We've got a thing and that's a-called Radar Love
We've got a wave in the air
Radar love
When it comes to the GMC Typhoon, the topic of color combination comes into play. Unlike the Syclone, which was only produced in midnight black, GMC offered the Typhoon in a small variety of colors for the 1992 and 93 model years. With black still being the most common color produced, most recognize the other common colors of frost white, apple red, bright teal, and forest green, with the unique, lower-production colors being aspen, royal blue, and garnet. However, most do not realize that during production, GM used two new colors for testing but never released them as available for the Typhoon. These colors are known as Radar Blue Metallic and Raspberry Metallic.
GMC used four Typhoons for paint testing, with two trucks being painted Radar Blue and the other 2 being Raspberry. The Radar Blue trucks were a 1992 and 1993, while the 2 Raspberry trucks are both 1992s. Interestingly, all four trucks do not have RPO codes for either color, so the glovebox decals indicate the trucks as being different colors. It was speculated that these trucks might have been repainted at the factory, but upon further inspection of one of the Radars and Raspberry trucks, these were not re-paints and went through the standard production paint process. There are no other outstanding features on all four trucks that were changed other than the paint. A fun fact about the Raspberry Typhoons is that they adopted the nickname "Barbie Trucks" by employees and can be found written on the PAS documentation. Both Radar Blue and Raspberry ended up being production colors that GM would use after both the Syclone and Typhoon ended production. You can find both colors on the 1994-97 S-Series trucks, predominately on the S10/Sonoma platform. Even on the S-Series trucks, both Radar Blue and Raspberry are considered to be uncommon colors.
Today, both Raspberry Typhoons still exist and are privately owned. Out of the 2 Radar Blue Typhoons, only the 1992 truck is still known to exist. Attempts have been made to locate the missing 1993 Radar Blue, and the last location was noted as in the UK in 2002. Pictures surfaced at one point of a wrecked "Radar", but were later discounted as false due to the wrecked truck originally being a forest green color.
Radar Blue is a unique color as it will appear different hues of blue or purple depending on the amount of light exposure. In direct sunlight, the truck takes on a purple hue, while in the shadows and indirect light the Typhoon appears much more blue. One interesting area of the truck is that the cladding is a matte finish versus gloss. When the Syclone was produced, the cladding was painted with additives to give the cladding a matte finished look. The same formula appears to have been used for this truck. It is unknown if the missing 1993 was finished the same way or was a gloss finish like all 1993s are.
Recently at this years SyTys@Carlisle 2024 event, the 1992 Radar Blue was brought out into public and put on display for the first time since the early 2000s. The truck previously sat in a state of disrepair in Texas and was supposedly being restored. Occasionally pics would be posted, but nothing detailing any sort of progress. The owner passed away and the truck was able to be purchased from the family. It now resides in Florida, and since its purchase it has slowly received the attention it needed to properly maintain and fully restore it back fully to it's former glory. While the restoration is not fully complete, the Radar Blue Typhoon is now drivable.
