FOUR ICONIC GMCS FROM TV AND THE MOVIES! | MCLARTY DANIEL BUICK GMC

We love movies here at McLarty Daniel Buick, and we also love the GMC brand! For over 100 years, GMC has been building some of the toughest, most attractive vehicles on the road, so it makes sense that some of them play a starring role in TV and movies. Read on for some of our favorite GMCs that have appeared on the big and small screen over the years. And when you’re ready for the 3D version, stop in at McLarty Daniel Buick and check out our amazing selection of new GMC trucks and vans. We’re not in the car business. We’re in the people business! And we’re ready to make you a customer and a friend for life.

The A-Team
1983-1987, NBC
The GMC: 1983 GMC Vandura van
One of the most iconic vehicles in TV history, the customized 1983 GMC Vandura van on the action hit show “The A-Team” has become a classic since the show went off the air, endlessly cloned by fans. Revolving around the adventures of a team of mercenaries for hire on the run from the U.S. Government after being accused of a crime they didn’t commit, the show’s most popular character was Mr. T’s B.A. Barrackus, a muscled up, mohawked weapons and demolitions expert with a heart of gold — and the gold draped neck to match. As you’ll undoubtedly remember if you’re a fan, the GMC van belonged to B.A., who had customized it with a distinctive paint scheme featuring a red “hockey stick” stripe, a matching rooftop spoiler, and red turbine-style wheels. Fun fact: though most fans remember the van as black and red, it was actually three-tone, with gloss black below the distinctive red stripe, and a dark metallic grey that was almost black above.

The Fall Guy
1981-1986, ABC
The GMC: 1981 GMC K-2500 Sierra Grande 4×4
One of several 1980s TV shows that revolved around either stuntmen or bounty hunters, ABC’s “The Fall Guy” was the show that figured: why not both? The plot revolved around the weekly adventures of stuntman Colt Seavers, played by former “Six Million Dollar Man” star Lee Majors, who moonlighted as a bounty hunter. Colt’s daily driver was a 1981 GMC K-2500 4×4 in the luxurious Sierra Grande trim. A two tone brown-and-gold beauty with a lifted stance, a chrome roll bar, a chrome grille guard and mounted Baja-style fog lights, the long-wheelbase GMC chased nefarious no-goodniks on the show for five years, with GMC supplying the trucks in exchange for a credit and the understandable bump in sales of having a GMC front and center on one of America’s top-rated action hits.

It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
The GMC: 1930 GMC Taxi
Though GMC is known today as a maker of trucks and SUVs, the company has built commercial vehicles of all kinds over the past century. Back in the 1920s and 30s, that included taxi cabs, including a very famous one: the character Ernie’s 1930 GMC Taxi Cab used on screen in Frank Capra’s Christmas classic “It’s a Wonderful Life.” The film, which involves a hapless angel who shows a depressed man named George Bailey (James Stewart) what the world would lose if he went through with his plan to commit suicide, was something of a box-office flop when it premiered, but the advent of television and the fact that it could be shown by stations without cost because the copyright had been allowed to lapse brought it back and made “It’s a Wonderful Life” a treasured and beloved film. In the flick, Ernie’s taxi is seen several times, including after Bailey gets married, and another scene where Ernie drives George around Bedford Falls. Even better: the taxi still exists. After languishing in storage for over 50 years, it has been completely restored and was recently put on display by the American Automotive Heritage Foundation.

The Bridges of Madison County (1985)
The GMC: 1960 GMC 1500 pickup
There are tearjerkers, and then there’s 1995’s “The Bridges of Madison County,” starring film icons Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep. Based on the book by Robert James Waller, the film is the story of a romance between Robert Kincaid, a National Geographic photographer played by Eastwood who comes to remote Madison County, Iowa to photograph the historic covered bridges there and winds up having a brief, torrid affair with a lonely housewife named Francesca Johnson, played by Streep. Told through a frame narrative which has Johnson’s children discovering their mother’s secret affair through letters and photos after she has passed away, it’s a whirlwind of romance and emotion. Streep would go on to receive one of her countless Academy Award nominations for Best Actress for her work in the heartbreaking film, which has since gone on to become a true modern classic of the romantic genre. In the film, Eastwood’s truck is a green 1960 GMC 1500 which plays a starring role in several important scenes, including a scene in which Streep is overcome by her feelings just from a glimpse of the truck. While the film isn’t everybody’s cup of tea, it’s beloved by millions today, especially when they need a good, old fashioned cry.

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