GMC history

[C10 - C90 Bill]

Which brings us to another question for Bob. If the Brig was so important to have the larger radiator, why did they switch to the Low Slope Brigs in the later years? I know that aero was important, but what happened to the importance of the radiator?

[Bob B.]

Originally Posted by C10 - C90 Bill

Which brings us to another question for Bob. If the Brig was so important to have the larger radiator, why did they switch to the Low Slope Brigs in the later years? I know that aero was important, but what happened to the importance of the radiator?

It's confusing! The Brigadier (and Bruin if you are a Chevy man!) came out in 1978 with the high tilt hood in the 9500 series. However, the original H/J steel butterfly hood was available on Brigadier 9500's all the way up until 1980 but only with the 6-71 Detroit engine. The 7500's used the butterfly hood until 1980 as well with small diesel (6V-53 or 3208) and 427 gasoline engines, however the Brigadier hood was an option with the diesels. Even had the Brigadier emblems though technically the truck wasn't a Brigadier. So, you could have a 1978 steel hood 9500 with a 6-71 that was a Brigadier but didn't have the emblems, or a 1978 7500 with a 6V-53 that wasn't a Brigadier but did have Brigadier hood and emblems. Make sense? Only to General Motors.....

The aerodynamic sloped hood came out sometime in the early 80's on the 8000's (replacing the 7500) and 9500's with certain lower horsepower high efficiency diesels like the Cummins Formula 300 and L10 Cummins, and the Detroit 'Squeezer' 6V-92TA's as they didn't need larger radiators. The original tall hood was still used with other higher horsepower diesels. Used to see quite a few 9500's with the sloped hood and a Dragfoiler on the cab, pretty aerodynamic for the 80's.

Now, if only someone would explain what these 2 Brigadiers were:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sVAhiwVpF0...BBC_Proto1.jpg