Brand Fan: GMC

[Music] [Music] GNC trucks can trace their Origins back to the Grabowski Motor Company of 1900 who in 1902 changed their name to the rapid motor vehicle company and soon would be building one-ton trucks and buses but after their successful Pikes Peak kill climb they would be taken over by General Motors in 1909 when GM also purchased the Reliance Motor Company the company that had started with luxury cars in 1904 and had moved to commercial trucks in 1906. in 1911 GM would combine these two Brands to create the General Motors truck company or simply gmtc once the first world war started they began building troop carriers and Aviation support vehicles for the military the 8500 military trucks accounted for 90 percent of GMC production at the time starting in 1920 GMC light trucks and Chevrolet pickups would be sharing the same body although engines remain different and the GMCs were still marketed as commercial vehicles soon exports of commercial trucks to developing countries would be a big part of the business including to Japan particularly after the great Kanto earthquake when Checker took over the Yellow Cab Company GM would take control of the yellow Coachworks builder of cabs and buses and slowly integrate them into gmtc over a 15-year period to slowly evolve into GMC trucks by the late 1920s some light and medium GMC trucks would start using Pontiac and Oldsmobile engines while the heavy duty big brute trucks used an exclusively GMC engine although horsepower was not much over 50 and speeds could sometimes be limited to as low as 15 miles an hour the trucks would be Geared for hauling up to as much as 10 tons partly thanks to a high and low range transmission 1934 would see the introduction of cab over designs that made them much more manageable in the city while light trucks continued to share bodies with Chevrolet leading GMC to get its own version of the Suburban Wagon in 1937 which along with other light GMC trucks would start using a new GMC 6 in 1939 the new light C series of 1941 shared the standard Chevrolet platform used by all Chevy cars and trucks during the second world war they built a number of military vehicles primarily based on the 6x6 Jimmy including the ambivious back and shortly thereafter the last of the yellow coaches would be re-badged as GMC transit or T-Series buses that would be available in gas diesel or electric versions with a manual or automatic transmission ranging from 25 to 42 feet in length the post-war new design trucks arrived in 1947 as their first modern Light Truck much more truck-like than before with a wider range of choices from half ton to one ton light versions in regular and cab over designs and there were heavier Duty HC versions of the truck starting in 1949 starting in 1954 GMC started making the scenic Cruiser version of their parlor series bus specifically for Greyhound the light trucks would be updated in 1955 as the Blue Chip money maker and a wide bed version was added it using the side panels of the Suburban wagon as the Suburban carrier the GMC straight 6 carried on and Chevrolet Pontiac and Oldsmobile engines would also see use in 1959 the dated Commercial Truck design would be sold to International Harvester and replaced by a tilting cab over design that would become known as the Cracker Box the transit bus would also be updated as the so-called New Look Fishbowl that would become the iconic City boss for the next two decades 1960 would see the introduction of a new family of B6 engines that would be initially offered in 305 351 and 401 cubic inch versions as well as a 702 cubic inch twin six that appeared to be two v6s welded together but was actually a single casting that same year the new BC and K series trucks were also entered the C Series were restyled light and medium duty trucks that would eventually become known as the GMC Sierra base engine was a 5 liter V6 optional engine was a 4.6 liter Chevy V8 the K series where the factory four-wheel drive versions of the same trucks and the B series used the same cab on a short-nosed conventional heavy duty truck the commercial line of V6 engines was expanded in 1962 to include 379 432 and 478 cubic inch versions and shortly thereafter the light trucks would get revised suspension starting in 1964 the handyman could choose between a traditional panel van and the new handy van or handy bus if you needed to haul more people than cargo a compact band that used a chassis based on the Chevy 2 Nova offered with either a two point 5 liter four-cylinder Pontiac Iron Duke or your choice of 3.2 or 3.8 liter Chevy straight six the GMC B series was adapted strictly for bus use starting in 1966 and the handy van would be revised the following year getting a bigger doghouse and improved cooling allowing the use of a Chevy small block V8 the light medium trucks would be redesigned as the Action Line series when the long Suburban carryall wagon was joined by the shorter two-door Jimmy which was not offered with the new GMC V8 a big bore 10 and a half liter 637 cubic inch engine which was rated at 275 horsepower and 600 pound-feet of torque the Cracker Box cab over was replaced in 1969 by the bigger Astro 95 cabover then GMC got all new rally and vandora vans built around around the pickup chassis starting in 1971 the same year they would get their own version of the El Camino a ute called the Sprint the light medium trucks would be revised again in 1973 using computer simulations and wind tunnel testing earning the Revolutionary new design the name the rounded line which ironically would later become known as the square body trucks the Sprint Ute would be restyled the same year and GMC would make a complete in-house RV from 1974 to 1978 simply called the GMC motorhome 1974 would also be the last year of the GMC V6 and V8 engine line getting all their engines from other sources going forward in 1977 GMC introduced the RTS for Rapid Transit series of buses a huge leap forward from the so-called High floor bus says that preceded it the GMC General