This lovely orange with white stripe and IH 200 box truck stopped me in my tracks after dinner one evening a couple of weeks ago. Clearly a former maintenance vehicle of some sort, it now appears to have entered either its second career or been retired and is now just transportation. More likely the former with a little bit of the latter.
I don’t profess to be an expert on International Harvesters by any stretch (so please forgive any errors and correct me below!) but I have come to appreciate their good looks and general ruggedness over the years of being a reader here myself. And I’ve developed a liking for Fort Wayne, IN from which these hail. From what I can tell visually, this is either a 1974 or one of the relatively few 1975’s, that year being the end of the line for, uh, the line.
I couldn’t find much info on IH’s dually setup for the rear of this one and actually couldn’t even find much if anything about bare chassis versions. I don’t think this would have been a conversion, more likely to have been ordered bare and then upfitted for its first career.
It appears to have been a truck used by a company named “Cowboy Maintenance” which as far as I can tell doesn’t exist anymore in Laramie. But at least their legacy lives on. Slightly askew parking job aside, this is probably the only dually in Laramie that can fit in a standard downtown parking spot.
I’m not sure what it is, but something is causing me to really like this truck. Maybe it’s the cheerful paint, or just the squat cube affixed to the back, who knows. But as a package it has a lot of charm.
From my research, it appears that three different V-8’s were offered in the 200 series; the 304 as standard as well as the 345 and 392 as options. Purely as a guess, I’d venture this one with the dually rear end and the small box likely to haul heavy items probably has the 392 with fairly short gearing.
Driving this is probably a bit of a workout, so having a pizza nearby for sustenance is good thinking. I have no idea where the owner was, perhaps getting a drink?
Spotted in Laramie, Wyoming, May 14, 2018
I do loves me an old International pickup. As a native, I appreciate your appreciation for Fort Wayne, but that plant did not build the pickups – only heavy trucks and Scouts. I forget where the pickups came from – possibly Springfield Ohio? I will defer to ScoutDude on this.
Even though these were not built locally, Fort Wayne saw a decent share of them running around as the pickup that could be bought through the employee pricing plan. I found it sad when International pulled the plug on these. Sadder still when the Travelall died along with it. They probably could have sold a lot of these before things turned bad again in 1979, so even if IH had not killed them after 1975, they wouldn’t have lived much longer in any case.
Ah, see, that’s why I added that disclaimer about my (lack of) knowledge! Any reason for a shout-out to the other Fort is good enough, even if incorrect…
This orange truck is mine. It has a 345 v8 with a wide ratio 4 speed. I did buy it from cowboy moving and storage in Laramie. I paid $300 for it with 55000 original on the odometer. The skewed parking was because i was in a hurry…this is my daily driver
We do have a truly monstrous Navistar (I think that’s what they call it now) plant north of town. I need to get a pic sometime and post it here. Truly marvelous.
I can’t help thinking what fortunes IH missed out on even by dropping the Scout at the dawn of the ’80s. Had they kept going with the pickups and Travelall as well, they would have been well positioned to be lifted sky-high by the ’80s -’90s truck and SUV boom, which kept vehicles like the Jeep Grand Wagoneer cash-cow-ing their way into the ’90s. But from the Fuel Crisis II in 1980, it was difficult to see the unexpected direction the market would take in the next decade, and it’s hard to criticize IH for looking into their crystal ball, at the threats of new regulations, and the expected high gas prices, and determined that the ’80s and ’90s would be a poor environment for selling low-MPG SUVs and full size pickup trucks. Ah the benfits of hindsight…
Actual when the people who ran the SBU, or Scout Business Unit looked into their Crystal Ball they foretold the SUV boom. However the 1981 emissions and fuel economy regulations meant that it would not be easy for them to field a compliant and competitive vehicle. They had done extensive work and tested a number of diesel engines, considering going to an all diesel line up thanks to their inherent fuel economy and the fact that diesel emissions regulations were very lax compare to the gas regulations. They also tested a number of prototypes with the Chrylser 225 6 cylinder and Chrysler 318. They had also gotten the SIII to a styling buck stage when that funding was shifted to the SSV.
