Warren, Mich.—For the longest time (forever), there has been little distinction between your basic workaday Chevrolet pickup and the "professional grade" upscale version sold as the GMC Sierra. Since GM's pared down its stable of nameplates, it's time for GMC to mean more than badge engineering. The GMC Sierra All Terrain HD Concept being shown at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show is a peek at how that's going to happen. It's a concept aimed to split the difference between the two off-road pickup brawlers on the market, the Ford F150 SVT Raptor and the Ram Power Wagon.
The All Terrain starts with good bones—a production 2011 Sierra 2500 HD chassis, cabin and slightly dressed-up interior, as well as the new 6.6-liter Duramax diesel with 397 hp and 765 lb-ft of torque. GMC engineers chopped the back of the frame down and mounted the 5.8-foot short box on top to give it a wheel-pushed-to-the-corners look. The truck is lifted 3 inches and is 4.2 inches wider, thanks to a set of custom control arms up front and new springs in the rear, with Fox Racing shocks all around. For protection while rock-bashing, there's a full-length underbody skidplate that leaves a generous 11.8 inches of ground clearance.
To make sure this concept catches everyone's eyes, designers took familiar GMC design cues and pushed them to the extreme. A huge grille up front flows into a flush bumper that's cut away on the corners to make hopping logs easier. The hood is new and gets two big intakes for the Duramax to breathe through; new wheel flares all around add to the aggressive look and cover the 35-inch tires. Sprinkled around are neatly integrated running lights like those embedded along the top of the windshield and rear glass. Down the side are automatically deployed flood-lighted power steps borrowed from the Escalade. The bed boasts some tricks, too: Additional storage comes via Rambox-like containers along the top edge; there's also a ring of lighting in the bed liner and outlets for both pressurized air and 120-volt power.
General Motors is using this monster to gauge interest in something like this coming from GMC, but at the same time expects the Sierra All Terrain HD to act as a design study for much more differentiated GMC pickups to come. We see quite a number of aesthetic details you should expect to see when the production trucks get upgraded to match their all-new mechanical bits.
