In July 2020, we posted about finding and seeing the Syclone LSR in person. It was sold by the Motorsports Hall of Fame and placed into a private collection in Florida. Since then, it has been brought to multiple SyTys@Carlisle events and put on display in Building Y for all to view. Now 4 years later, there has been an update and the LSR Syclone's new home is now in Pennsylvania! We give congratulations to Zack Staples who is now the new caretaker of the truck. His plans? To get it running and back into a driving condition.
The LSR Syclone became famous for its naturally aspirated V6, setting a record average speed of 210.069mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats. This speed awarded the truck the title of the world's fastest truck in 1990, leading to the launch of the 1991 GMC Syclone production truck. After the 1989-90 land speed record project led by Gale Banks of Banks Performance was completed, the 4 trucks used were dispersed to museums and the NHRA where they were used for both racing and display pieces. During that time, 1 of the trucks was destroyed which was parted and used to build an NHRA-specific drag truck called the "Super Coupe". Eventually, this truck would end up dismantled leaving only 2 trucks in existence. The other Syclone LSR truck is located in storage in Michigan.
Since taking ownership, Zack has been working on removing the motor and taking a deeper look into how the truck was built. Unfortunately, many of the components were removed or were installed as display pieces and do not function. We assume that this was done due to it was unnecessary to keep valuable parts in the truck that's retired and being used for show purposes only. This is one of the main reasons why this truck has not run since 1990. Zack, who has been part of the SyTy community for many years is working to inventory some of his late father's parts collection which includes some period-correct components as well as looking into sourcing possible NOS or spare parts that may still exist from the companies who were involved in the original project.
Stay posted as Zack continues the process of rebuilding and reviving this historical truck. We can't wait to be able to hear the motor fire up again and watch it move under its own power!
