Berliet GD series

The Berliet GD series was a range of medium and heavy truck chassis built by the French maker Berliet from 1926 to 1953. It was a rear drive line with universal joint transmission that replaced the chain driven CBA and its derivatives in the middle of Berliet's rigid truck range. It began with the five tonne GDH, powered by a 5.3 litre inline four petrol engine, and grew through six cylinder petrol versions, gasifier models and, from 1932, Berliet's first diesels, with forward control cabs from 1936 and coach chassis and tractor units alongside the trucks. The French army took GD chassis before and during the Second World War, among them the GDR 22, the GDLS 30 and the GDRA, of which 1,880 were built before the armistice. After the war the GDR 7 W and GDM 10 W carried on until the GL series took over in 1952 and 1953.