Ever since the early days of the automobile, trucks have been a vital part of the automotive market, bringing form and function to anyone needing to carry any type of load from point A to point B. But with the introduction of the latest and greatest trucks, like the 2014 Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra, truck history can easily be overlooked. Luckily, the folks at GM News was not about to let that happen, taking time out of their busy schedules to pay tribute to over a decade of trucks that preceded the latest GM pickup trucks.

While the first GMC-badged truck didn’t debut until 1912, the story of the GM truck started nearly 10 years earlier. In 1902, the Max Grabowsky’s Rapid Motor Vehicle Co. introduced the first commercial truck to the Detroit auto market. Not much more than an engine, seat and a truck bed frame, it was this truck that lead the way for all of GM’s trucks.

Ten years later, the first GMC truck was produced, giving customers minor options to choose from, including upright front ends or curved (French) fronts.

By the 1920s, GMC trucks offered customers even more choices, giving trucks their first chrome-plated radiator surrounds, headlights attached right to the radiator and more formalized fenders. The trucks of the 1930s followed with more paint color options, raked grills, and passenger cabs looking eerily similar to car designs. These advances in design allowed trucks to break into a bigger part of the automotive market.

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What a difference a decade can make when it comes to the difference in designs between this 1930s GMC (left) and this 1940s GMC (right).

Recovering from the war, automotive manufacturers brought new design ques to the forefront in the late 1940s, including fully integrated headlights as well as grills that were lower and wider than before. Following what the company started in the 1930s, GM pulled more inspiration from cars for their trucks in the 1950s, bringing trucks better safety, more style, and better performance. Hooded headlights and panoramic glass was introduced on GMCs in 1955.

Up until the 1960s, GM trucks sported hoods that only covered part of the entire width of the vehicle, with grills and headlights sticking out further than the engine compartment. This changed in 1960 with the introduction of the full-width hood. The 60s also brought “jet pod” grills and a pinched waste body line half way back on the truck. The 1970s brought even more changes with padded materials replacing interior metal components, the introduction of the Crew Cab and a dual rear axle on heavy duty truck models.

By the 1980s, GMC trucks had established their substantial hold on the American truck market. With that came the official badging of full-sized trucks as Sierra models in 1987, as well as a whole new aerodynamic design for GM trucks across the board. Moving further into the future, the 90s brought the first Extended Cab model featuring a hinged third door. In 1999, a new generation of GMC trucks saw the introduction of frame hydroforming.

Hitting the new millennium in 2000, GM continued to expand their truck line and options, introducing the first Duramax diesel engine for the Sierra HD model, as well as the first Denali pickup truck trim level which added even more luxury to functionality for the GMC lineup.

Over the past few years, we’ve seen even more improvements in GM’s offerings, from looks to technology, and or course, in performance. Concluding year 2012, GM just revealed the next generation of trucks with the new 2014 models. Only time will tell what the future holds for generations of GM trucks to come.