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If you want to dress up an engine, valve covers are a solid place to start. Too bad the options usually begin and end with chrome. Sixty years ago, GMC tried something very different. For reasons lost to time and General Motors’ corporate archives, the truck brand briefly offered plaid valve covers on its big-block V6s.
If you’ve never seen these, don’t be surprised. They were apparently used only on half-ton trucks equipped with the 305-cubic-inch V6 for the 1963 model year. While automakers were a lot more adventurous with colors and styling in the 1960s, they clearly did not start a trend of patterned valve covers. That’s probably just as well. I’m a fan of Pfaff Motorsports’ and Stewart Grand Prix’s plaid liveries, but this just looks bizarre to me.
Kyle’s Car Farm via YouTube
As for why GMC did this, a post on the 6066 GMC Club forum (via Hemmings) citing a conversation with a former GMC engineer claims it wasn’t about fashion, but economy. The story goes that when GMC launched this generation truck in 1960, one of the main complaints from customers was the poor fuel economy of the big-block V6. Engineers tested different carburetors and camshafts to find a solution, and when they did find one, they used adhesive shelf-lining paper with a tartan pattern to mark engines running the improved setup because it happened to be around.
According to the post, people from GMC’s marketing department saw the engines wear the improvised plaid valve covers and, perhaps leaning into cultural stereotypes of Scottish cheapness, decided to put them into production. That did happen, as you can see from the very clean 1963 GMC truck in the embedded video from Kyle’s Car Farm. Given the constant churn in styling features between model years at the time, and the extra cost of applying the plaid covering, it’s not surprising that they were a one-year-only option.
1963 GMC Rare Plaid Valve Covers Original Survivor Farm Truck Big Block V6
This generation of half-ton trucks was already a major milestone for the manufacturer. It was the first of GM’s light-duty pickups to use a dedicated truck platform, and it lasted until 1966, when it was replaced by the seminal “Action Line” generation.
It’s hard to imagine GMC bringing this back for the Sierra or Canyon, and you’d have a hard time seeing the plaid through a modern truck’s plastic engine cover if it did. Remarkably, though, a company is selling the correct pattern for restorations of the original 1963 trucks.
Stephen has always been passionate about cars, and managed to turn that passion into a career as a freelance automotive journalist. When he’s not handling weekend coverage for The Drive, you can find him looking for a new book to read.
