GMC M220 Shop Van - Texas Air Museum, Slaton, TX - Military Ground Equipment Displays on Waymarking.com

The M220 2 1/2 Ton 6x6 Shop Van is part of the GMC M135 Series of Cargo Trucks.

The M135 is a 2 1/2 ton truck made by General Motors Corporation (GMC) from 1950 to 1955, and is commonly referred to as a "Deuce-and-a-half". While it came in several different variations, the basic truck was the cargo version. You could hold a dozen troops in the back, or could fill it with equipment/supplies. Variations included a double wheeled version (M211), a dump truck (M215), fuel truck (M217), shop van (M220), semi tractor (M221), water tanker (M222) and many others. The M135 platform was one of the most versatile made, letting the military install pretty much whatever type of equipment on it that they needed.

All trucks of the series were equipped with 6x6 drive, powered by the GMC 302 6 cyl in-line, valve-in-head 130 hp gasoline engine. While not anywhere as powerful as the engines in the 2 1/2 ton army trucks of today, it did the job. All Canadian models of the truck had a 5 speed hydromatic transmission (2 high gears, 2 low gears and a reverse). Which was one of the very first automatic transmissions available at the time. This made it much easier for just about anyone to jump in and drive it away. Also included on some models was a PTO (power take off) which either powered a winch located on the front bumper, or a large list of different pieces of equipment installed on/in the back of the truck.

The M135-series trucks were superseded in the US military by the M35-series vehicles. The M135, M211 and other vehicles of this series -- affectionately known as the "round-nose jimmy" -- remained in service in the National Guard and Reserve components as well as in the military of US allies for decades.

Source: Wikipedia

Location restrictions: None that I am aware of-I visited while the museum was closed. The museum is located at Slaton Municipal Airport, Slaton, TX. The museum is open on most Saturdays. For more information go to the museum website - http://www.thetexasairmuseum.org/.

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