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1954 GMC HC-Series

1954 GMC HC-Series in Three Wishes, Movie, 1995 IMDB

Class: Trucks, Trailer truck (tractor) — Model origin: US

1954 GMC HC-Series

[*] Background vehicle

Owner of this vehicle: mwbridgwater

Comments about this vehicle

AuthorMessage

Jale PL

2014-01-09 10:31

[Image: 4541.jpg]

Big Dave VA

2014-01-09 11:19

I think it is a G M C

Ddey65 US

2014-01-09 13:34

I know it's a GMC.

lightninboy US

2014-01-09 19:25

600-Series.

eLMeR MH

2015-02-03 02:27

It could be a 520 or 980 model also...
Generic name of these models is HC-Series in the IMCDb. They were sold from 1949 to 1959, without external change.

1949 GMC HC-Series?

mwbridgwater US

2016-09-11 06:22

That's my truck and I'm the one driving it. I collect/restore antique GMC heavy-duty trucks and was contacted to be in this film. This particular scene was filmed near Castaic, California. We (Everyone with the old cars and trucks) were there at the location for three days - finally did 3 run byes with all the vehicles on the third day and they said we were done.

This a is a 1954 630 series, specifically, a model DW636-47. The trailer is a 1957 Utility tanker that I rented from an oil company in Corona, California for this scene.

Regarding the previous posters information: Yes, for this period, 520 through 650 series looked like this (Though, I've never actually seen/found a 500 - ?) but 720 through 980 were a completely different/bigger truck with more grille bars, larger cab, etc.

I suppose one could say this is an HC-series but technically, that's not quite correct. The new "H" models first appeared mid-1949. Letter "C" in the model number indicated Conventional type (As opposed to "F" for Cab over Engine type), "D" for Diesel engine, "W" for dual-drive rear axles, etc., etc. Beginning with 1951 models, the "H" and "C" were dropped from the descriptions as being unnecessary. Also, a "-XX" was added to indicate the specific engine size. Had this truck of mine been built in '49 or '50, it would have been designated an HDCW636. But, as a '54, it's a DW636 with -47 added to indicate it has a 4-71 Detroit diesel engine.

As far as "1949 to 1959 without external change" - not quite true. The 500-600 series small cab trucks (Like pickups) had a two-piece windshield '49-'53 but one-piece in '54. After '54, the cab/body style changed completely. The 700-900 series large cab trucks were basically unchanged '49 - '53. Beginning '54, 700-800 series were completely changed and only 900 series continued mostly unchanged through 1959.

-- Last edit: 2022-11-19 03:25:55

dsl SX

2016-09-11 13:18

Over to elmer to digest this info and align with the system used on other related GMCs .....

eLMeR MH

2016-09-24 02:04

dsl wrote Over to elmer to [...]

I'm honored to be seen as a "GM truck expert", but I'm not the only one to pay close attention to GM trucks, and definitely not the only one to decide the way we should call them in the IMCDb :)

This said, there's not a lot to digest for me, in fact, as I was already talking about the end of the HC- part of the name in 1951 in my very first comment about these trucks ;)
But as said at that time, it's certainly better to call all of them HC-Series for consistency, at least with the current version of the IMCDb, the same way the HM-Series name is kept for trucks which are in fact EM-, ES- or HC- to HY-Series (single rear wheels) // JC- to JY-Series (tandem), depending on the model year, the wheelbase and the payload...

Back to HC-Series: further searches led me to see the 1954 cab change on "small" models some months later. But thanks to mwbridgwater I can now identify the lighter models due to their grille, although I still have a doubt about the "cab width" hint.
I can't find either a document about the 1954+ 700/800 models and wonder therefore what changed on them, and even if theses series were still made after this year. And I would temperate the "[a]fter '54, the cab/body style changed completely" idea, as the new cab appeared with the 1955½ model year only, meaning that early 1955 models have the old cab.
But I can only "work" with old pictures or drawing in brochures, and with screenshots made from old movies, as this kind of truck is not really standard in Europe. So I'll wait a bit before saying that my "list of clues" is sure and complete ;)

mwbridgwater US

2022-11-19 05:07

eLMer wrote
I'm honored to be seen as a "GM truck expert", but I'm not the only one to pay close attention to GM trucks, and definitely not the only one to decide the way we should call them in the IMCDb :)

This said, there's not a lot to digest for me, in fact, as I was already talking about the end of the HC- part of the name in 1951 in my very first comment about these trucks ;)
But as said at that time, it's certainly better to call all of them HC-Series for consistency, at least with the current version of the IMCDb, the same way the HM-Series name is kept for trucks which are in fact EM-, ES- or HC- to HY-Series (single rear wheels) // JC- to JY-Series (tandem), depending on the model year, the wheelbase and the payload...

Back to HC-Series: further searches led me to see the 1954 cab change on "small" models some months later. But thanks to mwbridgwater I can now identify the lighter models due to their grille, although I still have a doubt about the "cab width" hint.
I can't find either a document about the 1954+ 700/800 models and wonder therefore what changed on them, and even if theses series were still made after this year. And I would temperate the "[a]fter '54, the cab/body style changed completely" idea, as the new cab appeared with the 1955½ model year only, meaning that early 1955 models have the old cab.
But I can only "work" with old pictures or drawing in brochures, and with screenshots made from old movies, as this kind of truck is not really standard in Europe. So I'll wait a bit before saying that my "list of clues" is sure and complete ;)



Yes, 100-600 Series models all got the new (small, Chevrolet) cab in mid-1955. The large (GMC-only) cab introduced in mid-'49 for the 700-900 Series (nicknamed the "Fat Cab") continued through '53 for the 700-800 Series, but 700-800 were dropped beginning 1954. The 800 Series was re-introduced for 1955, again with the same large cab, and lasted through 1960. The 900 Series remained in production (with the large cab) for the entire period from mid-1949 through 1959.

eLMeR, I appreciate your concern for only making statements which you are certain to be accurate - I try to do the same. Yes, even though the model numbering system changed beginning with 1951 production, eliminating the "H" model designation and "C" for Conventional-type designation (And adding the engine size designator, "-XX"), I like to refer to the group as "H" models even post-'51. However, I only use that to describe mid-'49 (introduction of the H models which then also began including the 400 Series - previuosly F model to that point since mid-'47) through '54-early'55 for 500-600 Series, through 1953 for 700-800 Series, and through 1959 for the 900 Series. The designs changed dramatically after those periods for each of those categories, so really can no longer be referred to as "H" models.

I'm not sure if any '54 600 Series models continued unchanged into early '55 production like the light models, hence, only referring to '54. It's possible, but at this time, I have no confirmation that it happened. The 500 Series was eliminated after 1950 production until revived for 1955 with the "new"cab.

-- Last edit: 2022-11-19 05:11:32

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