Do You Know What This Is?

[Frosty]

Can anyone identify this rare vehicle?  It looks like a Pontiac but yet it has GMC/GM Truck badging. This maybe the last known one left in existence too. The answer may surprise you.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 27, 2017 by Frosty

[Professur]

It's a bloody shame, that's what it is.

[Last Indian]

Looks like a 32 chieftain v8 coup, but the radiator shroud emblem I don' t know. Though it has the appearance a Pontiac indian except for the round circle with the g in it. Was it a prototype? Doubtful?😰

[Frosty]

Last Indian I give you kudos for your guess. You are correct that this is indeed a 1932 model. It is not an experimental or prototype. This is a production vehicle. These pictures were emailed to me from the POCI office yesterday in order that I could reach out to Don Meyer, the GMC Historian and get more detail. Sadly Don didn't have anymore detail to add. Remember in another thread I told you that Pontiac built bodies for GMC back in the 30s? Well this appears to a case where Pontiac built the entire vehicle for GMC.

Let me explain.

We believe this to be the only known remaining (1 of 394 built) 1932 taxi cabs built exclusively for the Yellow (Taxi) Cab Co. It was advertised and sold under General Motors Truck (GMC), not as a Pontiac. So that is why you see the "G" on the radiator and Body by GMC tag. You can see thru some of the oxidation that the doors were in fact painted yellow from the factory. This would be consistent with the taxi cab build. So while this is essentially a Pontiac automobile, it is technically a GMC vehicle!

 

Photograph of one of the 394 Yellow Taxi Cabs builti in 1932

 

1932 General Motors Truck (e.g. GMC) brochure advertising all of it trucks - including the taxi cab.

Edited September 28, 2017 by Frosty

[Professur]

Alright ... and? What's the rest of the story. That's the past .. what's this car's future?

[Frosty]

I have no idea what the future plans for this vehicle are at this time. The email from the owner in Arkansas was looking for more information.

I certainly hope he plans to restore it.

Edited September 28, 2017 by Frosty

[Last Indian]

I was pretty sure it was a 32, but I see now it's not a coup. Looking quickly the first time I missed the rear door because the handle is missing. The radiator emblem was the confusing part. If you look close it is a Pontiac emblem that's been modified. To look the way it does. Back on what would be the neck, look close and you can see the Pontiac head embossed in it. Pretty neat! Also the front fenders have a raised body line at the front edge that runs backwards in the center of the fender that I think was unique to Pontiac? 

Thanks for sharing!

[Frosty]

I'm happy to. That way we all learn something new.

[JUSTA6]

Learn something new everyday.   Thankz

[stratman]

Way cool, Frosty!

[Frosty]

Thanks guys!

[Pontiac 4 Life]

That is amazing. What a great car! Have you tried contacting the the Pontiac Oakland Museum and Resource Center for more information?