Was driving to the Tractor Supply in New Haven MI last week, when I drove by a wrecking yard with these two beauties sitting outside.
I know that the truck on the left is a WWII era G-506 Chevrolet, but can anyone ID the big GMC on the right? Sorry I did not get a side pic, but it has one of those classic 50's wrecker bodies on it - the kind with the sweeping radius and the axle pushed way out toward the rear. It also had Dayton wheels on it.
Looks like mine, sort of....1959 GMC D860. Thanks for posting the picture!
~ Billy Old Dominion Stovebolt Society: Exotic Animal Division 1946 Chevrolet Cab Over Engine | In the Gallery | Video | More pictures 1959 GMC 860 | Pictures 1950 Chevrolet 3800 | Pictures I've got a trailer and I'm not afraid to use it!
Those 506's are not small trucks by any stretch. So it's funny to see how small the 860 makes it look ...
~ John
A kid raised on Hotwheels, Matchbox and Tonka cannot be reasonably expected to own only one vehicle as an adult.
1949 Chevrolet 3804 In the Legacy Gallery | In the Gallery Forum 1973 IH 1310 Dump 1963 Kaiser M38A1 2001 International/AmTran RE3000 "Skoolie" 2014 Ford E-350 4x4 (Quigley)
That is one big ol bumper on that truck. Almost looks like hes wearing a mask..
~ Billy Old Dominion Stovebolt Society: Exotic Animal Division 1946 Chevrolet Cab Over Engine | In the Gallery | Video | More pictures 1959 GMC 860 | Pictures 1950 Chevrolet 3800 | Pictures I've got a trailer and I'm not afraid to use it!
I realize it was a tow truck and it probably had a tire attached to the front bumper to push with, but I think it would look a lot better without the bumper.
For those not in the know, these 860s were a mishmosh of two existing series of trucks and came to the scene in 1958. GMC stylists took the grill from the 450-670 conventional series (small cab) and planted it on the fat cab 900 series. The result was popular. In fact they were kept in production until 1962, even tho GMC styling for all of its other trucks had moved on to a completely different look. Some of you know even more about this, so correct me/add to it.
I have read many times that these trucks were produced from '58 to '62 but I have never seen a D860 anywhere that was not listed as a '59. The first one I ever saw was Moe Stone's at the 2006 ATHS National Convention in Baltimore and I was hooked. The one I have now is actually the 2nd one I bought. The first one had too many previous frame modifications and needed to go. I heard it went to Minnesota to be streched.....
~ Billy Old Dominion Stovebolt Society: Exotic Animal Division 1946 Chevrolet Cab Over Engine | In the Gallery | Video | More pictures 1959 GMC 860 | Pictures 1950 Chevrolet 3800 | Pictures I've got a trailer and I'm not afraid to use it!
I got hooked on the looks of them in the late 50's, A quarry near San Antonio had 4 of them and a guy I went to school with drove one of them. I did the next best thing and bought a 550 with a 370 V8 with 232 HP that would outrun any 671. I was considering buying an 860 somewhere around PA in 2009 when I bought a 1957 600 wrecker in Walnuts Port, PA. My wife wasn't too excited about dragging two GMCs home at once so I passed on it. I'm not sure I have seen an 860 for sale since. And I had agreed to haul a dump truck out of Kentucky for a friend of mine. At the time all I had was 45ft flatbeds and I probably would have run out of room. I now have a 53 foot drop deck to haul my toys around with.
I have heard about 860s being produced until 1962, but I never have seen anything to confirm that in any of the GMC parts books I have. I really think the B series replaced it in 1960, but that is just a theory.
That styling was a big hit and some companies bought fleets of them. GMC used the Braen companies in New Jersey to feature the trucks. Braen had purchased about 25 tandems and I think most of them were W630's. There were transit mixers, dumps and tractors - all gas. A full color two-page photo of many of them lined up in one of Braen's quarries was featured in a 1956 Life magazine ad. A number of years ago, I talked with Don Meyer, GMC historian, about my truck, a 59 W660, and he sent me a bunch of information including a hand drawn ratio/speed chart showing how to shift up through the gears of my particular trannys, using both sticks....it would be a lie if I told you I've mastered it. He was a field troubleshooter for GMC in the late 50s, and was sent to the Braen quarries because the rear brakes were squealing loudly as the trucks descended into the quarries - he figured it out, but I can't remember the solution. He also recalled that one bitter cold winter in Michigan, he was assigned to take a 2-stick tandem out to the test track. He said that they could barely get the truck moving because all the fluids were so thick (molasses in January). He wrote about some of these experiences in various vintage truck magazines and I think he wrote a book also. Anyway, he was a devoted employee who loved working for GMC. I'm not sure if he is still with us. I also had the opportunity to meet Don Sullivan from Michigan, another GMC enthusiast. His pride and joy was his 'green giant' (1958 model 630). Some of you would know him and that he died in a tragic accident a few years ago. Excuse the rambling, just sharing my enthusiasm for the late 50s GMCs.
