Following up on Paul’s book review of “Driving While Black” (a really great book, available at your local bookstore), and my writeup on Ford Parcel Delivery Trucks, here’s a GMC Value-Van I came upon today during one of my Corona-walks, featuring some commentary on recent events.
I’ve been delving into the “Driving While Black” book, and it really does make you think.
Have you ever been pulled over for speeding? For having a turn signal light out, or expired registration? Do you remember the terror you feel as the officer comes to your door, wondering what will transpire next? Have you ever been driving and had a police car tail you for a number of blocks, seemingly waiting for any minor transgression? I remember in my younger, faster-driving and uglier-car days the low-grade terror I felt when being followed by a cop-car for a few blocks.
Many folks of color live with that terror every day, magnified even more so by the realization that if they do get pulled over, or stopped while walking down the street, or in any number of other situations, they are many more times likely to be subject to arbitrary arrest/detention and/or violence against their person, with the further knowledge that the courts are predisposed against them. As has been documented many times in recent days, polite cooperation is not always sufficient to avoid such treatment.
The thing is, those indignities still happen today, with soul-deadening regularity and with no end in sight. Despair has finally led to indignation, which has led to the protests we are experiencing over the past few weeks.
Buried within the anger is the simple plea to be finally treated in all respects and with all the rights and considerations due to each and every one of us, as human beings, and as full citizens of the United States of America.
GMC Value-Vans and the identical Chevrolet Step Vans were available from 1958, with the third generation debuting in 1967 and production continuing all the way to 1992. (Thank you the very interesting Czech-based website chevroletclub.net).
In 1969 Value-Vans and Step-Vans were available with either aluminum or steel bodies. Different from Ford, General Motors built their standard bodies in-house, in a dizzying array of styles and sizes, in 1500, 2500, and 3500 sizes for the GMC version, and with gasoline six and V-8, and THREE CYLINDER Detroit Diesels, and 3- and 4-speed manual transmissions along with the Hydramatic.
By 1976 the diesel was gone, and the 400 cid V-8 was available, with a 4-barrel carb. Transmission choices were down to a 3-speed manual or the Hydramatic, and there are no changes of significance to the outward appearance. I would guess that at this time what is now Morgan-Olson produces the aluminum body and Union City produces the steel one. I don’t understand why the grille is different on the aluminum body.
By 1985 the choices are down to the 5.7 L V-8 or the 6.2 L Diesel. Outwardly no differences are apparent.
The last brochure I have been able to track down is for the Chevy version in 1990, though both the GMC and Chevy versions were apparently produced until 1992. After that General Motors just produced stripped chassis for folks like Utilimaster to put their bodies on.
I have no idea what year the subject Value-Van is from, though I note it does has an automatic transmission. That gauge cluster looks slightly modern, but this truck didn’t show up on the smog-check database, so I’m going to guess 1976.
I still remember the actual terror that enveloped me in the early 1990’s when I was pulled over, arrested (and very roughly treated), for speeding on a sleepy Saturday afternoon on a highway outside a small town in North Carolina. I was driving just like a kid in their early 20’s who grew up in Southern California would drive, if they found themselves with a few hours to kill before their flight-cost-saving Saturday-night stay was over, and were driving a rental car which was in much better shape than anything they had ever driven before, with an empty open road in front of them.
There is a long story about that, which ended up o.k. for me, but I wonder what would have happened to me if I had been of a different color. I never thought about that incident this way before, but after reading “Driving While Black” and listening to the many stories which have made their way through newspapers and social media over the past few weeks, I do now. Let’s hope things get better – a whole lot better.
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GM did not produce bodies in house, which is why they talk about the Olson and Union City Body options in the brochure.
The grilles are different because for whatever reason Olson didn’t order the optional box of lights and grille and instead used they same pieces no matter who’s chassis they but the body on. So you can see that same face on a Ford chassis.
My mind is finally starting to think “Black Lives Matter” when I see the “BLM” acronym, and not “Bureau of Land Management” or “bank loan modification,” both of which have been (and still are) common uses of the same acronym during my 40-year career.
