...and yet there was a 950 HP Chevrolet Corvette that was turned into the Callaway Sledgehammer, but you conveniently ignore that fact, cgr88m. I know that, had GM had the courage to hire Reeves Callaway, kept Gale Banks, and allowed them both to make custom vehicles, we would not have had a dramatic collapse of that company, plus them turning almost every vehicle into some wimpy hybrid or electric soulless lumps of SUVs or CUVs/crossovers. If you all wanted station wagons and trucks, here is a pro tip for you, if you wanted them so badly, let alone to keep utes alive in the USA where they first were made, GM, then you should have made more of them instead of making so many ugly crossovers that honestly are indistinguishable from one another.
@@paxhumana2015 what does any of that have to do with my comment lol. You know you can order a 1000hp corvette from Hennessy, or order a 2500hp GTR from AMS. So i dont see how know you think a couple of crossover suvs killed these type of machines, you have car manufacturers pumping out 750hp+ cars with bumper to bumper warranty, which is something Callaway nor lingenfelter could offer and is the real reason they failed, they couldn't warranty their products like the big manufacturers could.
Small performance outfits have been offering super high output modified cars since long before that.. What you have to understand is that there is a huge difference between an aftermarket modified car, and a STOCK factory car, with warranty, and emissions and safety standards, all met.
It just like these tire reviews on RU-vid. But like that guy said, hes probably being respectful. Might have been different if it was a dirt bike magazine interviewing him. Better music, a dude with a mullet. I've never met a piston head from so. cal. drive like he did
It really goes to show how much information you can actually deliver in such a short time, if you focus on your message. This >4 minute video contains more information than many 10-15 minute RU-vid-videos! Also that is a bad-ass looking truck! Really cool idea using a boat engine, rather than "just" upgrading the existing one!
1:10 that's the legendary Banks TT Trans Am GTA in the shop's background, they pushed that one to 283 mph in 1987, which was a world record for the fastest production based stock bodied car at the time.
@@jcamp788 could be, it was based on the f body Trans Am, and it wasn't registered for street use, they did offer steerable packages, but they were not quite as radical, however they still were legit 200mph cars. the vehicle that set the record had between 1700-1900 hp, and several aerodynamic modifications to its otherwise largely stock body, frame and overall structure. but you are correct, the official record for street legal cars was established by Callaway with the '88 Sledgehammer Corvette C4. btw. then in 1999 a company called Kugel Komponents w/ Lefever (possibly another company/person involved) also used a modified f body trans am , and pushed it to a confirmed 307 mph ! really incredible. achievement.
@@lb9gta307 well, in general you are right here, as it was always the f body, only constantly evolved, but these (80s) are mostly the ones associated with the terminology and are often colloquially referred to as "f bodies" mores than all the other generations before or after that. so, you get my point. greetings.
Thank you so much for posting this. I've been looking for so long. This truck ended up evolving into something more appealing visually but this is very cool.
Keye T Oh I get it. At first I thought it was John Davis too. I just remember Craig’s voice was a bit distinct!! Can you imagine a new Silverado like that?!?!
Thank you for pulling out these GM videos and getting the obscure ones as well. I am still hoping to see more GM footage. I would like to see the 1989 Buick Riviera, the 1985-1990 Oldsmobile Ninety Eight or Touring Sedan, the 1992 Oldsmobile Eighty Eight, 1988 Cadillac Eldorado, the segment from back in the day about the GM Quad for with the turbo charged Ninety Eight and Toronado from the mid to late 1980's. Thank you. .
I bet a cam, intake, and heads and a supercharger if you have extra money would make me it an entirely different engine, I’m assuming the stock intake and heads are cast iron so just switching to aluminum would probably save 150 pounds
@blackandgold51 The TH400 was only used in the 1990 model year. The 4L80E came out for 1991. No need to change it if it was already standard, Unless you owned a 1990.
I'm guessing there were some drivetrain/reliability/overheating issues that kept them from bringing it to a track. This was just an advertisement for Banks. They may also be lying about the hp which would get exposed in the 1/4 and 0-60 times.
This thing was waaay ahead of its time. If you took one of these trucks and rebuilt it as a 496 with modern aftermarket heads, it would be quite the performer. I have the same bodystyle of truck with an LS swap, and it's quite a lot of fun. A set of Brodix BB3 Xtra heads would be perfect.
If GM and other manufacturers had taken on and encouraged these kinds of builds, theyd be more competitive 30 years later with the performance vehicles that are now beating them on the tracks
I love this. Mr banks is so cool, his youtube channel is taking off now, for good reason. The canyon carving scene made me laugh, the 90s road cyclists that still get in the way.. 30 years later!
@@mikesteelheart they are yes! Tho more common in old school mini trucks, Nissan and Toyotas... Not so much this. Hell even the Syclone was a simple looking sleeper.
Many decades later Dodge did it... GM missed that feather in a cap on this one...Banks is definitely an engineering genius... And a damn visionary 😂😂😂😂😂
The thing that kills me about this package isn't the 1280 horsepower. Judging from that video, it looks like you can drive that truck on the street, in traffic, etc. No lumpy cam that doesn't idle, no overheating in traffic, quiet exhaust, etc. Any sort of big block V8 with an old school high lift cam, stroker crank, bored out cylinders, and a huge carburetor with those sorts of hp ratings was a race motor, it wasn't really drive-able on the street like this truck.
Turbos act like mufflers. It doesn't have a stroker crank, bored out cylinders, or a carburator of any size. And it's a big block truck with a big block radiator that that put a slightly larger big block in. And with boost and displacement you can have a big power engine that's streetable.
I was honestly expecting some pretty lame horse power numbers that everyone thought was so bad ass back in the day but I was actually very very impressed.
It is Banks who did factory GM projects, I'm sure he could easily make 1200hp street on a turbo 502, as if hes going to drive it even slightly reckless while on motorweek.
I had a friend that said he had a 502 stored away and was going to put it in his Caprice. It never ever happened but we all knew that. The mysterious 502!. We asked him what trand and rear end he was going to have behind it but never got a straight answer. Fucking guy.
You know what those graphics mean? It's fast as f***. Southern cal hotrod truck heaven those bastards need to be taxed I can't find any here in florida 😂
Wow, 26 yrs later that truck looks SOOOOOOO dated! I was 23 at the time and those "hot graphics", probably spelled HOTT GRAPHIXX back then, would've never found their way on to anything I'd drive. Adding to the mix are those billet wheels, yeah popular ar the time but hasn't stood the test of time. How about no graphixx, widen the stock 454SS wheels w/ the black centercaps that basically turned the wheel black and a nice cowl induction hood, oh yeah, roll pan rear bumper and NECKTRUCK-type tailgate spoiler🤔😉
@@klasseact6663 80s and 90s hot rods, customes, mini trucks and what not are old enough now that people are starting to restore what was built back then and do similar period type builds.
1280hp and all we get is a lazy curvy road drive and a 2 second half a burnout? Why did they even bother to fly out to California for such minimal coverage?
I’ve been following Gale Banks his whole career and I’ve never heard of this one, looks like the Arizona Speed & Marine fuel injection system he has there with his logos stuck in place. Doubtful it’s 1200Hp though, has no intercoolers and EFI systems weren’t that advanced back then, that truck would have been running like crap on the street if it had injectors that big in it.
0:36 cue the hillbilly music when talking about trucks. And seriously, those two rear pointy protruding things look quite silly. Now, the GMC Syclone was and is still a sweet ride.
I still think it makes no sense, especially in a rear wheel powered truck where all the weight is at the front, but 1200 HP is still by today’s standards a friggin lot of power.