would be introduced the same year a conventional Class A truck followed by the slightly lighter Brigadier a year later the Ute would be downsized in 1978 and renamed Caballero in 1980 GMC introduced the medium duty short-nosed top kick series like the OB series it used the standard CK series cab but raised to make room for its caterpillar Source 10.4 liter turbo diesel while the CK series themselves were given a mild update to The Styling in 1981 reducing weight about 300 pounds the traditional Transit bus would get updated front styling in 1982 and dubbed the classic series GMC entered the compact pickup Market in 1982 with the S-15 like its Chevy S10 counterpart it was initially offered with an Isuzu inline 4 or a Chevy B6 the following year an SUV version would arrive as the S15 Jimmy and there would be a minivan version starting in 1985 as the Safari and they would start rebadging medium duty cab over isuzu's as GMC's that same year and their line of transit buses would be discontinued as would the Caballero Ute then they would start to transition their heavy duty models into a joint venture with the Volvo owned white as white GMC with all the GMC design trucks being replaced by white design trucks by 1988. the same year the full-size light medium duty pickups would be redesigned to be lighter roomier and more aerodynamic and medium duty versions we're given a heavy duty designation and all were now simply Sierras while the bigger top kick trucks wouldn't see these updates until 1990. in 1991 the Jimmy was replaced by the Yukon although still based on the Sierra and there was still a long wheelbase Suburban version they would also offer a high performance version of the S15 called the Cyclone it had Sports suspension four-wheel anti-lock brakes and all-wheel drive the turbocharged 4.3 liter V6 produced 280 horsepower and 350 pound-feet of torque and fewer than 3 000 would be made but the treatment would be applied to the S15 Jimmy the following year as the typhoon with nearly 4 700 being made then the S15 would get restyled for 1994 and the name was changed to Sonoma styling that would be applied to the S15 Jimmy a year later with the S15 being dropped from the okay starting in 1996 GM would paired GMC dealerships with Pontiac dealerships to create a full line of cars and trucks the full-size Vans would be updated as the Savannah the same year moving the engine and the front axle forward for more room in 1997 Volvo would buy out GM steak and white GMC and the trucks would become Volvos GMC created a luxury version of the Jimmy in 1998 called the envoy a new Sierra was introduced for 1999 to be sold alongside the old model for a year that would be called the Sierra classic and the Yukon would get its own luxury version a sort of Cowboy Cadillac called the Denali a year later the Yukon would be updated to match the new Sierra and the long wheelbase version was now called the Yukon XL instead of suburban the luxury treatment made its way to the Sierra in 2001 as the C3 but it too would be called Denali starting in 2003 and with the 2002 redesign all jimmies were now envoys a new top kick arrived for 2003 in an attempt to be more competitive no longer sharing its cab with the Sierra being more in line with the also knew that year Savannah van and the marginally related school bus line was discontinued the compact Sonoma pickup would be replaced by the new and bigger Canyon in 2004 and after 20 years of only minor updates the Safari minivan was killed off there was an all-new Sierra for 2006 with an even greater focus on luxury with the Yukon getting similar updates the following year although styling was now more distinct and GMC would get its first crossover SUV the Acadia a version of the Chevy Traverse and Buick Enclave 2008 would see the last of the manual transmission for GMC passenger vehicles at least in the U.S and with the forced restructuring related to the government bailout the last of the commercial trucks were killed off this included the top kick trucks and the GMC badge to suzuks with the death of Pontiac the Pontiac Torrent became the GMC Terrain and the envoy went away a new light duty Sierra arrived for 2014 with the so-called heavy duty versions coming a year later along with the new Yukon and Yukon XL the new compact pickup introduced in 2011 as the Holden Colorado didn't make it to the U.S until 2015 but looked very Butch as the GMC Canyon a smaller lighter a more economical Acadia arrived for 2017 the already smaller terrain would go the same route the following year but would still gain a Denali luxury package and an all-new Sierra trailed the Chevy Silverado release appearing in 2019 starting in 2020 GMC refocused trimage as a premium brand but was still using a professional grade slogan an image supported by the 2020 Yukon Denali and the electric 2022 GMC Hummer although with real commercial vehicles no longer being offered and Buick and Cadillac having moved into the SUV Market GMC doesn't have much of a purpose as it has become just dressed up Chevy trucks but its work truck image seems to be keeping sales strong at least for the time being and if you want to have an impact on what brand I look at next check out the latest poll on my Community page and as always thanks for watching don't forget to comment below and like And subscribe thank you thank you [Laughter]

Channel: The Hopeless Car Guy

Views: 25,116

Keywords: Grabowsky, Rapid Motors, Reliance Motor Company, Yellow Coach, Big Brute, Chevrolet, Suburban, Jimmy, DUKW, 6X6, C-Series, Transit Bus, New Design, HC, Parlor Bus, Scenicruiser, Crackerbox, New Look, Old Look, Fishbowl, V6, Twin Six, Big Bore, K-Series, B-Seris, Sierra, Astro 95, Handy-van, Vandura, Sprint, Caballero, Rounded Line, Square Body, Rapid Transit Series, Topkick, S15, Safari, White/GMC, General, Brigadier, Yukon, Syclone, Typhoon, Sonoma, Denali, Envoy, Canyon, Acadia, Terrain, Hummer, Isuzu, Savana

Id: Zfr76m_tzBY

Length: 14min 53sec (893 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 24 2023