As one who enjoys this site’s celebration of enjoying and driving distinctive vehicles – and who has feared driving through certain areas as a person who is different than those in those areas – I can only hope for the day when it’s something that all can enjoy without fear of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Well said. Recent events have me intrigued with the notion of reworking community service and safety away from heavy handed police procedures and mindsets.
I agree with the feelings of terror, as an old car enthusiast, I’ve been stopped for interrogation plenty of times by police just because my older vehicle didn’t fit the police expectations, especially my Chevy vans. Police aren’t supposed to do this, they need probably cause before a stop (Ontario). Some police literally tail gate me for miles to provoke something they can get me for. Other times they don’t even bother , they flip the lights and stop just to have a conversation about where I’m going and what I’m doing. Again technically this is illegal. But I’m a well spoken, polite middle aged pasty-faced white dude, so after 15 minutes of questioning, they let me go. Interestingly, they never look at the mechanical fitness of the vehicle,
I agree, if I were black, and especially if I were a Caribbean immigrant, things might be much worse. There has to be a better way for community service, other than driving around, profiling innocent people.
Looks like it is actually the BPM edition, since the slogan is Black Power Matter. Maybe that’s a competing organization?
Our public life has been a little crazy and disturbing lately (ok, more than a little). The discussion about police stops is thought-provoking and quasi-automotive, so still relevant. I feel like a thread like this has the potential to get real political real fast, and I hope we can keep the site the pleasantly apolitical place it has always been. There are plenty of places to go to get one’s blood pressure up and thankfully this is not one of them, unless cars get you really riled up!
Well said and agreed.
I also agree, which is why I almost never comment on these types of posts. Well said Jon.
Posts like this should be not be made at all, especially at this time. Politics should be kept OUT of this forum COMPLETELY I recommend removing this post before things get ugly.
Curiously enough, your comment is the closest thing to “ugly” in the comments to this and the other related post. It seems that our commenters are quite capable of keeping things from getting ugly, which is a great tribute to them. The comments have almost universally been thoughtful, insightful, respectful, and not political.
Strictly speaking, this subject isn’t primarily political. It’s a social issue about how we as drivers agree (or not) to be policed. It mostly transcends politics, and there’s plenty of folks on both sides of the political spectrum who have strong feelings on the issue.
FWIW, we have given the topic plenty of exposure here, and will not be exploring further in future posts. I hope that satisfies your great concerns.
The issue of dealing with police officers has been on my mind for years. As a not-always-law-abiding white kid growing up in a small town, I had my share of interactions with police officers back in the day.
Though I was almost always guilty of the claimed offense, the officers almost always let me go with no more than a warning. I don’t recall ever feeling threatened or intimidated, more a sense of (I now realize) entitled annoyance. My experiences might be construed today as a manifestation of white privilege. Though I didn’t think to ask back then, I now wonder how my black friends experienced their interactions with the police.
I wonder how the sentiments painted on the van would have resonated back then. I know what my grandfather, who didn’t seem to realize that Archie Bunker was a satirical character, would have said, and though I am glad that his worldview is less prevalent now, disappointed that it still exists. Perhaps the confluence of current events is just what we need to increase awareness of the problem, transcend the entrenched ways of thinking, and force the changes required to truly make our country a place of liberty and justice for all.
To echo Seventeen Chariots I got the “where are are you going“ questionnaire the only time I got a ticket, and there’s no doubt in my mind my white face and golden locks wasn’t what the Wisconsin trooper was expecting seeing a 20 year old car coming from Chicago on the way to Milwaukee.
I wouldn’t say I had my eyes opened by the recent protests, so much as proved to me that all that talk and bluster and band-aids like body cams to placate an irate public just a few years ago was nothing more than kicking the can of worms down the road, followed by business as usual. I do know there are many individually good cops and sympathize with the fear that any situation can become a deadly one, but so does the general public, especially when black, and unlike when a cop is shot for no good reason, there’s not going to be justice brought onto the perpetrator if the perpetrator in the wrong happens to wear a badge, just some paperwork shuffling, or maybe a firing(transfer) at worst.
