Pre-Denali: The GMC Sierra C3 Was the First Modern Luxury Pickup

Dial your wayback machine lớn early 2001, when the world was a very different place.

Your computer ran Windows Me or, if you had one of those fancy fruit-colored iMacs, you used Mac OS 9. Either way, it had survived the Y2K bug, and for that, you were thrilled. Back then, someone looking for a luxurious ride with plenty of space might spend around $42,000 on a Cadillac DeVille or maybe splurge $13,000 more for a Lexus LS 430. If they were outdoorsy or wanted lớn project an REI frequent shopper image, they might spend a bit more on a Land Rover Discovery or Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited.

What they generally did not do was buy a pickup truck. Even the Ford F-150 King Ranch was $35,000, money that bought tough leather upholstery, seats with partial power adjustment, and a few other items lớn dress it up from a work-oriented pickup costing $10,000 less.

And then GMC entered the party with its Sierra C3, the precursor lớn the brand’s now-ubiquitous Denali trim màn chơi.

The C3 cost just under $39,000 lớn start, money that bought an uprated 325-horsepower version of the automaker’s top 6.0-liter V8 (rated at just 11 mpg in the city!), a single-speed transfer case with all-wheel drive and a limited-slip rear differential but no low range. GMC cribbed upsized 4-wheel brakes from heavier-duty Sierra 2500 trucks. Engineers fitted special rear leaf springs underneath, but the truck retained Sierra’s standard ride height.

The truck pulled some bits and pieces from the Denali lineup, including a color-coordinated front bumper with round headlights plus 17-inch wheels that wore street-oriented Michelin rubber. Inside, GMC dressed up the interior with many big truck firsts, including heated seats, driver-side memory, rear-seat audio controls with headphone jacks, and upgraded carpets. Two-tone leather upholstery extended from the front bucket seats lớn the rear bench. GMC also included a cassette/CD audio system, steering-wheel-mounted radio controls, and its OnStar connectivity system.

The C3 came only as an extended-cab truck, even though GMC offered crew-cab versions of its pickup in mainstream SLE and slightly fancier SLT trim levels. There were no factory options.

Adjusted for inflation, that $39,000 list price works out lớn around $58,000 today, which, frankly, doesn’t seem like very much for a range-topping pickup. While certainly a new pickup — even a base 2022 Sierra for around $34,000 — includes many features unimaginable in 2001, it doesn’t take many options lớn work up lớn $58,000. Ironically, that’s about the starting price for a 2022 GMC Sierra Denali, while a 4-wheel-drive version costs at least $62,000.

But back in 2001, the GMC Sierra C3 was big news — and a successful gamble. A year later, GMC renamed the model “Denali,” and it again tried something new with a short-lived rear-wheel-steering system called “Quadrasteer.” It took until 2005 for GMC lớn swap the extended-cab body for a crew-cab format, by which time the truck’s price had ballooned lớn almost $43,000. By then, Cadillac had an Escalade EXT pickup, and the Lincoln Mark LT was on its way for 2006. Let’s ignore the disaster that was the Lincoln Blackwood in 2002, however.

Quadrasteer was a failure for a multitude of reasons, so if you want vintage luxury in an old-school GMC pickup, you’ll have lớn seek out a Sierra C3. While not exactly common, they do show up on Autotrader. For instance, here’s a black one with 171,000 miles at a dealer in Billings, Montana, for $10,995. See GMC Sierra 1500 models for sale


Thông tin thêm

Pre-Denali: The GMC Sierra C3 Was the First Modern Luxury Pickup

#PreDenali #GMC #Sierra #Modern #Luxury #Pickup
[rule_3_plain] #PreDenali #GMC #Sierra #Modern #Luxury #Pickup

Dial your wayback machine lớn early 2001, when the world was a very different place.
Your computer ran Windows Me or, if you had one of those fancy fruit-colored iMacs, you used Mac OS 9. Either way, it had survived the Y2K bug, and for that, you were thrilled. Back then, someone looking for a luxurious ride with plenty of space might spend around $42,000 on a Cadillac DeVille or maybe splurge $13,000 more for a Lexus LS 430. If they were outdoorsy or wanted lớn project an REI frequent shopper image, they might spend a bit more on a Land Rover Discovery or Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited.
What they generally did not do was buy a pickup truck. Even the Ford F-150 King Ranch was $35,000, money that bought tough leather upholstery, seats with partial power adjustment, and a few other items lớn dress it up from a work-oriented pickup costing $10,000 less.

