James K. Wagner offers a comprehensive chronological narrative covering 100 years of GMC light-duty trucks in 10 chapters featuring 121 black-and-white photos, informative captions, and eight charts. The book motors through the years based on major benchmarks of GMC’s history, beginning with the 1902 Rapid—the company’s forefather—and the Reliance, both brought into the GM fold by William C. Durant. The first “true” GMC, the Model 15, made its debut in October 1914. GMC’s “transition to greatness” as Wagner puts it, began in 1925, with the merger of General Motors Truck Co. with Yellow Cab Mfg. Co., at which point it became a major player in the light-duty market starting in 1932. Additional chapters include the post-World War II models (1947–54), the dramatically different 1955–59 Blue Chip Models, the “big GMC breakthrough” of 1960–66, the “Chevrolized” 1967–72 models, the pickup boom of 1973–87, and a chapter that covers the 1988 through 2002 models that, despite significant changes, are included in one chapter with the theme “Driving to the 21st Century.” A concluding chapter surveys light-duty vans and wagons from 1964 to about 2000. This book does justice to the story of a legendary marque. 

Book Review by Robert Gabrick