General Motors wisdom had it correct. They waited about 2 years after the end of WWII before introducing a new truck body design in mid-year 1947. With the returning military from overseas the truck sales (and all other cars & trucks) with pre-war older designs were selling faster than the factories could produce them. GM continued with the same trucks that the returning soldiers had seen before the war began. Customers bought them as fast as they became available. America had been without vehicles to purchase during the war years and most were ready to buy any NEW truck or car. They bought whatever had the appearance of a new vehicle.
As expected GM noticed the Chevrolet and GMC truck market beginning to be saturated, and it was time to begin selling the NEW body design. These General Motors trucks, developed in the mid 1940’s, had their tooling created and waiting on what GM knew would happen. Fill the truck high demand with the pre-war existing tooling and then introduce a new truck body a few years later to start another rush to the dealer’s showrooms.
Both the Chevrolet and the GMC trucks were referred to as the “Advance Design” style beginning in mid-1947. They were so popular GM continued with the basic design over seven years and then the tooling was sent to other countries where at least the cabs were continued into the 1960's. See an adjacent tech article on these overseas AD trucks is now available on our website. The following four photos will show the 1947 body change.
Early 1947 Chevy Mid 1947 Chevy
Early 1947 GMC Mid 1947 GMC
