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**The Muscle Trucks of the 1990s: A Look Back**

In this episode, we're going to take a look at one of the best eras for trucks ever - the muscle trucks of the 1990s. (patriotic music)

One of the standout models from this era is the SVT Lightning, known for its impressive performance capabilities. Another notable model is the 454 SS, which boasts a powerful engine that delivers exceptional speed and power.

Of course, no discussion of the muscle trucks of the 1990s would be complete without mentioning the Ferrari-beating GMC Cyclone. This truck is a true marvel of engineering, with its high-performance capabilities making it a force to be reckoned with on the road.

But these insane high-performance trucks aren't just limited to the ones mentioned above. There are several other amazing models that you may have never heard of, or maybe you have - we're not sure! Why do these incredible vehicles even exist? And will we ever see anything like them again?

**A Special Thank You**

We'd like to extend a huge thank you to Dazzlepro for sponsoring this week's episode. Their support is greatly appreciated.

**A Personal Anecdote**

As I was mentioning earlier, I have a bit of a confession to make - I'm not the most enthusiastic person when it comes to visiting the dentist. In fact, I live in fear of losing my teeth and having to drink all my meals through a straw! (sighs) It's a real nightmare for me.

But thanks to Dazzlepro's electric sonic toothbrush, I don't have to worry about either of these things happening to me. Not only does it keep my chompers healthy, but it also comes with a UV light that sanitizes the toothbrush head, killing 99% of germs on the brush head.

**A Product Review**

I have to say, I'm thoroughly impressed with Dazzlepro's electric sonic toothbrush. It's really nice to know that I have a clean toothbrush head every time I brush my teeth. Honestly, I adore this thing - it's affordable, easy to use, and has exceeded all my expectations.

I didn't really see the hype in electric toothbrushes until I used the Dazzlepro. Now, I'm a believer! This thing is really cool, and it's just a great way to start your day off right.

**Get Your Teeth as Clean as Mine**

If you're interested in getting a Dazzlepro for yourself, be sure to enter code at checkout to get yours today!

