To say I was rapt when dad gave me the GMC in 2008, would be an understatement. For the 20 years that dad owned the truck, I had only ever seen it in the paddock, enduring all conditions. Over the next five years from 2008, I would learn new skills, as this restoration became a labour of love.

n 1952, when Jack Hannah, who worked a 3,000 acre mixed farm in the Wedderburn area of Victoria, bought the Canadian-built GMC 9600, with a GMH cab and timber tray, new from Queensbridge Motors in Melbourne, Victoria. Jack and his son had driven to Melbourne in their ‘47 Chev to purchase the GMC and drive it 200km home to the property and straight into the shed where it would spend its first six months just being started once a week. When finally put to work, Jack removed the timber tray and placed a grain bin directly onto the chassis rails. This was to save the bin from twisting on the tray and cracking the chassis rails.

Although the GMC was only rated at 4½ ton, I was told that many a time it f