Car of the Week: 1936 GMC half-ton pickup
Discover the history of the 1936 GMC half-ton pickup, the brand’s first light-duty truck, and the remarkable restoration of one of the finest surviving examples.
GMC appeared as a distinct brand in late 1911, although its roots in General Motors go back to 1908. That year, William C. Durant started buying up stock of the truck manufacturer Rapid Motor Vehicle Co. as he began building General Motors into a conglomerate of vehicle manufacturers. In 1908, General Motors also acquired Reliance Motor Truck Co. and Randolph Motor Car Co. and eventually combined them with Rapid Motor Vehicle Co. These three truck companies would form the division of GM that built heavy-duty trucks under the name “Rapid Truck,” but that name didn’t last long. By Aug. 1, 1911, GM launched General Motors Truck Co., or GMC, and start chugging forward with trucks of one-ton and greater capacity. When Chevrolet added trucks to its line, GMC became GM’s dedicated big truck builder while Chevrolet trucks were largely considered the corporation’s light-duty truck builder.
Like every other vehicle make, the Great Depression of the 1930s hurt GMC commercial truck sales, because businesses weren’t investing in new heavy-duty trucks. As a result, many GMC dealers closed. To combat that trend, GMC entered the light-duty, half-ton truck market in 1936 to give its Buick, Oldsmobile and Pontiac dealers something to compete with Chevrolet, Ford and Dodge in the light-duty field.
The need for speed in getting trucks to GM dealers meant that GMC did not have the time to develop its own ground-up truck. Poor economic conditions also limited the funds available for development. As a result, the first light-duty GMC trucks used parts and pieces from other GM divisions. A Chevy half-ton truck frame was used, but with a modified front cross member to accommodate a different engine. To further differentiate it from Chevrolet, the ’36 GMC offered a long-bed option in the half-ton truck model while Chevy did not. A longer drive shaft was needed.
The GMC engine in heavy-duty trucks was too large to fit the half-ton frame, and there wasn’t time to develop a smaller GMC engine, so an Oldsmobile inline six-cylinder that produced more horsepower than the Chevrolet engine was used. It was painted green to highlight the difference between the gray paint on Chevy engines. By the 1939 model year, a new GMC engine produced almost double the horsepower offered in the Chevy half-ton trucks.
Light-duty GMC trucks shared basic sheet metal components with Chevy trucks, but had a different front end design incorporating a unique grille and different bumper shape and chrome trim. Also, reworked chrome hubcaps were used on GMC trucks.
Typical of trucks in that era, the GMC half-ton was designed for work, not comfort. It did offer three trim levels, though: a bare-bones model, a mid-level model with a few extras and a fully optioned model. These higher-end options -— chrome highlamp housings, a driver’s armrest, dome light, etc. -— were aimed at improving sales to individuals, not fleet buyers.
One of the best surviving GMCs from 1936 belongs to Patrick Kroeger of Palm Harbor, Fla. His short-bed GMC is pretty basic, but it does have the optional two-tone paint in Medium Cream and Hollywood Tan. Most of the colors offered for trucks in that era were limited to darker tones, so his truck definitely stands out. That color combo added about $10 to the truck’s cost.
Kroeger’s GMC truck also has the optional heater, but not much else in the way of creature comforts. He found his truck about 20 years ago, after he retired from the Dunedin, Fla., fire department. Initially he was looking for a 1940s or ’50s Chevy pickup, but while working the internet, he stumbled upon the GMC half-ton pickup in Queens Creek, Ariz. His father-in-law lived nearby so he inspected the truck for Kroeger, who decided to buy it. He learned from the seller that he was the second owner and that the original owner bought the truck new in June 1936 and registered the truck in Pinal County, Ariz. The original owner had restored the truck in 1989 and the seller performed a few repairs during his years of caring for the rare ride.
“I had no idea of the significance of this truck until I got it and started to research more about it,” he says. That’s when he committed to restoring the truck to its original condition.
As is the case more often than not with long-distance purchases, the truck arrived in need of another restoration. Kroeger says the paint and bodywork were in good condition, but, otherwise, the truck needed a lot of work.
“Mechanically, it was in very poor condition,” he says. “Every seal and gasket leaked, the brakes were shot, the head had a crack in it, the tires were dry-rotted and the wood in the bed was dried out.”
And that was just the start. In addition to tackling those obvious issues, he rebuilt all of the gauges, replaced the tailgate, re-chromed the radiator ornament and repainted the wheels. Then he rebuilt the carburetor and the fuel pump, replaced the rear glass and surround, added the passenger side mirror and rewired the gas tank sending unit. The clutch was replaced and the pressure plate was rebuilt.
The wood planks in the bed of the truck were replaced and the bench seat was reupholstered. Patrick also had the four single-action shock absorbers rebuilt. Patrick’s truck is an example of the Spartan truck interiors of the time. The wood floor and basic gauge package -— with an 80-mph speedometer — are pretty much it, except for the drivers-side-only windshield wiper.
The ’36 GMC half-ton truck was a one-year transitional experiment to introduce the light-duty pickup to GMC customers. The 1937 models were essentially the same, except with a redesigned front clip that introduced a more distinct design. While light-duty trucks trucks accounted for more than 40 percent of GMC truck sales in 1936, the 11,000-plus units sold paled in comparison to the more than 97,000 Chevy half-ton trucks sold that model year.
In addition to Kroeger’s truck being a rare example of the first light-duty GMC pickup, it was chosen in 2018 to be a Hallmark Christmas ornament. Not many collector car owners can display a Christmas ornament of their ride next to their trophies.
While Patrick is proud of the restoration work on the truck, it’s certainly not a garage queen.
“I have attempted to do a decent job of restoring this truck,” he says, “And although not a daily driver, I do put around 100 miles a month driving around to cruise-ins, and on weekends.”
SHOW US YOUR WHEELS!
If you’ve got an old car you love, we want to hear about it. Email us at oldcars@aimmedia.com
If you like stories like these and other classic car features, check out Old Cars magazine. CLICK HERE to subscribe.
Want a taste of Old Cars magazine first? Sign up for our weekly e-newsletter and get a FREE complimentary digital issue download of our print magazine.
We know you love old cars, but do you collect anything else? Ever wonder about the baseball cards in a box in the basement or Grandma’s old coins in a jar? Do you love history or spin vinyl? Head on over to Collect.com and see what you are missing. Collect.com is the who, what, when and where of the collecting world! https://www.collect.com/
