General Motors is reportedly dusting off another nameplate from its vault, and this time it’s one that actually makes sense. According to a report from GM Authority citing anonymous sources, GMC is developing a new body-on-frame SUV that would revive the Jimmy name — dead since 2005 — and throw it straight into the most competitive off-road segment in the business.
The Jimmy would be built on the same platform underpinning the GMC Canyon and Chevy Colorado mid-size pickups, slotting between the compact Terrain and the recently supersized Acadia. Its targets: the Toyota 4Runner, Ford Bronco, and Jeep Wrangler, three trucks that have been printing money while GM stood on the sidelines.
The most eyebrow-raising detail is the possibility of a V-8 option. GM sank $888 million into its Buffalo, New York, engine plant last year to build a next-generation small-block V-8, the same architecture that spawned the 6.7-liter unit in the 2027 Corvette. Shoehorning eight cylinders into a mid-size platform currently fitted only with a turbocharged 2.7-liter four-cylinder would be an engineering stretch, but it’s the kind of stretch that sells trucks.
The turbo-four, making 310 horsepower and 430 pound-feet of torque in the Canyon, would almost certainly be the base powertrain.
This isn’t a new idea. GM reportedly explored a Jimmy revival several years ago, only to shelve it when the company pivoted hard toward EVs and its Cruise autonomous-driving division. Both bets have since cooled dramatically. Cruise was shuttered. The EV transition has slowed. And the Trump administration’s rollback of fuel-economy standards removed the regulatory barrier that had made a new body-on-frame SUV financially painful.
So here we are, watching GM rediscover internal combustion with the enthusiasm of a teenager finding dad’s old muscle car keys. Just days ago, Automotive News reported that Chevrolet plans to resurrect the Camaro by late 2027, with Buick and Cadillac sedans riding the same platform. Now the Jimmy. GM is suddenly in the revival business.
The nameplate carries less baggage than some. Chevrolet already burned the Blazer name twice — once on a forgettable unibody crossover, again on an electric SUV — and the enthusiast community hasn’t forgotten. The Jimmy name, untouched for two decades, arrives clean.
Whether a Chevrolet twin would also emerge remains unclear, though finding a fresh name for it would be its own challenge given the Blazer mess.
A GMC badge naturally pushes the Jimmy slightly upmarket, which could differentiate it from the Bronco’s rugged-utilitarian pitch and the Wrangler’s lifestyle branding. Think more leather, more technology, less canvas top. GMC has spent years positioning itself as the premium truck brand within GM’s portfolio, and a mid-size off-road SUV fits that strategy perfectly.
No timeline has been attached to the project, and the sourcing remains anonymous, so this stays firmly in rumor territory. But the commercial logic is hard to argue with. Toyota can’t build 4Runners fast enough. Ford’s Bronco waiting lists stretched for years.
Jeep just extended the Wrangler 392 V-8 because demand wouldn’t quit. GM has the platform, the engines, and now apparently the regulatory tailwind.
The only remaining question is whether GM can execute before the window closes — something the company has historically struggled with. Speed killed the last Jimmy project. It could kill this one too.
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