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14 April 2013
# 3015

 
  Owned by
Chris Londish
"Chrislon"
Bolter # 13xs44
Victoria, Australia

 

1952 GMC 9600 Canadian

 

More pictures of my old truck

Join the discussion about this truck

 

 

From Chris :

Hello there. My name is Chris Londish. I live in Bannockburn, Victoria, Australia which is in the southeast corner of Australia. I am the owner of a 1952 GMC 9600 with an Australian Holden cab. I have re-stored the old truck over the last five years, doing a full body off and strip down. I fitted the truck with a 1955 Blueflame Chev motor that has just had a total rebuild.

The last five years have been a voyage of discovery for me as I never thought I could not do this. Now it is something where I stand in the shed and think about before and after -- you can see those pictures on the photo link above.

This GMC with a Canadian chassis was first ordered by Mr. John (Jack) Hannah of Wedderburn, Victoria in 1948 from Queesnbridge Motors, South Melbourne, after being told the Chev he wanted was unavailable. A deposit of 50 pounds was paid and the vehicle was finally delivered in 1952 at final cost of 1921 pounds. The truck was kept for six months in the shed and run every day, until Jack was ready to sell his 1947 Chev.

About 12 months later, the first motor blew up and was replaced under warranty. The second survived until 1988 when my Father bought it at Jack's clearing sale. It blew up on the way back to Woodend where it sat for some time.

Some repairs were done -- brakes, wheel bearings and kingpins -- and the motor was removed. The truck sat in Paddock til January 2008 when I worried it out of my Dad and he gave it to me.

Since that time, I have since carried out a body off restoration.

  • Load capacity 4 ton 12 cwt
  • Road speed about 80 kph
  • Motor 1955 235 ci Blueflame bored 30 thou
  • Trans 4 spd
  • Diff single speed 7.61:1
  • Colour Milan Blue, Holden FX colour
  • Tray 14ft x 7ft 6inches standard military Royal blue
  • Brakes drum, hyd vacuum assisted

Chevrolet trucks were sold in Australia from the 1920s and during the war. We had a lot of lend-lease vehicles and after the war, these were the only trucks available until civilian trucks started to return. They were sold up to 1959 in limited numbers through GMH dealers. Then in the mid '70s, the C20, C30 and C60 were available. Later on, Holden sold Suburbans as Holden Suburbans but in very limited numbers. Now most Chevs are available here through Dealers but are extremely expensive. There are quite a lot of Chev, Maple Leaf and some GMC in restoration and being rallie.

Chris

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