The idea of a luxury truck is hardly shocking today, with trucks like F-150 Lariats selling for over $80,000 and into the $90s (and you can find some over $100K) and crammed full of leather and wood and all sorts of tech and saffron and myrrh and all the spices of the Levant, or whatever it is that they stick into pickup trucks to make them so damn expensive. But there was a time when trucks were really just thought of as workhorses, utility vehicles with jobs to do, not gleaming luxurious carriages that smelled like leather and status and maybe thick slabs of beef. GMC, though, in a rare moment of far-future prescience, once tried to combine the idea of trucks and luxury, and the end results were, well, weird. Let’s look at two of these attempts today, the Beau James and the Gentleman Jim.
I want to talk about both of these 1975 GMC special editions because they kind of baffle me. It’s not that they were bad trucks – they were still third-gen GMC C/K trucks, and those were, by all accounts, good trucks, especially in the contexts of doing trucky things. But luxurious? That’s kind of a stretch. And, more significantly, there’s a bigger reason.
The real reason I’m writing about these truck editions at all is because of the somewhat confusing names and the way these trucks were marketed, which reflect a sort of aesthetic and set of cultural references that feels unusually impenetrable to me, and I think most of us today. Both of these trucks share their names with movies, and both could be named for the same person, the mayor of New York City from 1926 to 1932, James John Walker.
James John Walker was also sometimes called Beau James, which is where we get the name for this 1975 GMC special edition truck:
The Beau James was, as the ad copy says, “created for those who like the special things life has to offer; the extra touches, the small refinements, the quietly appreciated subtleties.” I guess that’s what the Beau James offered: velour seat trim, wood paneling, A/C, AM/FM radio, all the candy 1970s trucks could offer. And all of this was riding on the 1/2 ton truck suspension with the 3/4 ton frame, a combination that provided a smoother ride thanks to the softer springs. So there was at least an attempt at some real refinement here.
Visually, there were some obvious luxury-style touches, like whitewall tires surrounding some hilarious-looking wire wheel covers. The paint scheme was blue-and-silver, with some fancy BEAU JAMES decals on the bed, in a nice, ornate typeface, and all capped off with a big, square Beau James hood ornament.
It was definitely more luxurious than your average GMC pickup truck, though it wasn’t really going to give GM’s actual luxury marque, Cadillac, anything to worry about. Still, this really can be thought of as one of the earliest attempts to push the humble pickup truck into the premium car category.
What I can’t stop thinking about, though, is why did they name this truck after a nickname for a fairly progressive and flamboyant Mayor whose career ended in scandal, after he was found taking bribes to award municipal contracts. He was also instrumental in legalizing boxing in New York when he was a member of the state senate, introducing the “Walker Law.”
There was a movie about Walker in 1957 called, as you may guess, Beau James and starring Bob Hope:
… and Dean Martin also wrote a song about Walker’s tenure as mayor – albeit pretty idealized – in a song called, yes, Beau James:
Clearly, Beau James was a cultural figure of some import. There was a short-lived Broadway musical called Jimmy that ran from 1969 to 1970, which wasn’t all that far from when the GMC Beau James was around, in 1975.
My early childhood was spent in the 1970s, and I don’t recall hearing about ex-Mayor Jimmy Walker once. Mayor LaGuardia, sure – I think some of the first McDonald’s Happy Meal prizes I got had a Mayor LaGuardia action figure. But Beau James? Was this a thing? A thing that GMC marketing people felt would be a great way to sell a luxury pickup truck? To name it after a Great Depression-era Big Apple mayor who was against Prohibition?
I mean, it must have been, because somehow GMC saw fit to name another luxury truck after Mayor Jimmy Walker. Behold the GMC Gentleman Jim:
Yes, James Walker, our pal Beau James, was also sometimes known as “Gentleman Jim” or “Gentleman Jimmy.”
Now, it’s possible this truck was named for another Gentleman Jim – the famous boxer James Corbett was also known as “Gentleman Jim” so it could be named for him, too. But the fact that James Walker was also known by this name when GMC named their other luxury truck from 1975 after him is just too close a connection to ignore.
