Member: George Tyre

Car: 1971 GMC Sprint

2011 - 40th Birthday of the GMC Sprint

2011 marks the 40th birthday for the GMC Sprint. 1971 was the year that the Sprint was introduced in GMC truck dealers' show rooms and the Sprint name continued until the 1977 model year. The vehicle was renamed Caballero for the 1978 to 1987 models.

The Sprint was produced for GMC truck dealers so they could get in on some of the El Camino sales action that was happening at neighbouring Chevy dealers.

The 1971 Sprint, built on the A body Chevelle station wagon platform, was a "re-badged" El Camino. Interior and exterior script and under hood decals were the only items that differentiated the Sprint from its El Camino "brother" . The Sprint SP model was the same as the El Camino SS; the SP package was a very rare option that was a special order of the YE7 package. It has been reported that many dealers were not aware of this option in 1971 because it wasn't listed in sales literature.

Information from GM states that 5,536 Sprints were produced for 1971; there were two models the standard base model and the custom model. Power plant options were the 250 straight 6 (available in standard model only), 307 V8, 350 V8, 402 (396) V8, and 454 V8. Information from Dan Carr's GMC Sprint web page (See page 18) states that 208 Sprints were exported to Canada, however, information I received from GM Canada Vintage Service for my 1971 states that 315 Sprints were sold by Canadian GMC dealers.

My Baltimore production plant 1971 Sprint was one of the 208 or 315 to find its way to Canada. It was shipped from Baltimore in May 1971 headed for Empress Buick Pontiac GMC in Victoria, BC. The Sprint has made Vancouver Island home for 40 years. I purchased the vehicle in 2002 and completed the previous owner's stalled restoration project over the next two years. When I got the Sprint some body work had been completed to repair front end damage that occurred in 1994, however, the owner had not progressed any further over the eight years it had been off the road and notified the club that the vehicle was for sale.

With lots of assistance and guidance from fellow club member Shawn McMillan, the original 350 engine and 350 tranny were rebuilt. A few "goodies" (cam, high comp heads 4bbl) did find their way under the hood to help out the low horsepower that was introduced in '71. The 10 bolt posi unit was inspected and was not in need of any work. I then completed the body work in preparation for paint and restored the interior that fortunately had not been badly abused or modified.

A set of stock bucket seats replaced the bench seat; other modifications were a big block hood and stock 15" rally wheels that now have the correct GMC centre cap. The original Sunflower yellow color was changed to a slightly brighter Daytona yellow. I then rebuilt a '73 13' Boler trailer (affectionately called "The Bee's Knees") to accompany the Sprint on car show tours. We have had a lot of fun hitching the Boler up and heading out on the road.

George.

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