Unfortunately other problems in the company meant there wasn’t enough money to make those things happen. So they put it up for sale, and almost had a deal done where Coachman industries, the RV maker would build the Scout SSV (the composite bodied vehicle) on chassis built by IH. They also saw a new potential market the mini-van and did sketches of it, complete with sliding doors on both sides.
Many of those SBU engineers and stylists found new homes at Chrysler where they were able to create their mini-van in the flesh, even applying some of the styling touches of the SII. Unfortunately Chrysler didn’t have the guts and/or funds to put the sliding doors on both sides from the start.
https://jalopnik.com/have-a-look-at-the-1980s-international-scout-that-never-1758491270
Rare trucks over here though I know of two with that panel work near where I live 4WD models with flatdecks belonging to a bore drilling company and from memory though I’ll check when I eventually find my way back they have dual rear wheels, i like it, though it needs an airfoil on the roof headwinds would be a fuel nightmare at speed,
I hadn’t known you got these in NZ instead of the Aussie ones with the old cab to the bitter end.
Pretty sure thats what they are but I’m on the other island at the mo so cant go check, all sorts of stuff turned up here some new some used,
Almost , but not quite as rare as a jackalope. 😉
I like it!
The 1974-1975 IHC pickups are the best looking of the last generation with their simple, tidy front ends. Production of the pickup continued for some time after 1975 in Mexico under the DINA name. I remember seeing a few when I drove around the country in mid-1976.
Here’s my IH sighting from just this morning. Running with traffic, no smoke, a working truck judging by a glimpse of a few landscaping tools and gas can in the bed. 4wd, and a generation older than Jim’s sighting.
A very nice find! I’m quite intrigued about its cargo box. It’s rather a bit unusual, with its side doors on both sides, as well as the rear roll-up door. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one quite like it. i’m struggling to see how the extra cost of those twin side doors would be justified, given how short the bed is.
Maybe there was some specialized machinery in there, like a steam cleaner or such, given that it was a maintenance company.
Nice to see it still on the go.
I obviously have way too much time on my hands, so I Googled the DOT number on the side of the body, and Cowboy Moving has DOT paperwork filed as of April 2018.
https://safer.fmcsa.dot.gov/query.asp?searchtype=ANY&query_type=queryCarrierSnapshot&query_param=USDOT&original_query_param=NAME&query_string=502203&original_query_string=COWBOY%20MOVING%20STORAGE%20INC
I also looked for similar Timpte box bodies with side doors, to see what they might be used for, and it seems that at least now, Timpte makes only trailers, not truck bodies. Maybe this is a modified trailer, and the doors are just a carryover from that? Or, perhaps more likely since their name on the DOT form is Cowboy Moving Storage (in fact, maybe those are the words that are painted over, not Maintenance), the side doors do help access items at the front of the load if they’re doing small local moves with this truck.
I think you may be right. Looking again it looks more like Cowboy Moving & Storage. Although there is a Cowboy everything you could think of in Wyoming. So it may or may not be the same…
The covered up signage on the door is clearly “Cowboy Moving and Storage”, out of Laramie, Wyoming.; still in business with a Facebook page. Their website advertises them as an agent for Allied Van Lines, whose corporate color is…wait for it…orange. I’ve never seen a box quite like that, but those side doors are consistent with a vocational moving van. Obviously this truck is retired, I doubt it could meet any franchise requirements in the condition it appears. Probably living a second life as a ranch truck.
Having said all this about he truck’s vocational use, I will say I was always fond of this last generation of International light-duty trucks; a very handsome design. I will say I never much cared for the previous generation; they had a look that the other big three manufacturers abandoned in the mid-50s, yet was somehow successfully resurrected by Dodge in 1994.
I haven’t seen any of these in the wild but my workplace still uses older C1100s as work trucks.
I hope this guy has a friend with him, otherwise he’s backing out blind.
Both mirrors appear to still be good. That’s as good as it gets in a truck. I could back that out, down the street, and around the corner. By myself.
Were you expecting it to have a rear view camera?
Sadly that’s what kids think today. Nobody knows what a mirror is anymore and all new cars they drive are all computer assisted on everything.
Geez, where did that come from? Never mind that the backup camera only became standard equipment this year, while most “kids today” drive cars that most decidedly are not new…
You don;t spend enough time at colleges. Every car there is no older than 2 or 3 at the newest. They buy them with their college funds, or put them at lease and then eventually default the loan.