The Gentleman Jim was a bit more sporty than the Beau James, with rally-style wheels instead of the wires, and a black-and-gold two-tone paint job. There were gold GENTLEMAN JIM decals on the bed, some swanky bed rails, CIBIE driving lights, A/C, 8-track player, stainless splash guards, but unlike the Beau James, the seats were just vinyl and there was no big, showy hood ornament.
The goal was still the same – bring pickup trucks upmarket, and make them desirable transportation for sexy, urbane go-getters who still occasionally wanted to haul a quarter ton of gravel. These were trucks trying to get into the Personal Luxury Coupé club along with the Thunderbirds and Toronados and Monacos and Chrysler Cordobas, pitting their wire wheels and long truck beds against all that rich, Corinthian leather.
And, somehow, in this equation, the persona of that ex-NYC mayor somehow seemed to fit the bill, twice. About 4,000 Beau James trucks were made, and about 2,500 Gentleman Jims, so these weren’t just some quirky one-offs. There’s a cultural calculus that went on in the creation of these trucks that I think is lost to time now. And, whatever they were thinking, it doesn’t seem to have swept the industry going forward, unless I somehow forgot about Ford’s Ed Koch Signature Series F-150 from the 1980s.
It’s all just so weird! I mean, luxury trucks are kind of weird, too, if you think too much about spending over $100 grand on an F-150, but at least we’re not naming them for dandy big-city mayors. Maybe that’s progress?
Oh, and I checked: this is not where the GMC Jimmy gets its name. Whew. At least, that’s what I heard. I heard it just sounds kind of like when you say “GM.” Let’s hope that’s true.
[Ed note: Why are New York mayors always so weird? This is the crazy thing about living up here having grown up in Texas. There’s no shortage of strange Texas politicians, including some I worked for when I was younger. The difference is that, for every weirdo mayor or State Senator in Texas, you’d at least get a few normal ones in between. I remember being excited for the Bloomberg administration to end, which was a real Monkey’s Paw situation when we ended up with Bill de Blasio. In the last election, voters got two mainstream choices: Eric Adams and Curtis Silwa. Adams barely lasted a year before getting indicted and Silwa is the head of the Guardian Angels and is most notable for wearing a beret and having 16 cats. In retrospect, Silwa might have been the better choice! – MH]
They could have offered other colors! Johnny Walker Red, Green, Black…
Gracie Mansion is where dreams of higher office go to die. The mayorship of NYC is the perfect storm of national visibility and definitely non-national power and issues to enter thinking you can jump directly into the presidency and leaving directly to the trash heap of history.
That looks like Madeline Kahn advertising for GMC. “Zo, is it twoo what they zay about you fellows?”
Lady, that’s my arm…
I actually saw a Beau James in Upstate New York around 1984, but didn’t realize it was a factory package. I grew up in the NYC suburbs so I was vaguely aware of Jimmy Walker.
I have a faint memory of seeing a Gentleman Jim at some point in the murky past, but I had never heard of the Beau James until reading this article. Odd, considering that the Gentleman Jim had nearly half the production.
Odd they made the hood and roof silver along with the side accents whereas on the other the entire truck is black with only the side accents in gold.
But really it was the 70s, they should have made a real Jimmy JJ Walker edition. DYNOMITE!
Also, Matt, I don’t think there is a good choice between Adams or Silwa.
Good Times!
There was a lot of Jazz Age/Depression-era nostalgia in the early 70s. The Silent Generation was of the right age, I guess, to demand stuff that reminded them of their youth.
I used to see a Gentleman Jim parked all the time in the Silver Lake area of L.A. around the corner from some friends of mine. The friends have moved, so I haven’t been back to that neighborhood to see if the truck is still there. It was always a source of bemusement. I always assumed it was named for the boxer.
Yeah, I was going to say, there was a lot of 1920s and also 1930s decade nostalgia going on in the ’70s, so it would not be surprising if this was intentional
Ive seen on of those James placks on a square body. I just assumed it was some kind of dealer package. Too bad they don’t do weird special packages anymore. I guess Toyota has that Texas edition on the tundra. It seems like the dealers just want to put on a sticker and tint the windows and call it some weird edition for marking reasons. Or send it to some unfitter and mark it up $30k for some questionable decals wheels and tires maybe a lift kit.
