GMC Motorhome History

Exploring the GMC Motorhome History

A column by Bill Bryant, GMC Motorhome Historian, where he will share tidbits of the GMC Motorhome history with us.

GMC Motorhome Toys & Items

The GMC Motorhome has had a large variety of toys and items that were available during the period of motorhome manufacture. You can see a few examples that I had collected in the photo at right. Going from smallest to largest they are, HotWheels Palm Beach (orange), Hess Training Van, GMC fiberglass 18” model (orange), Barbie GMC Motorhome model (that I painted like my Palm Beach) and finally the full-sized “real” GMC Motorhome, the greatest toy of all!

The one model I want to discuss here is the GMC built fiberglass model. Why did GMC build it, how many were built, what happened to them?

This 1/16 scale model was initially built to determine the drag coefficient (CD) for the GMC Motorhome design and was tested at the Guggenheim wind tunnel in California. While GM also had a wind tunnel it was said to be not as accurate, so time was obtained at the Guggenheim wind tunnel and tests were run. As I noted in my GMC history article, “The GMC Motorhome, from Start to Finish...” (read at gmcmi.com/basic-history), the results were great – they were slightly better than the early 1970s Corvette of the time. It should be noted that typically in studies like this, those usual external protrusions like mirrors, roof air conditioners, vents, windshield wipers, awnings, etc. are not included.

Alex Birch, GM Foreman Experimental Shop

While the original test model was used in 1971/1972 the mold for that model was likely put away and forgotten. By the time 1974 rolled around, a couple of the original engineers were about to retire and I suspect someone had the idea it would make a great retirement gift from GM. I have been told by one of those engineers that he thought about ten of the models were built. We currently know where six of them are. These five GMC Motorhomes from the Bill Bryant GMC Motorhome Collection give you an idea of their relative sizes.

Pictured left: John Locklin, GMC Engineer holding the above GMC Motorhome at the 1996 GMCMI Spring Convention in Titusville, Florida. Note in the above photo that the large side window shows as a three-section window. That was the design at the time these models were built when they discovered it could not be sealed they changed to the two-piece production design.

Have a historical question about the GMC Motorhome? Submit it to gmc.bill@gmail.com