GMC AFKX 354 (french Contract)

[serge]

Hello ALEX

It's a good thing that you can read "VEHICULES MILITAIRES MAGAZINE" in NETHER LAND.
About these kind of trucks builded at the begin of world war two , there denomination using letters helps to a have a good identification of them.

So :letter A mean the year of conception
F : means that the truck own a cab over engine
K : means that the front axle may be driven (after pushing a level)
W : means that the truck owns two rear axles
X : I suppose that there were experimental but I am not sure

I join the pic of an AFWX landing in NORMANDY and an other used as FARHSHULE. In the text it is say that there were used by german army to learn the driving of american truck.

Regards

[David_Hayward (RIP)]

This is from my notes:

The first letter indicates roughly Model Year, so “A” was 1939-40, “C” 1941, “D” 1942; the next “D” indicated Diesel engine, the following “C” indicates that the truck was Normal or Conventional Control, or “U” for “Unconventional Cab” or “F” Forward Control/Cab-over-Engine. “K” indicates “front-wheel drive”, “W” “6-wheels [or 2 x rear axle drive]”; “X” SPECIAL WHEELBASE LENGTH, the “X” being dropped February 1941.

G.M.C. Trucks ordered by the French Government and then diverted to the Ministry of Supply, all l.h.d. were Models:
AC-504 and ACX-504 4 x 2 with GMC 278 cu. in. engine.

All with GMC 248 cu. in. engines: ACK-252; ACKX-252; AFKX-352; ACK-353; ACKX-353; ACKWX-353; ACKWX-353; AFWX-354. The ACK-252 and ACKX-252, and ACK-353 were a 4 x 4 version of the standard AC-252 or -353; the ACKW-353 was a 6 x 6 normal control version with Thornton conversion, and AFWX-354 the Thornton 6 x 4 Forward Control chassis with extra “crew-cab”, and ACKX- was 4 x 4 with twin rear wheels, and ACKWX- was 6 x 6 with twin wheels on rear axles.

British orders for G.M.C. were for the Model AFKX-352 4 x 4 with the 248 cu. in. engine, all l.h.d. it is believed. Later U.S. supplies of G.M.C. military trucks were of the 1941 Models CCW-353 5-Ton 6 x 4; CCKW-352 50 cwt./2½ Ton 6 x 6 145 in. wheelbase, and CCKW-353 same capacity 6 x 6 157 in. wheelbase. In addition there were supplies of the amphibious “Duck”, 1942 Model DUKW-353 2½ Ton truck, based on the CCKW-353 chassis. These all used the GMC 270 cu. in. engine. Engine #s: 270-xxxxxx e.g. 270-637537.

Our new book on Pearsons' of Liverpool has photos of ex-French GMCs post-war, virtually as received and rebuilt.

[Noel Burgess]

There are some Official (?) drawings of various GMC models on William Marshall's Webshots Album here http://news.webshots.com/album/181012271UcuRkt when viewing 12 to a page they are on pages 17 & 18. These have helped me get a clearer understanding of the various models discussed here.
Thanks to Hanno who originally posted the link elswhere [in the Armour section], some interesting stuff in there.

Noel

[Hanno Spoelstra]

An AFWX-354 has surfaced in France:

6F5E793A-B48C-48F0-950F-23EC9168CFB3.jpeg 05CC436A-B2BA-4285-9B64-4C7D1313618F.jpeg

D993265F-8D0A-4729-A8B0-68EB259D74AA.jpeg D6CE5527-3470-40E1-BD8A-ED609D35E3CB.jpeg

F56771AC-6C6B-4025-994D-56AE417A1B63.jpeg

Source: https://www.facebook.com/groups/4990...6408450144924/

[Grant Bowker]

Interesting - yet another truck that seems to have mis-matched data plate (serial 505) and frame (serial 513). There's probably no way to tell whether it was the result of an in-service overhaul or a much later event (though the rivets/screws holding the plate in place don't look recent and the green paint on the surround also covers part of the data plate...)