GMC W-Series: the Isuzu Elf built for North America

The GMC W-Series is the North American version of the Isuzu Elf, a medium-duty cab-over truck that Isuzu has built since 1959. GMC has sold and built it since the early 1980s, alongside the Isuzu N-Series and the Chevrolet version.

GMC W-Series at a glance

Based on one source, the English Wikipedia article on the Isuzu Elf. The photograph shows an Isuzu-badged Elf, the same truck GMC sold as the W-Series.

History of the GMC W-Series

The Isuzu Elf

The Isuzu Elf is a medium-duty truck that Isuzu has produced since 1959, known outside Japan as the N-series and Q-series. The range was first sold mainly in Japan and other Asian countries, with Australia another important market where it was manufactured from the 1970s using many local components. Since the early 1980s the Elf has also been sold and built in the United States, under the Chevrolet and GMC brands as the W-Series and as the Isuzu N-Series. North America receives only the wide-cab version.

The first generation

The cab-over 2-tonne Elf, the TL221, was introduced in August 1959 with a 1.5-litre petrol engine of 60 PS, single headlights and rear-hinged doors. A longer-wheelbase version on a 2,460 mm chassis was also offered. In March 1960 a 2.0-litre diesel of 52 PS arrived, the first diesel in its class in Japan, and competitors soon followed. In 1962 the engines were updated to 72 and 55 PS, and in 1964 the long-wheelbase model became standard while the diesel was upgraded to the 2.2-litre C220 with 62 PS. A facelift in 1965 brought twin headlights. Isuzu offered a very wide range of bodies, including the original integrated bed, a separate dropside bed, a double cab, a soda truck, a dumper and a tanker, as well as passenger-carrying Route Van and Elf Bus models.

The second generation

In August 1967 Isuzu added the lighter “Isuzu Light Elf”, rated at 1.25 tonnes with single round headlights and a 1.5-litre engine of 68 PS. The second-generation Elf followed in April 1968, and a walk-through van called the Elf Hi-Roof was another first for Japan. In September 1969 the Light Elf was upgraded to 1.5 tonnes with a 1.6-litre engine of 75 PS. In October 1970 the range was reorganised into the Elf 150 and Elf 250, with the heavier 3.5-tonne Elf 350 added, and in 1972 came the front-wheel-drive Elf Mi-Pack with a low loading floor only 450 mm off the ground; it was retired after a few years because of its price and customer reluctance to accept a front-wheel-drive truck. A low-floor Elf 150 followed in 1974, and the third generation arrived in June 1975.

The North American W-Series

For North America Isuzu’s Elf became the GMC and Chevrolet W-Series, sold from the early 1980s with the wide cab. The W3500 and W4500 are the models most often seen with GMC badges, and the same trucks were also sold as the Isuzu N-Series. Elsewhere the Elf has been assembled from CKD kits in many countries, including at the GM-Colmotores plant in Bogota, Colombia, since 1991, and in several Asian markets the lighter models are converted into microbuses and share taxis by local body builders.

Design and features

• Cab-over layout: a flat-fronted medium-duty truck with the cab above the engine.
• Isuzu engineering: the same truck sold worldwide as the Elf and N-series.
• Wide cab: the only cab offered in North America.
• Diesel history: Isuzu put the first diesel in this class in Japan in 1960.
• Many bodies: from dropside beds to buses and purpose-built conversions.

GMC W-Series versions

• GMC W3500: the lighter North American model.
• GMC W4500: the heavier North American model.
• Isuzu N-Series: the same truck under Isuzu’s own badge.
• Elf 150, 250 and 350: the Japanese-market weight classes of the 1970s.
• Elf Bus: the passenger version that later became a separate Isuzu line.

The W-Series was the lighter relative of the GMC T-Series and sat below the GMC TopKick. More trucks are in the GMC collection.

Sources

• Isuzu Elf, English Wikipedia: Elf history, generations, North American W-Series