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en(patriotic music)- In this episode we're gonna take a lookat one of the best eras for trucks ever.The muscle trucks of the 1990s.(house music)The SVT Lightning, the 454 SS,and of course(engine revving)the Ferrari-beating GMC Cyclone.Plus a couple amazing trucksyou've probably never heard of.Or maybe you have, I don't know.Why do these insane highperformance trucks even exist?And will we ever see anythinglike them ever again?Thanks to Dazzlepro forsponsoring this week's episode.If you're like me,you probably haven't beento the dentist in a while.But you also live infear of losing your teethand having to drink all your meals.(sighs) It's a real fear of mine.I have nightmareswhere my teeth fall outof my mouth on a dateand I can only drink milk and smoothiesfor the rest of my life.But thanks to Dazzlepro'selectric sonic toothbrush,I don't have to worry abouteither losing my teethor gonna the dentist.Not only does it keep my chompers healthy,but it comes with a UV lightthat sanitizes the toothbrush head,killing 99% of germs on the brush head.It's really nice to knowthat I have a clean toothbrush headevery time I brush my teeth.Honestly, I adore myDazzlepro, I love this thing.It's affordable.I've never had a toothbrush this nice.I didn't really see the hypein electric toothbrushesuntil I used the Dazzlepro.I'm a believer.This thing is really cooland it's just a great wayto start your day off right.To get your teeth as clean as mine,enter code "DM62" at thelink in the descriptionfor 50% off.50% off, guys!That's amazing.Support the companies that support Donutso we can keep making dopecontent and keep our teeth clean.#CleanTeethGang. (chuckles)Up until the 1970s,there were not manyhigh performance trucksthat made it to production.And if they didthe performance parts typically bolsteredthings like payload and towing capacity.- Proof the1960 Chevrolet trucksare years ahead of anyothers in durabilityand they haul loads faster.- They were never reallybuilt for flat-out speed.If you wanted a powerful truck back thenyou had to modify it yourself,which to be fair a lot of people did.I mean, that's how monster trucks started.I think we should do a wholevideo on monster trucks.Let me know in the commentsif that's something you'd want to see.My point is most trucks were usedstrictly for work back thenand the lifestyle truckdidn't really exist.But that was all about to change.During the 60s people startedusing trucks as daily driversand not just work vehiclesand truck manufacturers took notice.Eventually they started releasingsuper sick high end trim levelsfor their most populartrucks in small numbers.They were called trick trucksand manufacturers competedto have the coolest versions.These trick trucks had amazing nameslike the Jeep Honcho, theDude, the Dodge Warlock,the Beau James, and the Gentleman Jim.What's up about these James/Jim cars?Where's the Nolanwide-body wide boy edition?SM my damn H.Many of these trucks werejust appearance packageswith things like fancy graphicson the sides, buckets seats,and interiors upholstered byLevi's Jeans, I'm not kidding.By the early 1970smuscle cars were chokedby emission standardsand went from having tons of powerto being anemic within a couple years.One of the reasons this happenedwas because of the mandateduse of catalytic converters.The catalytic converters of the 70shelped reduce toxic gas emissions,but they also sucked down powerquicker than a case of CodeRed at a Halo 3 all-nighter.I really, really want toplay grifball right now,that'd be amazing.Anyway this led to an era of horrible carslike the Mustang II or theBarracuda with a slant six.These just big sludgy behemoths.But Dodge, cunning likea Ram, found a loophole.Cars were required tohave catalytic converters,but trucks were exempt from the lawas long as they were over 6,100 pounds.So for the 1978 model yearDodge took their halfton D Series platformand dropped in a 360cubic inch 5.9 liter LA V8that was used in policeinterceptors under the hood.Upgrades included high flowheads, a four barrel carb,and most importantly,no catalytic converters.And the result was the Lil' Red Express.(jazzy music)This truck had two hugevertical stack exhaust pipeslike a big rig, that wood paneling,and a big old decal on the door.It straight up looked like a toy,which is fitting becauseDodge had previous releaseda whole line of adult toys trucks.sauce,which included the Warlock.Now you might say,"Nolan 6,100 pounds, that's a thick boy."But despite its weightthe Lil' Red Express was quick as hell.The 225 horsepower producedwas five more than thePontiac Trans Am of that year."Car and Driver" tested abunch of performance carssuch as the Trans Am,Porsche 924, and Corvettein a zero to 100 testand the Lil' Red Express beatevery single one of them!In fact, the Lil' Red Expresswas the fastest productionAmerican vehicleto 100 miles per hour in 1978.That's impressive on many levels.The biggest one beingthe truck had the aerodynamics of a brick.Towards the end of the 80s,after engine technology hadgotten significantly better,the big three started experimentingagain with fast trucks.Carroll Shelby worked withDodge to make the Shelby Dakota.(jazzy music)This performance truck tradedthe 3.9 liter V6 from the stock Dakotafor a fuel-injected 5.2 liter V8,sporting a blackout grill, sweet graphics,and a freaking cool littletriangle thing on the back.It wasn't super fast comparedto nowadays standards,making do with 175 horsepowerand 270 foot pounds of torque,but it was the highestperforming production trucknext to the Lil' Red Express.Dodge actually madea convertible Dakota during the late 80sas a collaboration with theAmerican Sunroof Company.Remember that name 'causeit's gonna pop up again later.The Shelby Dakota,which was Caroll's firstrear wheel drive carin almost a decade,helped kickoff what would becomeone of the best areas for trucksin the history of truckdom.Over at Lamborghini they were designingtheir own muscle truckfor the Italian military.After a few different prototypesthe raging bull started producingsmall numbers of the LM002,an off-road brute with a 5.2liter V12 from the Countach.I think we got to paused andacknowledge how crazy that is.I love Lamborghini, man.Meanwhile, Ford had ahot truck in the workscalled the Ranger SHO.This super high output Rangerwas developed with Roush Racingand had the three liter SHO ironblock V6putting out 200 horses and200 foot pounds of torqueat 4,800 RPM.That's a perfect horsepork.The boys at Roush threw ina T-five manual transmissionfrom the Mustang GT,and keep in mindthe Ranger was still asmall truck at this point.All that fun stuffpacked into a mini truckwould have been a collector's item by now,but sadly the SHO Rangernever made it to production,although a few concept vehicleswere sent out to betested by car magazines.It's sad that they didn't make it.Putting a big engine in arelatively small packagewasn't a new idea.GM engineers in the late 80s howeverwere trying to figure out away to make a truck versionof one of the sickest 80s sleeper cars,the Buick Grand National.The highest performance GrandNational, dubbed the GNX,had a turbocharged 3.8 liter V6,capable of an insane 360foot pounds of torqueand 276 horsepower.A Grand National truckwould have been amazing,but the car was being phased out in 1987and Buick wasn't reallya badge that made trucks.So they said, no.Eventually it was GMC who agreedthey could use a halo truck,but opted to go with a cheaperengine than the turbo six.The result was the Cyclone.