Featured is the 1946 GMC CC 152 Half Ton Pickup which represented GMC’s first civilian use model produced after the end of World War Two. The GMC CC’s were built in 1946 and later in that year came the EC models. The big postwar modern redesign came in 1947 with the GMC FC models.
GMC Trucks
GMC as a truck brand was created out of a merger of the Reliance Motor Car Company and the Rapid Motor Vehicle Company within General Motors. GMC as a brand was officially introduced in 1912 at the New York International Auto Show.Â
In 1912, GM built about 20,000 trucks. Prior to the time of unveiling the GMC brand, trucks from GM were produced by both the Reliance and the Rapid companies. By 1913 all GMC truck production was performed at the Rapid Motor Vehicle Company plant in Pontiac, Michigan. Three years later in 1916 General Motors officially created the GMC Truck Division.
By the second decade of the twentieth century the Chevrolet brand and the GMC brand trucks looked very similar in appearance. During those early years Chevrolet was marketing their trucks to individuals while GMC was targeted to commercial buyers. That would change dramatically after the war when automakers increasingly made passenger comfort a top priority with light trucks.
Civilian Light Duty Trucks After the War
The first light truck built in the world was that of Gottlieb Daimler’s Motor-Lastwagen in 1896. This vehicle was essentially a cart with an engine in the front. The first truck to appear in America was the Autocar delivery wagon in 1899. Ford produced the Model TT in 1917. The Model TT consisted of a chassis and engine with factory built bodies not available until 1924. Dodge and Chevrolet produced their first pickup trucks in 1918.
After World War Two and after GI’s became more exposed to trucks through the military, upon returinng home many of them wanted one of their own. In the case of GMC, they produced more than a half million trucks for the military built for ruggedness during the war. GMC built a variety of truck sizes during World War Two from 1 1/2 ton to 10 tons. The result at war’s end was the creation of a big new market for light pickups.