Sometimes, you just know a particular vehicle has had a hard life. This 1992 GMC Typhoon is sitting with a blown engine due to a previous owner overdoing the boost, and it’s also been resprayed in a look-at-me shade of yellow that definitely wasn’t offered by the factory. The truck also apparently has rust issues, so you’re wading into a whole host of problems to sort this rare performance truck out. But, given the low production volume and the strong collector following for these, it seems likely that this one will be bought relatively cheaply and put back to running order. Find the Typhoon here on eBay where bidding is at $5,700 with no reserve.

The Typhoon and its sibling, the Syclone, were game-changers when introduced. Who would have thought a pickup truck and a light-duty SUV could be legitimate performance vehicles, capable of chasing down almost any sports car you could think of? Obviously, many of us recall the road test reports about how these trucks could keep up with a Ferrari, and that was no exaggeration – GM did everything right as it relates to a high-octane super truck that could satisfy your needs for utility as well as owning a sports model or muscle car. Production was just limited enough that there’s no question about its collectability, but that hasn’t prevented some examples – like this one – from coming close to ruin.

In double-checking that there wasn’t, in fact, a factory Typhoon offered in yellow, it confirmed that this particular truck has likely been floating around for a few years as a hopped-up example. There are some indications it used to have a cowl induction-style hood if the one I spotted is, in fact, the same, along with the clear taillights you see here. The respray was complete, at least, going into the door jams as well as under the hood. The interior is in driver-quality condition, with some fake wood trim lining the perimeter around the dash fascia and the door handles. The leather seats at least appear to be untorn, and I can’t see any cracks in the dash.

As mentioned, the engine is blown and the seller simply states that a previous driver cranked up the boost too high and too often, resulting in the boat anchor you see here. He mentions that a good amount of new and aftermarket spares are included, but doesn’t go so far as to say whether it’s what you need to sort out the engine issues. Somehow I doubt it, but perhaps you can sell off some of the aftermarket parts to recoup your investment. The GMC Typhoon and Syclone are both performance truck icons and we should try to rescue them all – the question is, without seeing pictures of the rust, is this modified example worth the effort?