American Expedition Vehicles, also known as AEV, has collaborated with GM to produce several special-edition trucks with exceptional off-road characteristics and has now rolled out its GMC Sierra Grande Concept, an overlanding monster designed to tackle the most extreme driving situations.
The vehicle started life as a Regular Cab, Long Bed 2024 GMC Sierra 2500 HD truck, but has been heavily modified with a wide assortment of equipment chosen to make it more rugged and capable on the trail.
The exterior of the GMC Sierra Grande Concept features extra protection. The truck leads with a stamped steel bumper outfitted with a 12,500-pound GM Performance winch, four LED lights, and a prototype AEV brush guard. The GMC Sierra HD AT4X AEV Edition supplied the front bumper itself.
While the steel brush guard and bumper protect against collisions with forward obstacles, several stamped steel skid plates are also fitted to defend key portions of the underbody. These plates shield the independent front suspension, transfer case, and front underbody.
The GMC Sierra Grande Concept rides on AEV Salta XD wheels wrapped in 40-inch tires from BFGoodrich. The fender flares framing these titanic rollers are more AEV prototype components, bearing the product name HighMark. The suspension incorporates an extra 1.5 inches of lift to accommodate the tires, once again using rugged parts borrowed from the Sierra AT4X trim that include control arms, steering knuckles, rear suspension, and Multimatic DSSV dampers.
American Expedition Vehicles replaced the truck’s stock bed with an aluminum tray bed, giving its rear half a highly distinctive look with jobsite utility or even vaguely military flair. The Sierra concept’s back end is equipped with two extra features, a 9,500-pound rear winch to supplement the 12,500-pound front end winch, and a vertical tire carrier inside the tray bed immediately behind the cab.
Motivation is supplied to the 2024 GMC Sierra Grande Concept by the 6.6L V8 L5P turbodiesel Duramax engine developing a whopping 470 horsepower and 975 pound-feet of torque. The engine is paired with the Allison-branded 10-speed automatic transmission. Clean air is supplied to the engine via an AEV snorkel lifting the intake above the thick dust potentially churned up while overlanding.
For aesthetics, the Sierra Grande Concept was also given the Custom AEV Paint Appearance Package. The concept vehicle is a one-off specially built by American Expedition Vehicles, but shows the possibilities the company is exploring for future equipment and features on off-road truck editions and trims.
Meanwhile, the 2024 GMC Sierra HD from which the Sierra Grande Concept was built uses a more-capable variant of the GM T1 platform for its underpinnings.
The collaboration between GM and AEV started with the last-generation Chevy Colorado ZR2 Bison. Subsequently, it has extended to the 2024 and newer Colorado ZR2 Bison, Silverado 1500 ZR2 Bison, and Silverado HD ZR2 Bison. The two companies also jointly developed the 2024 GMC Canyon AT4X AEV Edition, Sierra 1500 AT4X AEV Edition, and Sierra HD AT4X AEV Edition.
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Comments
Looks like a ute on roids out of Oz. Damn cool!
Looks like something you’d see on a Rocky Mountains ranch, or as an oilfield “rig welder”.
But looks are just that. Would be interesting to see how well it’d actually hold up in those conditions. The seats and anything plastic will be the first casualties.
Should be pretty rugged, it’s all T1 underneath with shocks, springs, etc. that will beef it up even more.
Looks great, and I appreciate the regular cab finally getting some love, as regular cabs are the OG of pickups. Also the color is interesting, is that Cacti, or a different shade?