Unconventional Driveline
L'Universelle's design concept called for a rear cargo area that would provide a low, flat floor, excellent space utilization and also make a low ride height easily obtainable. Knowing that a conventional rear-drive layout would compromise the concept too much, GMC design engineers came up with a radical front-drive powertrain layout that would show GM's innovative problem-solving capabilities.
A custom 108-inch wheelbase chassis was constructed for this GMC prototype. It featured an independent front suspension with unequal-length upper and lower control arms; tube type shocks and parallel torsion bars. This helped greatly with the packaging of the front-drive system. The rear suspension was quite a bit simpler than the front, using parallel leaf springs and a dropped-center beam axle, which would allow for the required low floor.
In keeping with the production GMC light- and medium-duty trucks of the era, L'Universelle featured the new overhead valve Pontiac V-8 engine, which was introduced in the '55 Pontiac and GMC lines. Displacing 287 ci, it featured a 3.75-inch bore, 3.250-inch stroke and an 8.0:1 compression ratio. It also boasted such technical innovations as a ball-stud rocker arm system and reverse-flow cooling, which directed coolant into the cylinder heads first and then to the block.
With a two-barrel carburetor, the 287 was rated at 180 hp at 4,600 rpm, with 264 ft-lbs of torque at 2,400. Since L'Universelle was built in time for the January Motorama opening in New York, it did not receive the late-year four-barrel version of the 287.
Due to its unusual location and the forward placement of the passenger compartment, a conventional radiator location would not have worked. Even in the unlikely case that it would have even fit up front, it would no doubt have transferred engine heat to the front seat occupants, an unpleasant scenario to say the least. Instead, the radiator was positioned in a sealed bulkhead above the engine and behind the passenger compartment. Cooling air was ducted through a grille located on the roof.
Rare clay model photos show...
Rare clay model photos show the evolution of L'Universelle's design. The rear wheelwell would be revised and the small lift-up roof panel cut in the clay just above the door glass would not be included on the finished product.
A bodiless chassis gives a...
A bodiless chassis gives a great view of the drivetrain details. Its Hydramatic-based transaxle required that the 287 Pontiac engine face backwards. The extensive use of chrome, high level of finish and a color scheme that didn't match the finished truck suggests that this was a separate display chassis and not the one used on the finished example.
This photo was taken in San...
This photo was taken in San Francisco in March of 1955, just before the Motorama's opening in that city. Dagmar bumper cones are attention grabbing on a Cadillac; even more so on a GMC truck.
The Pontiac V-8 was attached to a custom longitudinal front-drive transaxle based on the four-speed GM Hydramatic transmission, which necessitated the rear of the engine to face forward, like the '36-37 V-8-powered Cords. Since the powertrain was backwards, the differential had to work in a reverse rotation compensate for this situation. Otherwise, it would have four speeds in reverse and only one forward speed!
All of the effort put into design and engineering really paid off. L'Universelle was a compact and versatile vehicle with one of the best examples of component packaging and space efficiency to ever come out of Detroit in the '50s. Though it was 10 inches lower and 10 inches shorter than panel trucks of the time (188 inches overall), it had a substantially larger cubic-foot capacity and a load floor half the height-only 13 inches off the ground. All of this thanks to the front-drive system, which eliminated the space-robbing driveshaft hump and rear differential.
It is clear that quite a lot of versatility was designed into L'Universelle. In fact, it was speculated in GMC-generated literature that minor manufacturing changes could turn the van into a small bus, taxi, station wagon or sportsman's car. Indeed, this GMC prototype would have been a very stylish and useful vehicle to take on hunting or fishing expeditions.
After the 1955 Motorama stops in New York, Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Boston, GM also showed GMC's L'Universelle in Chicago at the Powerama, a one-time-only outdoor event similar in concept to the Motorama. The focus of the Powerama was not automobiles, but rather the products and services of GM's non-automotive divisions. GMC was especially well represented, with their diesel trucks and of course, the GMC Dream Truck. Other divisions included Allison, Detroit Diesel, Frigidaire, Euclid, Fabricast, and Electro-Motive. Though attended by millions of people between August 31 and September 25, 1955, the Powerama was not moved to any other cities and was never held again.
Conclusion
Though nearly half a century has passed since GMC's L'Universelle graced a Motorama turntable, it accurately predicted the dimensions, layout and packaging of the minivans that have become a staple of American life. Closer to its own era, it also influenced the design of Chevy's rear-engined Series 95 trucks, the Corvair Rampside and Loadside pickups, Greenbrier vans, and Corvans. It's really too bad that this is yet another dream machine that disappeared without a trace.