Looking for a specific old Army truck

[Hunter12396]

Hello all, my name is Harold, I am a military historian from Pittsburgh [though I've been to Detroit and it was nice]. I am currently trying to find out the fate of a prototype amphibious truck called the XM157 Drake, which was last photographed in the Detroit area in the 1980s. These five photos show it in a scrapyard or private collection, along with an M4 tank. The person who posted these photos to the internet did not take them, and he doesn't remember who did or where he got them from. So I am asking here, to anyone familiar with the history of the Detroit area, if you have ever seen this truck or recognize the area based on the photos.

The Drake was developed by GMC in the 1950s. The fact that it survived until the 80s gives me some hope that it might have survived hidden away somewhere, even if it was most likely scrapped. Since it is a GMC, it may have ended up in the Pontiac/Flint direction, where their truck plants are, but since both XM157 prototypes were shipped back and forth between Detroit and Norfolk VA they could have ended up anywhere, all that I know is that the photos were taken in the Detroit area in general.

[Lowell]

Wow. How interesting. That was a monster vehicle. They must have been preparing to invade China. Good luck hunting and welcome to DetroitYES.

[WKL]

I think it might be Silverstines on 6 Mile on the east side. I can remember climbing around on it as kid. They had a tank out there too. In some of the pictures you can see a big Entrance sign.

[jcole]

Here's the Silverstein's thread; someone mentions an amphibious vehicle. https://www.detroityes.com/mb/showth...s-army-surplus

[Jimaz]

Here's a link to a {different} older thread with another link to an even older thread {quite the archive we have here!}:

DetroitYES Forums » Discuss Detroit » Silverstien area

[MikeM]

Wish I could help. I agree with others that it looks like Silverstine's, which went bankrupt in the early 1980s and had a series of bankruptcy sales and auctions in 1983, 1984, and then two more in 1988. Photos were probably taken at one of the earlier auctions.

[MikeM]

Pretty impressive machine, btw: GMC Drake Undergoes Tests

[shovelhead]

Not much help here but Warhoop’s Salvage on the east side used to get a lot of GM prototype products to scrap out. They are long out of business I think.

[Hunter12396]

Wow! I'm surprised to have gotten so many answers, thank you. Silverstein's sounds exactly right, from people saying they had a tank and a "Duck" [The Duck, or DUKW, was the WW2-era grandfather of the Drake, it was a 2-1/2-ton capacity amphibious truck, while the Drake was 15 tons, it makes sense for any normal person to think it was a Duck.]
I found another older thread about the place here https://www.atdetroit.net/forum/messages/125438/163014.html?1228096986

Judging from what was written in those previous threads, the Drake was probably sold in their 1984 auction. Whether it sold it not the end result was probably the same, with it being scrapped. That's usually the way these things go, it's just a shame after it survived for so long. But I guess I can still hold out hope that maybe one day it'll be found in a barn in upstate Michigan.

I'd be interested to figure out where the M4 Sherman that they had went. You can barely see it in front of the Drake in one of the pictures I posted. There's very little to go off of but I think it's an M4A3, and there are seven of those in Michigan today. If someone can find a photo of the tank at Silverstein's I can probably work out if it is still around.

[Hunter12396]

Not much help here but Warhoop’s Salvage on the east side used to get a lot of GM prototype products to scrap out. They are long out of business I think.

There's been a lot of weird prototype things like that, some of them are still floating around out there. The reason I was up there a year or two ago was to try and rescue this tank concept mockup made by Rheem [yes the refrigerator company] which showed up at the Armada flea market. Sadly the person who was selling it apparently was only there once, and neither me or the person who took this photo was ever able to find him again.

[Richard]

Are you sure it was a prototype? Based on those pictures I saw 2 of those parked out in front of a marine salvage company in Sarasota a few years back,they are huge and stand out.

It’s been a couple of years but I can shoot by there and see if they are a match,push comes to shove if it is vintage military and in the south Bushnell Florida is the nucleus of those who know where everything is,they have contacts all over the country,just private collections that cover a lot of acreage with contacts across the world,they seek it all out and buy it all up.

