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You know about the Sierra, Canyon, Yukon, and Acadia, but there’s a lot more to GMC than you might think. In honor of the brand’s 100th anniversary, here are 10 little-known facts about GMC. Ten Little Known Things About GMC
DETROIT - GMC is one of the longest-running brands in the General Motors portfolio, the second-largest of the four GM brands in U.S. sales, and a standard bearer for engineering in pickup trucks, SUVs, and crossover vehicles. Here are 10 little-known facts about GMC:
- The GMC name turns 100 years old in 2012. In 1912, Rapid Motor Vehicle Company was merged with two others -- Reliance and Randolph -- to become GMC.
- On August 1, 1909, a Rapid F-406-B -- a GMC predecessor -- was the first truck to reach the 14,110-foot summit of Pikes Peak.
- If GMC was a standalone manufacturer, it would be the tenth-largest automaker in the United States in terms of total vehicle sales from January to November of 2011.
- GMC built some of the world's earliest electric vehicles from 1912-1917. These trucks had single-digit model names, each denoting load capacity, from one-half-ton to 12 tons.
- GMC's luxury-focused Denali trim level currently outsells the entire product lines of some premium automakers, including Land Rover, Jaguar, and Porsche.
- GMC was tasked with engineering and production of the 1936 Parade of Progress vans and the 1941 Futurliners, which toured the country carrying mobile road shows.
- Today, GMC and the Denali trim level are among the fastest-growing nameplates in the U.S. with respective sales increases of 22 percent and 91 percent year over year.
- During World War II, GMC manufactured approximately 584,000 military vehicles, including the CCKW-353 "Deuce-and-a-Half" and the amphibious "Duck."
- The GMC Sierra -- the brand's top selling model -- outsold the Toyota Tundra and Nissan Titan combined, with 40,000 sales to spare, through the first 11 months of 2011.
- From 1973-1978, GMC produced motorhomes in 23- and 26-foot lengths. They appeared in Bill Murray's 1981 movie, Stripes and the 1996 blockbuster, Twister.
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