GMC Axed V8-Powered Jimmy Revival To Pay For Hummer EV Development

There have been notable nameplate revivals in the past few years, and the GMC Jimmy was one of the most high-profile comebacks. Sadly, the Jimmy, which would have shared a platform with the GMC Canyon, was eventually dropped. What makes it even sadder is that the Jimmy would have likely launched with V8 power.

GM Authority's sources claim that the Jimmy's product team battled hard to bring a V8 to the market. But a larger mill would have forced changes to the planned 32XX body-on-frame platform, which would have cost GM a fortune.

It seems the company was unwilling to roll the dice, even for a possible turbocharged four-pot model. Instead, GM's resources were allocated to another high-profile project.

The Jimmy was supposed to rival the Jeep Wrangler, Ford Bronco, and Toyota 4Runner. At the time, the Wrangler was not available with a V8 yet, and Ford and Toyota don't offer a V8 as an option. This would have given the Jimmy a rather powerful unique selling point.

A year after the Jimmy was canned, Jeep decided to fit a 470-horsepower Hemi V8 in its iconic off-roader. Ford has no plans to slot a V8 under the hood of the Bronco Raptor because there wouldn't be enough space left over for all the cooling requirements. Not that the Braptor needs a V8 to kick the V8-powered Jeep in the teeth...

The resources GM would have used to design a new Jimmy were said to be diverted to develop the Hummer EV, which may have been a bad move considering how difficult the pickup is to build and sell.

The starting price of the GMC would reportedly have been around $40,000 with the four-pot under the hood. The V8 option would have cost more, but still nowhere near the $100k GMC charges for a Hummer.

The GMC Jimmy might be the best off-roader that will never exist. Still, GM has announced that it is developing a small block V8 engine, backed by a $918 million investment. Around $64 million of this money will be used for EV production.