In the glitzy embrace of 1955, amidst the opulence of the Waldorf Astoria on Park Avenue, GMC’s L’Universelle burst onto the scene, defying the usual Motorama script reserved for GM’s passenger car stars. This dream truck, a creation of the GMC Truck & Coach division, dared to steal the spotlight from the Cadillac, Buick, Olds, Pontiac, and Chevy lineup.
While not quite a minivan prophet (terms and concepts yet unborn), L’Universelle tantalizingly foreshadowed the minivan movement by a quarter-century. Front-wheel drive and a sleek, low roof elements that would later define the minivan graced this unconventional beauty.
A fiberglass phantom on the show floor, L’Universelle was, in essence, a pushmobile. Yet, hidden away in the GMC truck division’s Michigan lair, living prototypes roamed. Behold the ungainly test mule, a fusion of ’55 Buick and GMC ingenuity. A Pontiac/GMC V8, reverse-engineered to propel the front wheels, danced with an inverted GM Hydra-Matic transmission. Inboard drum brakes, torsion bars, and a radiator nestled behind the driver wrestled with the puzzle of packaging.
Harley Earl’s dream spun a tale of versatility L’Universelle, both a commercial carrier and a station wagon, envisioned by the maestro himself. A patent adorned the design, a testament to the audacity of GM’s styling studios. Cargo floor height, a crucial consideration, bowed to the demand for diminutive 13-inch wheels and tires, a choice that reportedly left GMC’s engineers in contemplative concern.
The Motorama starlet flaunted cargo doors that unfurled with a flourish a gullwing spectacle, an Earl-infused touch of extravagance. Jackknife elegance, though perhaps less practical than the sliding-door pragmatism of future minivans, graced L’Universelle. Did this vision from 1955 whisper secrets to the minivan revolution of the early ’80s? The echoes of Motor City’s what-ifs linger, a tantalizing dance with an unconventional past.