The “Giuliano Jimmy” has something of a nice ring to it. Of course, having the paint run off in the rain might be a bit of a disadvantage….
You’d never get anywhere in the city anyway, because it would insist on stopping and frisking every pedestrian.
Well. not every pedestrian.
I didn’t know that the Beau James was actually a heavy half configuration…I had a ‘79 C10 Scottsdale that was optioned as a heavy half, and I can confirm that that truck was easily the nicest-riding squarebody I owned. Not GMT400-levels of nice ride, but definitely cushy. Mine also had the deluxe carpet insulation kit (came from factory as a diesel), which made the W31 Olds 350 with straight pipe almost bearable on the highway. Almost.
…it just sounds kind of like when you say “GM.”
There are regional dialects where Jim is a two-syllable word. Sometimes three.
Takes all week to say Jiminy Cricket.
Coming soon: Giuliani Edition in bright red and some black sticky liquid leaking out of the door seals…
Available at fine lawn and garden centers near you.
It could be as simple as the boys at 767 Fifth became so entrenched within the NYC lifestyle that they assumed associating anything with Dean Martin would be considered “cool” and would sell like hotcakes.
Or, they were all drunk. 50/50 chances, really.
Porque no los dos
I couldn’t find anything when I Googled, but damn, I hope this was a thing. One beam of light to illuminate the post-Watergate miasma of political cynicism and despair by inspiring our youth through cheeseburgers.
Unless you confused Mayor La Guardia with Mayor McCheese, which is a totally understandable thing to do.
don’t get me started on my issues with the McCheese administration
A New Dealer Happy Mealer, that one.
Nothing they did was kosher…
He was a real Muenster.
That’s the explanation I have always heard. Since it was a Jeep competitor, and one of the many explanations for the ‘Jeep’ name is it being a portmanteau of the military designation ‘GP’ for General Purpose, it sort of made sense.
Another example of that: the Bell UH-1 helicopter being called the ‘Huey’.
Yeah, that GMC vehicle with the permanent bed cover? It’s not exactly like a GMC truck, but it’s kinda GM-ey.
Gee-Emm-Cee
Gee-Emm-ee
Gee-mm-ee
Jee-mm-y
Jimmy
Oh, btw, the first and second generations’ Jimmy bed cover, like its Blazer twin, was removable and not permanent.
Good to know! Thanks for keeping me honest.
Yes, GMC anything in the military or industrial/trucking professions was typically nicknamed a “Jimmy”. So GM’s advertising department basically just came up with some high-falutin’ take-offs of the “Jimmy” appellation. Probably after a thee-martini lunch.
These models were among the first of the “Cowboy Cadillac” packages that would dress up the Squarebody pickups for years to come. The names, decals, and wheels changed, but the formula was always pretty much the same — velour seats and door cards, color-keyed carpet (including on the cab wall behind the seat), power windows/locks, air conditioning, and a better radio.
The wholesale cost of the upgrades was probably fairly well below the markup of the package price on the sticker, so they were probably fairly good moneymakers on the lot.
I can imagine a meeting where someone half-joked, “This thing is so fancy we should call it a James instead of a Jimmy.”
Someone replied, “Hmmmm, but it can’t be just the GMC James. It needs a little something extra, something with pizzazz.”
“Yeah, something with class.”
“Maybe with a French word or something.”
“Monsieur James?”
“Le James?”
And so on.
If they made it today they might call it the LeBron James.
But the cost to use his name would make the truck either unprofitable or overpriced. Or both.
Hmm… perhaps LeBaron James? Or would Chrysler hold all rights to LeBaron?
Maybe “The Bronze James”?
Some guy who just jumped ship from Ford chimes in with what one of their big dealers out in California just named his kid.
Weren’t these old trucks rattle traps? Was there any potential for luxury there at all? Maybe naming them after a swindler politician was appropriate for such things.
All it took to turn a basic car into a luxury car in the 70’s was door cards, thicker carpet, power windows, and power locks.
And a cocaine mirror.
The Squarebody truck was a good design, and GM actually put a lot of R&D into it. But if it had one overriding flaw in its overall presentation, it was that when you closed the doors, they always sounded hollow and rattly. In reality, the truck was just fine. But door-slamming one on the lot never gave a great first impression.
