1990
In the January issue, readers got a glimpse of the future in ST's first full-blown feature shoot. Deron Wright's '85 Toyota mini was the star of one color and one black-and-white page.
The first of 11 different logo changes for the ST cover occurred in the April '90 issue.
April 1990. Bob Carpenter was so enamored with the new Isuzu P'up that he remarked, "There's more to this Isuzu than stunning paint."
June 1990. Our very first celebrity appearance came in the form of the Motor City Madman, Ted Nugent, who posed next to his freshly rebuilt Ford Bronco. Originally built for $100,000, Nugent thrashed it for eight years before the folks at Ford put it back into shape.
Way back in the August issue, Stylin' Concepts had already built and was ready to give away its first promotional truck. Stylin' is still in the giveaway business, building a new promotional truck each year.
1991
In the January '91 issue, we reported that GMC broke its own record by going 204.145 mph at Bonneville in the Syclone Land Speed Racer. Don Stringfellow was behind the wheel and commanding a bored-and-stroked 5.0L V-6 with 14:1 compression. The engine cranked out 574 hp at 7,400 rpm and was backed by a Wiseman five-speed manual. Gale Banks was credited with articulating the build of the truck. We also covered the SEMA Show before anyone else and debuted our reader-submitted tech-tip section.
Editorial Assistant Evan Griffey's 'fro made an appearance in the January '91 issue in a theft-deterrent buyer's guide.
In March, we screwed the pooch by printing a tech article about Spectre's purple anodized engine dress-up kit in all black-and-white print. In that same issue, we made up for it by showing you GM's new H.O. 350-cid crate motor and how to shave your door handles, also in black and white. GM began advertising its fantastic S-10 Pickup Trickup Contest too.
We were right on the money with our Toyota T100 concept rendering in the February '91 issue by Duane Kuchar. The truck didn't come out for several more years and was damn close to our drawing. The Reader's Rides section debuted in the February issue as well.
In June, we launched our Low Buck Challenge to find the coolest truck built on a $5,500 budget.
Stylin' Concepts gave away another truck in the August issue. The winner got a custom GMC Sierra. Oh yeah, you could also subscribe to win a GMC Syclone in that same issue if you cared about that sort of thing.
Hoyt Vandenberg joined the staff in September '91 and years of debauchery ensued. Just kidding. No, really.
File This Under WTF?
Brand loyalty taken to new heights in personal grooming.