The 1974 and 1975 Internationals are very interesting. As always IH was working with a very limited budget for new products. However at one point they decided that they needed to ditch the ’61 chassis that they dropped this new “square” body on in 1969. In 61 IH made the unusual move of offering 2 different 2wd 1/2 trucks truck frames, the 1000 with a torsion bar IFS and the 1100 with leaf springs and a solid axle. The 1200 and 1300 followed the layout of the 1100 but with deeper frame rails for additional strength.
For 1974 they would consolidate to one 2wd chassis with coil spring IFS and replace the 1010, 1110, 1210 and 1310 with 2 series the 100 and 200. That would seem to leave them w/o an entry in the “1 ton” market, but not to be left out there were optional GVWs for the 200 that would match those of the outgoing 1310 series.
The problem came when dual rear wheels were needed or expected, for example in the cab and chassis segment. So they continued to produce the old 1310 and 1510 chassis and apparently couldn’t justify making a 300 sticker so it carried the 200 moniker despite the significant differences. They did find the money to make 500 stickers though.
This truck would most likely have the 345, for a couple of reasons. For vocational users they just seemed to think the 345 was the happy medium with just enough power and good enough fuel economy. The other was availability of the 392. The Loadstar had been increasing its sales and the 392 was the engine of choice. The fact that 392 production was maxed out led to the AMC 401, dubbed the V-400 to join the 1/2 ton options list. The demand for larger engines was also part of the reason for the complete chassis redesign, to accommodate their new MV (Medium V) engine series. Unfortunately the MV wasn’t ready in time for the 1974 launch and the energy crisis meant demand for a 446 cu in pickup just wasn’t there.
Here is a brochure for the 1974’s, I like the title as this is the time period when boxing became mainstream, briefly, thanks to the larger than life persona of Muhammad Ali.
Interesting, thanks for chiming in, I was hoping you would…So this would really be considered more of a (non-existent) 300 than just a 200?
The info re the engines is interesting too. I was thinking the bigger one due to having to push that box through the air as well as the altitude (8000ft in this case). But thinking about it more this is likely to have been a very local truck on a short leash without much if any highway mileage so none of that really would matter to a significant degree.
Most of the duallys had some pretty steep gears in the rear,I think 4.56 was standard so not a good long distance machine, though at least this one has the aux tank. They did have 5sp available but more commonly it would be the 5th direct version, in a vocational application like this. Essentially combining the compound low “granny gear” of a wide ratio 4sp or 3 +L with the top 4 gears being similar to that of a close ratio 4sp. The 3+L+OD and the close ratio 4 + OD were more likely to be found in a Travelall or a pickup set up for a camper or large trailer.
Oh and this color appears to be the standard order Omaha Orange which was often chosen for gov’t vehicles. See my COAL (Cornbinders Of A Lifetime) on my Omaha Orange 1510 who’s chassis components were carried over for the 500.
Growing up in farm country (northwest Ohio), one saw Internationals everywhere.
And in the late 60’s, for about 2 years, Dad has a ’60 Travelall. To this day, I think those and pickups from that year are good-looking vehicles. I also like them from even earlier decades as well (30’s-50’s).
This box truck looks like at least 1-2 or more neighboring farmers’ pickup trucks, to me.
I purchased this truck because I had always wanted one and this was the deal of the century. She is my little project as I would like to eventually restore it completely.
Very cool. Restore the original decal and try and find photos of it in city archives and other stuff.
Very common for moving and storage trucks to have side doors in the van bodies. Gives you the ability to carry several different loads and have access to them. We had a van body almost identical to this one, it was a little longer. It had a core boring drill that was mounted across the body at the front. Slid out the drivers side door of the van body. Coring drill was for pavement sampling. The rest of the body carried a water tank, tools, small cement mixer and the material to plug the holes that the cores came from. Lots of weird equipment when you work for a DOT engineering division.
I hate to be posting here in this way…but…tragically, my son died recently and as his father, I am looking to sell the box truck to someone who would appreciate it, care for it and hopefully restore it. My son put a lot of love and care into the vehicle, and it was his only car/truck that was not a Ford…
If you are interested in the box truck, please get back to me.