No truck from the 70s or 80s was ever particularly “luxurious”, but the automakers all found ways to grab power windows, locks, A/C, a better radio, and maybe a tilt wheel all from the parts bin, add a rear window with sliding glass from the factory, some nice wheels and trim, and send it out as a what was universally called a “Cowboy Cadillac.”
Hey, my 88 F-250 had wood grain color plastic on the dash – along with the other stuff you mentioned.
Would that be listed as “Premium simulated woodgrain” on the brochure? ????
A true leap forward from “Tormented Faces In Hell”: https://www.autoweek.com/car-life/classic-cars/g35938669/ford-granada-ess-a-true-european-sports-sedan-will-be-crushed-regardless/
It also rusted like that was an Olympic sport.
James Walker, Beau James, Gentleman Jim. All of them sound like whiskey to me. Which kinda vibes with the “Mad Men” management style of the time. They all drank like fish, came in hungover and were sloshed again by 2pm after a 3 martini lunch
Gentleman Jim is a special (extra-aged?) whiskey from Jim Beam. And of course Johnnie Walker Scotch Whisky has been around for longer than either of us (unless you are 205 yrs. old).
So, I had no idea these were real trims. There was a Beau James trim running around my part of west Houston in the late 90s and, given the proximity to Louisiana, I assumed some goofball added stickers with his name on it to the side of the (extremely nice) truck. I guess I stand corrected.
I prefer to think that the trucks were named after two Cocker Spaniels owned by some avid bird hunting GMC exec who named his dogs after Mayor Jimmy because they were such scamps.
When I was young, we called all GMC trucks Jimmys and that was well before the little SUV. Is that still a thing?
If you hang truck nutz on your GMC Gentleman Jim, does that make it a Genital Jim?
…I’ll get me hat…
As a kid growing up in the 70s in rural America, I remember seeing a GMC Gentleman Jim truck driving around town.
He was the local “knows he better than the rest” banker. At the time, I thought the truck was so cool Black and Gold two-tone. Knowing what I know now, the name fit the personality.
As a banker, the only manure that he was hauling in the truck was his own BS.
Coming soon to a GMC showroom near you – the GMC Yukon
DenaliMcKinley Adams edition.Ain’t that America?
Go to work in some big high rise and vacation at the Gulf of America.
Why did they name two special editions after a corrupt New York mayor?
Because there wasn’t an honest New York mayor for them to name it after?
Dodge named their entire pickup lineup after a corrupt Chicago mayor…
Ah yes, I remember the “Anton Cermak Spring Special Edition.”
Well none of those were corrupt as Big Bill Thompson. If he was alive today he’d be chief justice of the Supreme Court.
I thought it was spelled “Ram”, not “Rahm”
Yeah, well, Toronto picked a corrupt mayor named after a pickup.
And his brother as the provincial premier or poohbah or whatever they call it.
I mean, GM could have used a crystal ball and predicted that Michael Bloomberg would one day be the mayor.
I think you’re forgetting the times. The Sting had just made the Great Depression look somehow cool. Dirty Harry was asking perps to count bullets. Al Pacino was playing bad guys who turn into good guys. Watergate and the Evacuation of Saigon made the US into a feckless fool on the world stage.
In short, there were no white-hat heroes, at least not until Luke Skywalker. Rebels like the Bandit and the Rubber Duck, who flouted the law and made the cops cry, were the anti-heroes. In that context, Gentleman Jim fits right in.
Fortunately, we’ll never, ever go back to those days. In our world, someone who is a bad guy, a convicted criminal, or an adjudicated rapist would never be someone that anybody would follow or admire.
And Bearcats! was a thing.
Had to look that one up. Completely missed it, the P’s probably had Mannix on.
Other than the Raptor R, there are no $100K F150s.
Even a Platinum Plus with every option is “only” in the low 90s.
A $100K Lariat probably has a Shelby or Roush or Black Ops package or something (can’t tell, the link is dead).
Changed the article on me!
But that is a Shelby on the new link.
Yes, I did, and thank you for that! You were right, that $100K plus F-150 is not a normal one.
“About 4,000 Beau James trucks were made, and about 2,500 Gentleman Jims …”
Something compelled me to check if Phoenix Graphics offers sticker kits to restore yours, but alas they do not.