Chevrolet’s mid-1950s (1955?) short film, “Modern Engine Series, Volume 4: It’s Been There Before,” produced by Jam Handy, promotes Chevrolet Task-Force trucks. The Chevrolet Task Force was Chevrolet’s successor to the Advance Design trucks. The Task Force Series ran from late 1955 (second series) through 1959. At GMC locations, it was called the Blue Chip Series. The 1955 second series offered standard options and add-ons such as 12-volt electrical systems, the first V8 (the 265 cubic inch), and fleet-side six-, seven-, and eight-foot length beds.
The film shows how Chevy trucks are tested in a variety of conditions to ensure they can handle the rigors any given Chevrolet owner will put it through. A General Motors representative named Bob Trent at GM’s Technical Center in Warren, Michigan, (00:26) narrates the film. Several different Chevrolet truck owners are featured, with the narrator taking the audience through how the owners use their trucks in their respective professions and how each truck is tested for those conditions at GM’s Technical Center. The first owner is William L. Mann of Kill Devil Hills, NC; he is an independent contractor who drives a 1955 Chevrolet Task-Force Stake truck (00:55) on the beaches of North Carolina searching for gravel deposits. He can spend time with his family because his truck is reliable, for “it’s been there before”: the same model of truck (02:34) is subjected to extreme temperatures, wind tunnels, and a brine tank, simulating conditions that owners like William Mann will encounter on the beaches of North Carolina. Metal and paint finishes are also tested (03:04). The next Chevrolet owner the film presents is a uranium miner named Sherman Asplin from Moab, Utah, who drives his 1955 Chevrolet Task-Force Pickup truck (03:39) nearly every day, over rugged plateau roads. The Task-Force Pickup trucks are tested for all kinds of conditions before sold to men like Sherman, including shocks and stress concentrations (05:10). The third and final truck owner featured in the film is Cliff Morgan, a timber boss in the Pacific Northwest (05:53). His 1955 Chevrolet Task-Force Pickup serves as his office, transportation, and more as he travels around the region to the different logging operations he runs. The same engines used in his truck are tested (08:09), as are brake lines and metal alloys. Chevrolet’s Task-Force trucks are tested for every condition, including racing on tracks (08:40) at GM’s Technical Center. The narrator concludes the film by touting the quality of the tailor-made, tested Chevrolet Task-Force trucks (08:57).
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