PRI 2025: Andy McPherson’s Twin-Turbo Voodoo-Swapped GMC Syclone

Some might view this combination as cross-breeding blasphemy, but Andy McPherson is clearly not worried about offending the purists. His 1991 GMC Syclone is one of the most radical builds we saw at PRI 2025, primarily because he ripped out the factory turbocharged V6 and replaced it with Blue Oval power. This Coyote-swapped GMC Syclone is a masterclass in packaging and fabrication, proving that cross-breeding brands can result in something far wilder than the factory ever intended.

The heart of this monster is technically a Ford V8, but it is not your standard junkyard truck engine. McPherson built the combination around a Shelby GT350’s Voodoo bottom end, but sleeving it will smaller bores to deliver an exotic flat-plane-liter 5.0-liter V8. This gives the truck a unique, high-revving scream that you just don’t hear from a traditional cross-plane V8. To make sure it has the power to match the noise, he mounted a pair of 78mm HPT turbochargers that dominate the engine bay. Managing this complex setup is a Link ECU, which handles the fueling and timing for the high-strung Ford mill.

Putting a wide dual-overhead-cam V8 into a compact S-10 chassis while keeping it all-wheel drive required some serious engineering gymnastics. The engine had to be heavily offset toward the passenger side to make room for the front driveshaft and differential. This placement made a standard suspension impossible, so Andy designed a custom cantilever front suspension setup to clear the hardware. The power is routed through a bulletproof TH400 transmission and split to all four wheels via a heavy-duty transfer case plucked from a GM 2500 pickup.

Despite the race-car fabrication, this truck is built for the long haul. McPherson designed it specifically for drag-and-drive events, meaning it has to survive hundreds of miles on the highway between making 7-second passes at the track. It retains a four-link rear suspension and enough street equipment to be legal. While swapping a Ford engine into a legendary GM truck is a bold move, this Coyote-swapped GMC Syclone earns respect through sheer mechanical creativity and the quality of the execution.