The GMC CCKW

WOW!!! What a beautiful set of GMC's. Thanks for this one Bill. The use of camouflage netting is an interesting addition to the CCKW and is really quite attractive.
Thanks for all of the hard work you do on this site.

Yes, and the 2nd truck in the rear is an AFKWX-353-COE and probably with a Montpelier cargo bed.

Hi, my name is Kees and I live in The Netherlands, this is my first post on this board. I am the owner of the GMC with the camouflage netting in the picture of the week. It is a great honour for me that a photo of my truck has been chosen to be on the front page of cckw.org!

The photo was made at the side of a country road in the south eastern part of The Netherlands. We were waiting for one more vehicle to arrive before leaving together to visit a Second World War remembrance event. GMCs always travel in packs, don't they

My CCKW has serial number 395667H1 and is indeed as the number says a tipper with Timken axles. I do not know its delivery date. It only has 16500 miles on the odometer. It is one of the trucks that is mentioned in the last part of Mr. Sunderlins tenth article on the history of the GMC. It was given to my country by the US in the fifties, reconditioned and then parked in a storage facility, never to be used. It has a plastic steering wheel and a NATO electrical installation and lights. It was sold to its first private owner in december 1988, and that is the person I got it from. It was in near perfect condition when I got it, it was get in and drive home.

It is a bit of a sad story, the way that I came to own this truck. You see, I have many hobbies, and one of them is classic radio transmitters and receivers. I am a ham radio amateur, and I am a member of a Dutch club that collects and operates radio equipment from the second world war. This CCKW was owned by another member of the club. It was always present at the field day meetings of the club, it became kind of the mascotte. But then very suddenly the owner died. He still was young, nobody knew he had a heart problem. The family did not want to keep the truck, but they did want for it to stay in the club, so it would still appear at meetings from time to time so that they could see it again, they did not want for it to disappear via ebay or something. I always wanted a classic truck, but I had a hard time finding a good one, but this was an opportunity not to be missed. So that is the way I got it.

A bit of a problem was that I did not have a drivers licence for a vehicle this big, so then I had to study and get one. That took a bit of time, and I just recently passed the last test. So my GMC has not been driven that much. It has been on the road, driven by a friend who is a member of the same Dutch club of classic vehicle enthousiasts that I also have become a member of. Together we have visited a number of events with it.

I came into contact with Bill because I don't know much about the truck, I was researching its history and so I found his site. My truck was already restored to the way it looks on the photo when I got it. I don't know if it has a correct registration number, or what the numbers on the bumper mean, or if there should be a circle around the white star or not. I already know it should not have the GMC logo on the brushguard, but I'm leaving it on for the time being.

The camouflage netting is on the truck to disguise the fact that the canvas is straight from front to back, instead of showing the supporting struts it should be hanging off of. The cargo hold has been changed into an isolated shelter, there is a little door with a window in the back that you use to get in, invisible of course when the canvas rear flap is down. This is great for camping trips in the winter, since running a heater for only a short time is enough to stay warm in there all night. And the radio equipment I take along sometimes stays dry and warm that way as well.

I often go to meetings and world war two remembrance events. Photos I made can be seen here.

The AFKWX-353-COE next to my truck is owned by a friend. A better photo of it can be seen here.

I'm sorry that my post got a bit long. Enjoy the photos!

Kees

Thanks for the pictures. My interest is - Montpelier and my Father build and designed the wood cargo bodies and earned the Army-Navy "E" Award plus two stars for their efforts.
As far as the AFKWX-353-COE, they built the following:
4,000 - 88 x 204
4.300 - 89 x 204

Kees51 wrote:My CCKW has serial number 395667H1 and is indeed as the number says a tipper with Timken axles. I do not know its delivery date.

Kees

First, a lovely truck!
From my ever growing list of serialnumbers, yours should be delivered in november 44 (it is in my list now). I still need many more serialnumbers to get you (or anyone else a accurate date, but slowly I do hope we will get there).
And keep in mind, there is serialnumbers "out of seekquense" due to the second factoryline in St. Loise and some other reasons.

Have fun in your CCKW this summer

Chers
Rolf

jhscpa wrote:My interest is - Montpelier and my Father build and designed the wood cargo bodies and earned the Army-Navy "E" Award plus two stars for their efforts.

Wow, that's great! You must have many stories to tell.

Is there any way I can determine that the COE actually has a Montpelier body, is there a plate I could look for?

Kees

mud-snow wrote: Kees

First, a lovely truck!

From my ever growing list of serialnumbers, yours should be delivered in november 44 (it is in my list now).

Thanks!

November 44 sounds right, I have heard from the local experts that my GMC is a late model. Thanks for confirming.

Kees

Beste Kees
Thanks for sharing the interesting story of the purchase of your truck. It's a beauty for sure. Do you ever see parts for the 3030 radios?
Met vriendelijke groeten,
Barry

Barry Churcher wrote:Do you ever see parts for the 3030 radios?

Hoi Barry,

Yes I do, I even own one myself. But since it's from the fifties I can't put it in my GMC. I can send you some hints off-list where you might find them.

Tot schrijfs,
Kees

I went back to the AFKWX COE to try and get a better picture of it but unfortunately it was in repair (broken fan belt) so it could not be moved. I did get a picture of the type plate on the cargo bed. Is this a Montpelier?

I'll be dammed The numbers are close but the contract list I sent you shows the following:
W 33-019 ord-4511, 3,300 Cargo Bodies, 89" X 204", Spec.E-8617
W 33-019 ord-2911, 1,000 Cargo Bodies, 89" x 204", ??
W 33-019 ord-635, 4,000 Cargo Bodies, Wood, 88 x 204 Dwg. E-8617 and your plate was...
W 33-019 ORD-635 Body Model E-8617 length 204, width 89 inches.
I wonder if on the list, 88" was a typo? I'll bet it was.
Jim H (armydriver) gave me a special bolt that was used and know I have a picture of the ID plate dated June1944.
Also the 88 typo referrers to the same drawing # E-8617.
Jim S