. And a lot of consumers don’t remember seeing this version of the Omni because it wasn’t a common car, but those who were in the know remember this car fondly.

1983-84 Oldsmobile Hurst/Olds

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Oldsmobile was one of the best-selling car brands in the world in the 1980s. As hard as that is to believe nowadays, the Cutlass was the most popular model in America. But there was something even better than your average Cutlass, and that was the Hurst/Olds. This model had a serious amount of performance behind it, as well as a trademark black and red paint scheme. The noteworthiness of the car was carried on into the interior (via Hemmings).

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The removable T-Tops gave it a mean, dedicated look, but that wasn’t the end of it. The rally wheels were all too common on Oldsmobile models from this decade, and the performance under the hood of the car is the first thing that Marty McFly would notice. The Oldsmobile Hurst was one of the most iconic GM G-Body cars from the 1980s, and it was one of the most iconic cars for young people at the time.

1983-88 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS

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How do you ignore the Monte Carlo SS? You can’t, because this car was quintessential ’80s. It was one of the most popular cars in the NASCAR circuit at the time and was a great-selling car for GM as well. The performance of the Monte Carlo SS was groundbreaking at the time, and buyers still got the comfort of a large interior. The Monte Carlo SS was the car that redefined what GM was doing in the 1980s (via Hagerty).

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The car provided years of fun driving to an entire generation of people and was one of the best-selling cars of its period. Likewise, the Monte Carlo SS did everything that the Camaro couldn’t or wouldn’t, appealing to a different class of driver. When you think of iconic cars from the 1980s that would have been in the same world as ‘Back to The Future,’ the Monte Carlo SS is that car in every way possible.

Buick GNX

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Buick had a lot of hits in the 1980s as the brand was going through a transitional period, but then the GNX hit the road and changed the world. The GNX was a GM G-Body car, but instead of a hulking V8 engine, this one used a turbocharged variant. The GNX was the culmination of excellent brand quality and design, which is why the car was so highly sought after and continues to be a rarity on the road today (via Hot Cars).

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The engine technology that was under the hood was later used in the GMC Typhoon and the Syclone. GM went away from turbocharged V6 engines shortly after those two models, but it was the GNX that set the period in motion. The performance and the design of the mean black-looking car were enough to appeal to a plethora of different drivers. The GNX is still one of the most iconic and well-known Buick models on the road today.

Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS Aerocoupe

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The Aero Coupe was the Monte Carlo model that was based on the NASCAR circuit. It was so popular that GM decided to bring it to the market as a production model. The SS Aerocoupe was a much more aerodynamic car in every sense. The back window was sloped, and the design of the car was lower to the ground, but the performance was the same. The new aerodynamic design appealed to a lot of NASCAR fans (via Silodrome).

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The Monte Carlo Aero Coupe SS was one of the most well-known GM cars from the decade. It had the unique styling that the world was seeing on the racetrack and everything that made the Monte Carlo great. These GM G-Body cars were the epiphany of the brand back then, and the Aero Coupe was the perfect road-ready NASCAR model. And the unique styling is unlike anything else that came out during the era.

1985-90 Chevrolet Camaro IROC-Z

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The Camaro IROC-Z was one of the most influential cars on the road, and it proved to be a popular model. The 305 V8 and then the 350 were both very good power plants, and the styling of the car stood out from the crowd. The low-slung body panels and ground effects gave the car a mean look, and the wheels became so iconic that you can buy them nowadays for other makes and models (via Motor Trend).

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Not to mention the T-Tops, which were an instrumental part of the IROC-Z’s styling and mystique. There was also a convertible version of the car, but it was much rarer, and you don’t see them very often. Looking at what Marty McFly enjoyed driving, it would be the T-Top model that he’d go for. And with the kind of unique styling that it had and the performance under the hood of it, he couldn’t go wrong.

Oldsmobile 4-4-2

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Another important car from the 1980s was the 4-4-2, another powerful Oldsmobile offering. The 4-4-2 took that iconic name from the 1960s and slapped it onto a modern G-Body car. But the improvements under the hood were also very noticeable, and the 4-4-2 proved to be a success for the brand. From its outside appearance, there wasn’t a whole lot that was different from ordinary Oldsmobile Cutlass models (via Hemmings).

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The Oldsmobile Cutlass 4-4-2 was one of the most iconic models that came out during the 1980s, and it was one of the least known. Since it was a trim package on the Cutlass models, a lot of people didn’t know about it. Nowadays, the 4-4-2 is the epiphany of 1980s Oldsmobile performance, and it does the job right. There aren’t a lot of G-Body cars that offered the kind of sheer performance that the 4-4-2 brought to the table.

1983 Ford Mustang GT 5.0

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The Ford Mustang 5.0 was one of the most iconic Mustang models of the decade. It had one of the lightest weight designs in the sports car world and it packed a V8 engine. The car was one of the best-selling Mustang models of all time and the convertible model was especially iconic. The Mustang 5.0 did a great job of introducing new drivers into the Mustang brand and it had the performance behind it to appeal to everyone (via Car and Driver).

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When you think about the iconic 1980s car, the Mustang 5.0 is one of the most iconic. Everything about the car was the quintessential 1980s ride that someone was looking for. The slick design coupled with the powerful V8 engine made the car an icon in the industry. And it offered a lot of performance and versatility that the Camaro just didn’t. Marty McFly was no doubt a fan of what the 5.0 Mustang brought to the table.

1985 Toyota SR5 Pickup

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If you’ve ever watched the original Back To The Future, then you remember Marty McFly’s dream truck. It was a black 1985 Toyota SR5 Pickup that he saw on the back of a dealership delivery truck. Shortly after that, he had dreams about the truck. Finally, he was the proud owner of one at the end of the first movie. This truck was everything back then and was one of the most popular Toyota models on the road (via Motor Trend).

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The truck was also one of the most durable and reliable pickup trucks on the road. The lifted body with the black paint job and the KC lights on the top only added to the unique look of the truck. The oversized wheels gave it that off-road appearance. These trucks were built with all of the best features and its black paint job only made it cooler. These days, purchasing any Toyota SR5 is an expensive proposition. Obviously, Marty was on to something with this one.

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