GMC was initially created in 1911 by William Durant, the same Durant who shares credit founding Chevrolet and General Motors, to cater to the trucking and industrial markets. During the first world war, GMC was tasked with building heavy machinery for the war effort. During the post-war period, however, they pivoted to producing durable civilian utility vehicles. This 1916 Model 16 ¾ ton truck comes from the same year that GMC staged a display of its durability by doing a cross-country trek from Seattle to New York in less than a month. That was really good for 105 years ago. You can find this historic pickup truck here on eBay.

The truck doesn’t run, but it ran when it was parked…fourteen years ago. It’s a thirty-year-old restoration on top of that, so it will likely need a little bit of love to get running again. The seller is honest with what it needs, and they mention it has a couple of flat tires, but beyond that, it looks to be in decent shape. Importantly, with a vehicle mainly made of wood, there doesn’t appear to be any termite damage. Anyone with a Morgan will tell you that they’re little devils. Again, it’s been restored, so you’d likely have a perfectly functional machine once you pour some new oil in it and rebuild the carburetor.

With pioneering vehicles such as this, online information is sparse. I found a similar vehicle listed on Sotheby’s website, and they mention that it has a 35 horsepower Continental L-head four-cylinder engine driving the rear wheels through a three-speed sliding gear transmission. Looking at the pictures provided by the seller, that seems to ring true. It’s definitely an L-head inline four-cylinder driving the rear wheels through a dog-leg three-speed transmission. Pictures can’t give dyno results, though, so if you were hoping for the breakneck 35 horsepower this had 105 years ago, you might be out of luck.

I love how turn of the century vehicles didn’t really have an “interior,” so to speak. The cab was outside as much as it was inside, and you sit more on top of the vehicle than you do inside it. This definitely provides a unique driving experience, crash safety be damned. Its value is historical; you wouldn’t buy this car when you’re in the market for a usable truck, if you wanted something practical you’d buy its modern equivalent: the Sierra. Different vehicles fill different niches, and this fills the niche left by the automotive industry once they started catering to environmental and safety regulations. Not to say cars lost something when that happened, but they did definitely change, and this provides a unique look back to the beginnings of automotive history.