1977 GMC Jimmy Hendrix Edition – Brown Haze – GM’s Deadly Sin #6, Or Was It 9?

We’ve covered pretty much all of GM’s Deadly Sins over the years here, but little did I know that one of the very few we’ve never done had been hiding in the back yard of a red house over yonder. I’d seen it for many years as we walked down the alley, not realizing just how extremely rare it was. In fact, I’d forgotten about these altogether. But then it finally appeared on the street the other day, stone free, and I was utterly gob smacked—A GMC Jimmy Hendrix edition.

Come on, what was GMC was thinking when they came up with that?  Ain’t no telling otherwise, this turned out to be one of their most embarrassing deadly sins ever.

When I first spotted it from a distance I thought, you’ve got me floating, not having seen a classic Jimmy for some years, and I almost got hit by some crosstown traffic running to it. I had a momentary thought: is that rust? It can’t be, here in Eugene, Oregon, where rust always sleeps thanks to our magical healing rains. Is it voodoo, chile?

A closer examination revealed this to be a unique custom paint job, a sort of brown haze effect. That should have been my tipoff about this wild thing.

As I walked along its side, the mystery was revealed on its front fender. This is an ultra-rare GMC Jimmy Hendrix Edition! How could I forget? It was one of the biggest marketing blunders GM ever made, creating a special edition to commemorate (exploit) the greatest guitar player ever and forgetting that he spelled his name “Jimi”. GMC tried to recall all 500 of them to rebadge them, but it was to late for some 6 (or was it 9? ; the exact number is disputed) that got away.

One might have expected the Jimmy Hendrix edition to be sporting a purple haze paint job, but then maybe purple was a bit much for 1977. Actually, the whole idea of commemorating (exploiting) Jimi Hendrix ten years after he burst on the scene like fire with his machine gun guitar was frankly highly dubious. GM clearly was not experienced.

Yes, Hendrix’ music and guitar playing was highly original and undoubtedly his devoted fans were still playing it in 1977, but when I think about that era and this Jimmy, which along with its Chevy K-5 sibling were so madly popular with a certain young male demographic, Credence Clearwater Revival’s Bad Moon Rising comes a bit more to mind than Foxy Lady. But what do I know? I just remember seeing these jacked-up, big-tired Blazers and Jimmys tearing up the woods and river banks like a rolling stone or flattening castles made of sand in California on long hot summer nights at the time. “Tread lightly” was not exactly their owners’ thing.

Yet their trucks have survived the decades, and it’s not an uncommon sight hereabouts to see one in traffic as I did just the other day, with what was quite obviously their original owners still behind the wheel, looking a bit more experienced than average (both the truck and the driver). But then this rare Hendrix edition was been safely stored in the back yard for decades, so it looks pretty good. Come on, it’ll undoubtedly make it to its 51st anniversary

Well of course it’s a High Sierra trim; all the Hendrix editions were. GM wasn’t that dumb…And no, there was no EXP trim available on these.

There ain’t no telling why someone at GMC decided to put on this curious split rear window on these Hendrix editions. Hey Joe, was it love or confusion? Or manic depression? Gipsy eyes? We may likely never know, but let’s be charitable and assume that this may be love.

Of course there’s no back seat. The mattress is gone, but this was all about the power to love, highway chile. Are you experienced, foxy lady?

Ok, before you jump to any conclusions, keep in mind that Jimi Hendrix’ music is considered psychedelic rock, and supposedly GMC took that very seriously when it came to the front compartment. There was lots of burning of the midnight lamp to come up with something suitable, but come on, there ain’t no telling what this is all supposed to mean. Or be. Who knows, is that protrusion with a switch on it supposed to be a fuzz box? Pretty lame. This all looks more like a house burning down. Or like they took a machine gun to it.

I’m not sure what to think: love or confusion? Who knows? It certainly is a wild thing. But I rather suspect that if Jimi were still alive, a machine gun might be on his mind.