Re: GMC Aero Brigadiers and what could have been
At the GM Heritage center lies proof that GMC pondered the production of an "Aero Brigadier".
GM Design proposed the first truly all-new GMC Brigadier, which would have debuted in 1988.
GM planned to use the then-new GMT 400 (C/K) light and medium truck cab.
However, once the decision was made to sell GM’s heavy truck unit to Volvo, GM focused on its GMT 530 medium duty program (Topkick/Kodiak) then under development by GM’s UK truck unit Bedford for introduction in late 1989.
Clearly, the Aero Brigadier influenced the GMC TopKick/Chevrolet Kodiak.
Note: 1987 was the last year of the GMC-badged Brigadier (the Series 60 was an option that year). Volvo GM Heavy Truck Corporation, the successor to Volvo White Truck Corporation. began operations in January 1988. For year 1988, the Brigadier was manufactured by GM but marketed by Volvo GM, and carried the WHITEGMC nameplate. In 1989, the Brigadier was replaced by the WG model.
Brigadiers were manufactured in Orrville, Ohio; Ogden, Utah (the former Autocar plant); and New River Valley, Virginia (the former White plant). Volvo GM developed and assembled several Brigadier engineering prototypes at their Greensboro, North Carolina headquarters, but nothing came of it.
|