Topic for GMC Sierra California Sundancer owners

[CCHEVAL1974]

Hi,

I own a GMC Sierra Classic 1500 "California Sundancer", 1987, long bed/fleetside which is a limited edition sold in California.
150 of them have been prepared : bright yellow / blue stripes, Mag Sprinters Western Wheels.
I propose to use this post to find other owners, share pictures, brochures, original order forms...

I'm not sure there are many trucks still alive but let's see.

You can see mine on the attached pictures (the one with the motorbike), I found the same wheels as the original ones (American Racing Outlaw II) and BF Goodrich Tires (the Sport Truck tire does not exist anymore but the Radial T/A seems to have the same look).
Unfortunately the front SmittyBilt bumper was missing when it was imported to France, this will be hard to find...
I have rebuilt the interior : new blue velvet, carpet, dashboard, sound system, seabelts and fixed some bugs (tail light/stop light fuse that was blowing) but it is not fully reliable yet.

See you soon !

Cedric
Paris - France

 

[CCHEVAL1974]

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[CCHEVAL1974]

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[Keith Seymore]

I see the letter is from Gerry Compagnoni.

I used to work with him. I think there were four brothers with that same last name. It was like you couldn't throw a rock around here without hitting a Compagnoni.

K

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[ChuckN]

Nice find! Thanks for sharing.

 

[CCHEVAL1974]

Hi, the GM Heritage center has found for me 3 new pictures (thanks a lot John Kyros from the GM archives) with this message : "Not much came up in a search on the “California Sundancer” in our database. Just these 3 photos and they seem to incorrectly labeled as 1986. Our shelved archive that may have something more is still in storage for the move of the GM Heritage Center and ongoing renovations at the new location."

So let's see after the storage move if anything else can be found.

FYI, GM Heritage can be reached here : https://www.gm.com/heritage/archive

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[CCHEVAL1974]

Hi, I have received my truck original invoice (50$, from GM Archive).
I noticed two option codes that may identify a California Sundancer (or any limited edition) :

YH3305 "Gold Metal Spec"
4001AB "Special Paint"
N67010 "Rally Wheels" not sure about this one, they normally have Western Mag Sprinter wheels

I have attached the document.

See u soon

 

[Keith Seymore]

Just an observation:

For discussion purposes the actual RPO code is the first three characters only, ie YH3, 400 and N67.

The additional three characters are "Exception Control Letters", or ECL, which provide a bit more detail regarding the RPO. They have only been decoded for Corvette (and not all of them) and eventually fell into disuse. By the time I came around they were either not printed, or a series of 000 zeros printed as placeholders.

YH3 is a promotional package RPO that gets reused, for special paint, spring specials, local dealer discounts and the like. It is normally hard to tell exactly what it stood for in a particular instance but you are lucky because everything is spelled right out.

N67 is the regular old Rally Wheel RPO, like the ones on my truck.

My thought is - and I'm just speculating - is that the base truck was spec'ed out and built in the vehicle assembly plant with just normal content. Then it would be sent to an aftermarket upfitter like Starcraft or Motorcoach to have the special content added (tubular bumper, roll bar, adhesive stripes and tire/wheels).

K

 

[Keith Seymore]

My thought is - and I'm just speculating - is that the base truck was spec'ed out and built in the vehicle assembly plant with just normal content. Then it would be sent to an aftermarket upfitter like Starcraft or Motorcoach to have the special content added (tubular bumper, roll bar, adhesive stripes and tire/wheels).


K

Bingo!

In looking at your invoice - your truck was built in Janesville and shipped to a place called "Classic Conversions" in LA. That's probably where all the cool stuff got added.

K

 

[Keith Seymore]

I may have known the Heritage Center was relocating. It was too small before it even opened, with most of the vehicles being stored at off site locations.

Which was kind of cool because they would rotate through the displays so the odds were good that you were seeing something different with each visit.

I asked about working there when I retired from GM proper, but they were pretty tight lipped about the process of getting a job there.

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[CCHEVAL1974]

Thanks a lot Keith for clarifying!The Heritage center should have moved by the end of May 2025, according to them, so I will contact them again in June to see if there have more information/documents to share.

FYI I try to connect with Gerry Compagnoni on Linkedin, he may have information to share too.

 

[Keith Seymore]

If you connect tell him I said "hi". He might not remember me but I have good memories of him and his family.

K

 

[Keith Seymore]

YH3305 "Gold Metal Spec"

One other observation:

If you look on your invoice this is actually "Gold Medal Spec", not "Metal".

"Medal" is the correct spelling for an award, like an Olympic Gold Medal, or a bronze medal. "Metal" is the material they are likely made from.

I wouldn't normally say anything - especially when there is perhaps a language barrier involved - except it gets screwed up here in the US too.

I've seen individual vehicles where it was spelled differently between the SPID, the Mulroney label (window sticker) and the invoice.

Marketing stuff is all made up anyway, so there is no way of knowing if they were making a pun or playing it straight at the time.

Just FWIW -

K

 

[Keith Seymore]

Do you have the SPID label?

For a Janesville truck it may be in the engine compartment attached to the wheelhouse. Most vehicles it is inside the glovebox.

Sample attached below -

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