The law enforcement system seems like a game the public isn’t privy to and communities of color seem to be like the bonus level – rack up as many points as possible, get three tries, and game over means “oh well, guess I’ll get some sleep”. No crime committed is too petty to not warrant lethal force if escalated – sell a loose cigarette? Well you may as well have just robbed a bank if you argue about it. There are much larger systematic issues than just the police, but when the police act as yet another obstacle in the struggle I think real meaningful change with real oversight and checks is long overdue. If defund means that they stop with pulling in collars just to meet quotas, or means taking away military artillery, or means they operate on a more efficient way and held financially accountable for lawsuits from victims of brutality and murder, maybe that is as answer.
On a lighter note(albeit related to quite a few excessive drug convictions), Weed Van!
I drove the step van version for years, as it was the shop van at my father’s business. Actually learned how to drive in it, talk about trial by fire. I guess the old man thought it was better to crack up than my mom’s “nice” car.
Pro tip make sure the sliding doors are locked or you get quite a surprise when you have to stop quick. Also don’t overload with bricks or the first railway crossing will result in the front wheels coming off the ground.
When I moved into my first house, there was an office client who had a big aluminum (aluminium for our English readers) Step Van that was available for borrowing. So I did. It wasn’t necessarily pleasant to drive, but it did a great job in a valuable niche.
I worked for a plumber in the early ’70’s and he had a metallic brown Step Van, 307 V-8. No business name and such on the side since we only did contract work for restaurants and property management firms. On a service call at an apartment building in the “county strip” just east of Inglewood, California, a Sheriff’s car pulled up and asked us what we were doing there, white guys in a black neighborhood. Not harassment, but what did he think we were doing, stealing toilets? My “respect” for law enforcement intelligence took another step downward.
I went to Missouri in 2015. When I was done with my work-related business near Kansas City, I pointed my rental car, a new Corolla, East toward St. Louis to visit a friend there.
Up ahead I saw two police cruisers parked across the median, driver’s window to driver’s window as they do. Just after I passed them, the one pointing toward the Eastbound lanes pulled out onto the road and started accelerating toward me. I wasn’t speeding, but I had been a little too close to the black Camry in front of me. The police car’s light bar came on, so I made my way to the right lane and pulled off onto the shoulder.
The officer went to the passenger side of the car…and I couldn’t roll down the window. It wouldn’t go. I hit the driver-side switch: nothing. I reached over and hit the passenger-side switch: nothing. Meanwhile there’s a law enforcement officer out there rapidly losing his patience, rapping on the window and loudly ordering me to roll down the window. Finally I opened the passenger door and explained it was a rental and the windows didn’t seem to be working.
That’s all it took tode-escalate the situation; the officer didn’t like how close I’d been to the black Camry. He asked me to please keep more distance, and bid me a good day.
I happen to be white, and I happen to speak “standard” English as my first language. Things could have easily gone very badly if either of those not been the case; people—mostly black and brown ones—have been brutalised and executed by police officers—mostly white ones—for far less than reaching across the car to push the switches or open the door. While I was struggling to comply with the officer’s order, a large chunk of what was going through my mind was “All the windows are still intact and I’m still in here instead of face-down on the pavement because I’m white”.
(It was only after the roadside conversation was over that it occurred to me to look for a window lock switch: yep, there it was, awkwardly placed in a semi-hidden location, and it turned out to be engaged. Shame on Toyota—and Honda, and perhaps the whole of the Japanese auto industry—for a dumb, thoughtless window lock configuration that disables the entire power window system; the correct way is for the window lock to disable the passengers’ window switches while leaving the driver able to open and close all the windows.)
The squared-off hood on the smaller model seems to have gone away sometime in the early ’70s in favor of a P-10 with the same slanted hood as the bigger ones. Also the side badges were updated to the style used on the 1975-80 pickups, presumably for 1975, but remained that way on Step-Vans for the rest of the run.
This truck could quite literally be old enough, like a number of elder protesters on the net, to carry a sign reading “I Can’t Believe I’m Still Protesting This (stuff)!”