(engine revving)Built on the S10 compact truck platformshared with the GMC Sonoma,this 3,600 pound fourwheel drive sport truckhas a 4.3 liter turbochargedVortec V6 under the hoodmaking 280 horsepower and350 foot pounds of torque.It could be modified to handle20 plus pounds of boost.The cyclone looks sportyand low for a truck,distancing itself from other trucksthat touted their off-road capabilities.The Cyclone wasn't for going off road,it didn't even like doing work really.With a short bed and apayload of only 500 pounds,it wouldn't have been ableto do much work if it tried.GMC even said that towingwas not recommended.But what the Cyclone lacked in payloadit made up for in flat out speed."Car and Driver" tested itin 1991 against a Ferrari 348and the Cyclone smokedthe Italian stallionto 60 miles an hour.The Cyclone posted a5.3 seconds zero to 60,which was insanely fast for a truckeven by today's standards.But after 60 miles per hourthe aerodynamics of the squareboy truck proved detrimentaland the Ferrari endedup beating the Cyclonein the quarter mile, unfortunately.But honestly the unthinkablehad already been achieved.They even made 10 Cyclonesin collaboration with,you guessed it, theAmerican Sunroof Companythat had a convertibletop and a Marlboro livery.These trucks are the holygrail for Cyclone fans.These things are so sick.You gotta love the early90s Marlboro branding,even if cigarettes are responsiblefor millions of deaths per year.Despite doing modest numbersof both the Cyclone and the Typhoon,just short of 5,000 total,the article that "Carand Driver" came out withbrought this muscletruck into the mainstreamand made everyone realizehow cool the idea of afast street truck is.And the idea caught on.(jazzy music)Over at Chevrolet engineerstook a new gen C 1500 truck,internally known as the GMT 400,and stuffed one of theirbiggest engines in it,the 454 cubic inch 7.4 liter V8.Later versions of the 454 SS made255 horsepower and a massive405 foot pounds of torquein a relatively small package.You got to remember thattrucks are massive nowcompared to trucks back then.And even the full sizedtrucks of yesteryearare smaller than what weconsider small trucks today.All that power and the 454kicked in at around 1600 RPM,which helped the truck achievea zero to 60 time of 7.7 seconds,on par with the Mustang GT of that era.But you wouldn't know it from the outside.The 454 SS, unlike the Cyclone,looked like any other truckon the road at the time.And the only defining featureswere the blacked out grill,a red bow tie, and the454 SS logo on the back.It's pretty much a sleeper.You would never know thatthis was a muscle truckwith a massive engine and Bilstein shocksif you were just a casual fan.Ford saw all of this playing out at GMand realized that ahalo truck of their owncould bring attention to therest of their truck line.After all they had the bestselling truck in Americawith the F-150 and thus hada market share to protect.So they looked to the highperformance division of Ford,SVO, to take the reinson this new project.In 1993 Ford's Special Vehicle Operationsdebuted the first generationFord SVT lightning.(thunder)So the blue oval's biggestcompetition with this new truckwas the 454 SS.Mainly because the Cyclonewas virtually unbeatableand it didn't make too much sensefrom a business perspectiveto produce something thatcould compete with that,mainly because it would costa ton of money to developand they didn't plan on sellingvery many of these performance trucks.A truck that could competewith the 454 howeverwas a much more attainable goal.They took a full sized ninth gen F-150,put extensive suspensionand handling upgrades in it,and dropped a 5.8 liter V8 under the hood.Engineers upgraded the stock headersto cast iron cylinder headsfrom the GT40 of all cars,they installed high flow ports,and tuned the engine to make 240 horseswith 240 foot pounds oftorque, that's a horsepork.The lightning was twoand a half inches lowerthan a stock F-150and had Formula GP shocks upfrontand both a front and rearanti-roll bar for better handling.Unlike the Cyclonethe SVT Lightning maintainedalmost all of the payloadcapabilities of the F-150and a tow limit of 5,000 pounds.It was still a truck that youcould drive like a Mustang.Although it was closeto three seconds slowerto 60 then the Cyclone,the suspension upgradeshelp the Lightning to handlebetter than both theCyclone and the 454 SS.The first gen lightningwould go on to sellalmost 12,000 units more than the Cyclonebut 5,000 fewer than the 454 SS.Following the debut ofthe Lightning in '93,the high-performance muscletruck market was solidifiedas a legitimate niche scene.But one company was noticeably silentduring these first few yearsthese trucks were popping up.But that's because theywere in the basementmixing up some medicine.(electronic music)For a couple of years from 1998 onDodge offered a high performanceversion of their Dakotawith a 360 cubic inchMagnum V8 under the hood.They also bolstered handlingby dropping it an inchfrom stock Dakota height.It had a quick ratio steering boxand heavy duty front and rear sway bars.The Dakota RT could doa seven second zero to 60 on street tires,but many RT owners put slickson it and hit the drag strip.(tires screeching)Around the same timeDodge had a concept truckcalled the Sidewinder.It was a hot rod looking truckwith an eight liter V10from the Viper GTS-R,making 640 horsepower.Supposedly the truck couldget to 170 miles per hourbut it never went into production.I can already imagine me and the boyslooking cool as heck cruisingaround in one of these things.I'm driving,James is sitting shotgun,got Jeremiah and Jobe in the back.It's a good day.I miss my boys.These high performancetrucks paved the wayfor all the super amazing trucks we gotin the 2000s and 2010s.The second gen Lightning,my personal favorite,the SRT 10, my also personal favorite,the Trackhawk, theSilverado SS Intimidator.When there's competition between brands,we the consumers reap the benefits.If I keep talking aboutthese cool ass trucksI'm probably gonna want to buy one.So before I get temptedto boot up Craigslist,that's where I'll leave you today.Trucks are great.To the viewer who suggested I comb my hairbefore I filmed one of these videos, no.I'm representing for allthe curly boys out there,all the thick boys out there.For something a little differentcheck out this episodeof "Wheelhouse" on vans.Follow Donut on allsocial media @donutmedia.Follow me @nolanjsykesfor the ongoing ramblingsof a madman in progress.Be nice and I'll see you next time.