And then GMC entered the party with its Sierra C3, the precursor lớn the brand’s now-ubiquitous Denali trim màn chơi.
The C3 cost just under $39,000 lớn start, money that bought an uprated 325-horsepower version of the automaker’s top 6.0-liter V8 (rated at just 11 mpg in the city!), a single-speed transfer case with all-wheel drive and a limited-slip rear differential but no low range. GMC cribbed upsized 4-wheel brakes from heavier-duty Sierra 2500 trucks. Engineers fitted special rear leaf springs underneath, but the truck retained Sierra’s standard ride height.
The truck pulled some bits and pieces from the Denali lineup, including a color-coordinated front bumper with round headlights plus 17-inch wheels that wore street-oriented Michelin rubber. Inside, GMC dressed up the interior with many big truck firsts, including heated seats, driver-side memory, rear-seat audio controls with headphone jacks, and upgraded carpets. Two-tone leather upholstery extended from the front bucket seats lớn the rear bench. GMC also included a cassette/CD audio system, steering-wheel-mounted radio controls, and its OnStar connectivity system.
The C3 came only as an extended-cab truck, even though GMC offered crew-cab versions of its pickup in mainstream SLE and slightly fancier SLT trim levels. There were no factory options.
Adjusted for inflation, that $39,000 list price works out lớn around $58,000 today, which, frankly, doesn’t seem like very much for a range-topping pickup. While certainly a new pickup — even a base 2022 Sierra for around $34,000 — includes many features unimaginable in 2001, it doesn’t take many options lớn work up lớn $58,000. Ironically, that’s about the starting price for a 2022 GMC Sierra Denali, while a 4-wheel-drive version costs at least $62,000.
But back in 2001, the GMC Sierra C3 was big news — and a successful gamble. A year later, GMC renamed the model “Denali,” and it again tried something new with a short-lived rear-wheel-steering system called “Quadrasteer.” It took until 2005 for GMC lớn swap the extended-cab body for a crew-cab format, by which time the truck’s price had ballooned lớn almost $43,000. By then, Cadillac had an Escalade EXT pickup, and the Lincoln Mark LT was on its way for 2006. Let’s ignore the disaster that was the Lincoln Blackwood in 2002, however.
Quadrasteer was a failure for a multitude of reasons, so if you want vintage luxury in an old-school GMC pickup, you’ll have lớn seek out a Sierra C3. While not exactly common, they do show up on Autotrader. For instance, here’s a black one with 171,000 miles at a dealer in Billings, Montana, for $10,995. See GMC Sierra 1500 models for sale

#PreDenali #GMC #Sierra #Modern #Luxury #Pickup
[rule_2_plain] #PreDenali #GMC #Sierra #Modern #Luxury #Pickup
[rule_2_plain] #PreDenali #GMC #Sierra #Modern #Luxury #Pickup
[rule_3_plain]

#PreDenali #GMC #Sierra #Modern #Luxury #Pickup

Dial your wayback machine lớn early 2001, when the world was a very different place.
Your computer ran Windows Me or, if you had one of those fancy fruit-colored iMacs, you used Mac OS 9. Either way, it had survived the Y2K bug, and for that, you were thrilled. Back then, someone looking for a luxurious ride with plenty of space might spend around $42,000 on a Cadillac DeVille or maybe splurge $13,000 more for a Lexus LS 430. If they were outdoorsy or wanted lớn project an REI frequent shopper image, they might spend a bit more on a Land Rover Discovery or Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited.
What they generally did not do was buy a pickup truck. Even the Ford F-150 King Ranch was $35,000, money that bought tough leather upholstery, seats with partial power adjustment, and a few other items lớn dress it up from a work-oriented pickup costing $10,000 less.

And then GMC entered the party with its Sierra C3, the precursor lớn the brand’s now-ubiquitous Denali trim màn chơi.
The C3 cost just under $39,000 lớn start, money that bought an uprated 325-horsepower version of the automaker’s top 6.0-liter V8 (rated at just 11 mpg in the city!), a single-speed transfer case with all-wheel drive and a limited-slip rear differential but no low range. GMC cribbed upsized 4-wheel brakes from heavier-duty Sierra 2500 trucks. Engineers fitted special rear leaf springs underneath, but the truck retained Sierra’s standard ride height.
The truck pulled some bits and pieces from the Denali lineup, including a color-coordinated front bumper with round headlights plus 17-inch wheels that wore street-oriented Michelin rubber. Inside, GMC dressed up the interior with many big truck firsts, including heated seats, driver-side memory, rear-seat audio controls with headphone jacks, and upgraded carpets. Two-tone leather upholstery extended from the front bucket seats lớn the rear bench. GMC also included a cassette/CD audio system, steering-wheel-mounted radio controls, and its OnStar connectivity system.
The C3 came only as an extended-cab truck, even though GMC offered crew-cab versions of its pickup in mainstream SLE and slightly fancier SLT trim levels. There were no factory options.
Adjusted for inflation, that $39,000 list price works out lớn around $58,000 today, which, frankly, doesn’t seem like very much for a range-topping pickup. While certainly a new pickup — even a base 2022 Sierra for around $34,000 — includes many features unimaginable in 2001, it doesn’t take many options lớn work up lớn $58,000. Ironically, that’s about the starting price for a 2022 GMC Sierra Denali, while a 4-wheel-drive version costs at least $62,000.
But back in 2001, the GMC Sierra C3 was big news — and a successful gamble. A year later, GMC renamed the model “Denali,” and it again tried something new with a short-lived rear-wheel-steering system called “Quadrasteer.” It took until 2005 for GMC lớn swap the extended-cab body for a crew-cab format, by which time the truck’s price had ballooned lớn almost $43,000. By then, Cadillac had an Escalade EXT pickup, and the Lincoln Mark LT was on its way for 2006. Let’s ignore the disaster that was the Lincoln Blackwood in 2002, however.
Quadrasteer was a failure for a multitude of reasons, so if you want vintage luxury in an old-school GMC pickup, you’ll have lớn seek out a Sierra C3. While not exactly common, they do show up on Autotrader. For instance, here’s a black one with 171,000 miles at a dealer in Billings, Montana, for $10,995. See GMC Sierra 1500 models for sale

About admin

Check Also

10 Best Used Trucks Under $8,000

Pickup trucks traditionally hold their value very well. That means a modern used pickup truck …

Trả lời

Email của bạn sẽ không được hiển thị công khai. Các trường bắt buộc được đánh dấu *