"Jim Spanfeller" (awesomeaustinv)
08/12/2020 at 18:21 • Filed to: concept, gmc, Vanlopnik
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"Jim Spanfeller" (awesomeaustinv)
08/12/2020 at 18:21 • Filed to: concept, gmc, Vanlopnik | 2
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The GMC L’Universelle was one of GM’s Motorama show cars, built to showcase then-futuristic technologies and get the public excited about what the future held for the automobile. Specifically, the GMC L’Universelle was a radical re-imagining of the simple panel van, a typical example of which would’ve looked something like this in ‘55:
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The L’Universelle featured a mid-engine, front-wheel- drive layout which was very weird for an American vehicle of the time. The last American FWD car was the Cord from the thirties, and the next wouldn’t be made until 1966 in the form of the Oldsmobile Toronado, so to see this technology in a panel van of all things was wild.
More importantly, the lack of a driveshaft in the back allowed for a lower floor and more room in the back. Plus, it some crazy folding gullwing doors for you to access that roomy interior with:
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The driver sat on top of the front transaxle, which was paired to a Pontiac-sourced 4.6-liter V8, featuring a very strange radiator setup.
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Of course, the styling was just as crazy as any other Motorama show car, and with the cabover design, it was very ahead of its time. It even looks like GMC was targeting younger audiences with some of their promotional photos:
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Can you imagine if, after woody wagons, these were the trendy surfer vehicles? I wonder what a passenger van or pickup truck variant would look like... Too bad it never made it to production. It was a cool idea at least.
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slipperysallylikespenguins
> Jim Spanfeller
08/12/2020 at 18:27 |
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Wonder no more
camaroboy68ss
> Jim Spanfeller
08/12/2020 at 18:30 |
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Well the idea kind of lived on with the Corvair Rampside pickup. Also the top of that panel has the same lines as a 55-57 Nomad
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Jim Spanfeller
> slipperysallylikespenguins
08/12/2020 at 19:07 |
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Thanks.
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Jim Spanfeller
> camaroboy68ss
08/12/2020 at 19:09 |
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The Corvair vans are probably the closest things to this concept that ever got made. Man, I’d love me a Greenbrier camper van...
just-a-scratch
> Jim Spanfeller
08/12/2020 at 20:01 |
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Wow. That's really cool. I wonder what kept it out of production, cost I suppose.
ranwhenparked
> just-a-scratch
08/12/2020 at 21:41 |
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Almost none of the Motorama cars were ever intended for production, this was way before the era when people expected concept cars to be prototypes in name only. Very likely, GM never had any thought at all that this could go into production and never even did any cost accounting related to that.
BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast.
> Jim Spanfeller
08/13/2020 at 10:57 |
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Pretty sure it got translated into the Corvair Greenbrier van, which was produced... Although rather than a forward-mid engine, driving the front wheels, The engines were in the middle or rear, driving the rear wheels... Load floors did somewhat vary...
As well as the Ford Econoline, and Dodge A100
Even Jeep tried it. Not to mention the pickup truck variants of those.
This one was a Dodge from 1941...
And that is all before we even get to the most famous one, the VW Bus.
Between potentially tipping forward under hard braking while unloaded... and abysmal front crash safety... forward-control vehicles became less justifiable.
Although I do wish the mid-engined van would make a comeback... there is still some crumple-zone in front of the cabin...
Electric drivetrains could make some interesting propositions for cargo and personal transportation... if the CUV form factor would give way to other options.
Maybe a Tesla Model V.... between cyber*T* ruck and Models X and Y.
Maybe falcon van doors that open just enough to slide back.
Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
> Jim Spanfeller
08/14/2020 at 01:42 |
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It looks an awful lot like the van I drive when playing The Sims 3.