[Hunter12396]

Are you sure it was a prototype? Based on those pictures I saw 2 of those parked out in front of a marine salvage company in Sarasota a few years back,they are huge and stand out.

Yes, the Drake was one of a set of three amphibious trucks the US Army started developing in the 1950s to replace the DUKW. The XM147 Superduck was the smallest at 2-1/2-tons, about a dozen of them were made; the XM148 Gull was the mid-sized one at 5-tons, 4 or 5 of those were made; and the XM157 Drake was the largest at 15-tons, only 2 were made. What you saw were probably regular DUKWs, they have 6 wheels instead of 8 like the Drake. They're still very interesting and historically valuable, but as long as they're in good hands I'm not too concerned. My main interest is in prototypes and "white elephant" vehicles that no one else seems to want.

[Rocket]

All of those save one have the same problem that prevents them from being desirable.

They aren't street legal.

The WW2 ducks came in 3 varieties if I remember correctly. 2 steel ones and one made of aluminum. Just 1 of the steel ones was narrow enough to be registered for the street [6' wide, while the others 2 were 8' wide ish?) It 6' wide one used a GM straight 6 for power. A friend had one.

While they're not expensive, they are terribly slow, and if you can't ever do the dream cruise or take the grandkids for ice cream, well, it's a lot of storage space for nothing.

They made even bigger ones than this GMC. They made a 60 ton capable version called the BARC.

There were 4 prototypes initially, and one was being towed behind an aircraft carrier, and when they looked back one time, the tow cable was aiming down. It had sunk, killing the 3 or so on board. The one remaining prototype is at Fort Eustis in Virginia. It's 60' long and 37' wide. Weighs 100 tons empty.

I thought they had only made 2, but apparently they actually produced 4 prototypes and another 55 production ones ?

https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/600-BARC-disembarking.jpg?resize=598%2C336

https://www.roadsideamerica.com/attr...23_640x310.jpg

[Richard]

Yes, the Drake was one of a set of three amphibious trucks the US Army started developing in the 1950s to replace the DUKW. The XM147 Superduck was the smallest at 2-1/2-tons, about a dozen of them were made; the XM148 Gull was the mid-sized one at 5-tons, 4 or 5 of those were made; and the XM157 Drake was the largest at 15-tons, only 2 were made. What you saw were probably regular DUKWs, they have 6 wheels instead of 8 like the Drake. They're still very interesting and historically valuable, but as long as they're in good hands I'm not too concerned. My main interest is in prototypes and "white elephant" vehicles that no one else seems to want.

No they were definitely not DUKWs I have driven 2.5 - 5 ton military and you could probably fit 5 in these the size they were.Thats what drew my attention to them,I have been around a lot of vintage military equipment and never saw those before.

In the last picture to can see a 55 gallon barrel and how it puts it in the center of the wheel line.

You can see it has a foldable wave breaker on the front bow which is simular to the DUKW because in heavy seas and a flat bow they had to direct the water out to the sides so it did not swamp.

You have provably already seen it but here is some stock footage of a Drake in action

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QdfLS20CGLA

Thats filmed in Monterey California,question would be if they would have shipped it back to Detroit.

[JBMcB]

I ran it by my wife who has worked for GM, mostly for the truck division, for about 25 years. She's seen their mothballed vehicle collection, and doesn't remember seeing that particular amphibious vehicle, so GM probably doesn't have it anymore.

[Hermod]

What was actually produced in quantity: The LARC XV and the LARC LX. You will have to search on the internet for pix because I have used up my allotted picture attachments on DetroitYes.

[Jimaz]

... You will have to search on the internet for pix because I have used up my allotted picture attachments on DetroitYes.

No allotted picture quota is needed if the image is hosted elsewhere:

• Click the "Insert Image" icon
• Click the "From URL" tab
• Paste the URL of the image into the "URL" field
• Uncheck the "Retrieve remote" file box
• Click OK

[Meddle]

What's funny is that after reading the first couple of paragraphs and seeing the first picture, I immediately thought Silverstein's before reading further.