The route-home-delivery era ended during my 1970s kidhood. Milk delivery ended first. Bread delivery hung on through the early 1970s; I remember the brightly painted Tip-Top Bread truck swinging through our neighborhood. Mom didn’t buy from him; she said she could get equally good bread for less at the Thrif-T-Mart. But she did buy household goods from the Jewel Tea man and the Fuller Brush man through the late 1970s.
All of these delivery men drove big vans like this International Harvester Metro. Chevrolet Step-Vans were actually a lot more popular in my Midwestern hometown, but I’m pretty sure the Tip-Top man drove a Metro. Its distinctive streamlined styling really stuck out compared to everybody else’s squared-off box trucks.
coachbuilt.com
That styling came from the Raymond Loewy studio. This early Metro ad shows that the design was originally even more streamlined, with a larger, more delicate grille; teardrop headlight bezels; and smart covers over the rear wheels. Streamlined style was typical of the 1930s, and the Metro debuted in 1938. Then IH kept making Metros for about three decades, in various series, with occasional styling tweaks. By then, the styling was a real anachronism. And shortly afterward, so were door-to-door sales and home delivery of perishable goods.
coachbuilt.clom
Metros ran on an International Harvester platform, but the bodies were supplied by the Metropolitan Body Co. of Bridgeport, Connecticut. IH bought Metropolitan in 1948.
This particular Metro was up for auction at the Mecum Spring Classic this year. I doubt you’ll find a finer Metro anywhere. This one is set up to sell prepared foods, with a swing-up panel on its starboard side that reveals the sliding glass door you see in the photo.
As a utility vehicle, the Metro’s cockpit is a pretty Spartan place. But at least the baby blue and cream colors are cheerful.
If this Metro looks familiar to you, it’s probably because it was written up at Bring a Trailer earlier this year. Go there to see a photo of this Metro as it was undergoing restoration. That article also says that this stamped aluminum isn’t original. But it looks good and right.
I can almost see the Tip-Top man sitting there as he passes my childhood home on his delivery route. He always drove his truck with the sliding door open.
Gorgeous truck, but the whitewalls are a shame. Everybody puts wide whites on everything these days, but the truth is that they weren’t all that common prior to the mid-fifties, and they were almost never seen on a light truck.
Still, I think it’s gorgeous, and it reminds me of the Metros and StepVans and Divcos that were everywhere when I was growing up.
But none of them had whitewalls!
While it might be true that for authenticity on an old commercial delivery van, blackwall tires are the choice. But on a van with that particular light blue/white color scheme, the whitewalls sure look good (and it’s unlikely someone is ever actually going to use that truck for service use, again). More likely is it will end up in someone’s collection or museum.
Thanks very much for this great biography Jim. Have quite enjoyed the extensive research and excellent photography of this article and your recent Studebaker Museum pieces. My city lost it’s last home delivery service in the early 70s as well. I recall Borden’s Dairy using Divco trucks locally at the time. Another business was using brand new Dodge B Series vans to home deliver juice primarily, but they didn’t last too long.
I remember that often the deliverymen would drive a Divco from a standing position.
That’s a familiar sight from holidays in America as a kid in the 60s and 70s.
Nice !
Wikipedia has a great image, with built-in magnifier for ridiculous close-up views:
Interesting how similar it is to the Sweet Lucie’s Metro. http://www.ilovelucies.com/Sweet_Lucies_|_our_truck.html At first glance I thought it was their truck with the logos removed.
Well I’ll be. Twins separated at birth.
It would be interesting to see the data plate and just how close together they were when came off of the assembly line. At this point there are only a few details separating them. If you look at Sweet Lucie’s website you’ll see a video which includes some of the food handling area where again they are surprisingly similar.
The big difference is that Sweet Lucie’s is built to work with things like modern wheels with radial tires, and it does get out there and work.
I wonder if it’s the same truck or is somehow connected. The link says the Sweet Lucie’s truck has just completed restoration. That’s too much similarity for it to be just coincidence. Maybe they originally commissioned two trucks to be restored by the same place but could only afford to pay for one in the end.
Sweet Lucie’s truck had a lot of stuff done by it’s owner in CA with an eye to making it practical to drive and keep it in budget. He consulted with people on the IH forums and documented it’s progress there. Sweet Lucie’s truck has been finished and earning it’s keep for 2 or 3 years now.
Maybe one of the owners saw the other truck and liked its style.
Here’s the original owners/restorers website (you guessed it, another premium ice cream outfit):
http://www.chilloutindiana.com/
There are bigger pics and, strangely, it appears that the company logo was never put on the sides. Regardless, it’s not the same truck. The Sweet Lucie’s truck has a walk-thru passage to the rear behind the passenger seat and a full, floor-to-ceiling partition behind the driver. The Chill Out truck has neither. Also, the fuel filler flap is on the passenger side on the Chill Out whereas the Sweet Lucie’s truck looks like it’s on the driver’s side (and it may even be powered by propane).
I’m beginning to think that the light blue/white paint scheme may have been standard issue for those Metros destined for cold delivery/freezer installation and some restorers (at least for these two trucks) remain faithful to that.
For what ever reason the light blue and white color scheme seems to be popular for dairy vehicles. The local company used that scheme until very recently and the Divcos they keep around are still in those colors. As far as that being a “standard” for Metros I don’t think that was the case the brochures I’ve seen only show darker blues along with green and red as the standard, no extra, cost options. IH of course would paint a vehicle any color you wanted for a fee. For a few dollars more you could gain access to the fleet colors that included things like Pepsi blue, Standard Oil red ect. If you were willing to spend even more money they would literally paint it any color you wanted either by providing the color code and brand of your desired color or by providing 2 samples.
Nice van but whitewalls? they look silly on commercial vehicles.
When I was in business my neighbor did furniture refinishing. His delivery (and pickup) vehicle was a 59 Metro. Painted orange with big signs on both sides it was a rolling billboard. Big IH six and always working. At the time I had a 78 chevy cube van that I sure would have traded him had he been willing. It made a pretty good billboard as well as a rolling parts house but it wasn’t nearly as distinct.
Utility with class – I like it. I’d love to see FedEx or Purolator put a few of these on the road for show. Then again, they’d be a great draw for any company, especially those wanting a retro theme. I’m surprised that the Steam Whistle Brewery here in Toronto hasn’t snapped up one of these for their fleet. Come on, guys!
My favorite step van, but this one is a wee bit too overdone for my taste.
I’ll second that. It should be in UPS Pullman Brown, Railway Express Agency Green & Red the period correct livery of a Dairy.
Still I’m happy to see that it has been restored.
I was surprised to see the steering wheel and instrument panel that I remember from late 1950’s and early 1960’s International pickups. To me those look anachronistic in the much-earlier-styled body.
I’m with you guys on this one-that white IH steering wheel is hurting my eyes!
One of those was among my early boyhood automotive memories…flipped over onto its side in front of our house on Lombard St. in San Francisco. Pretty rugged…the tow truck put it back onto its wheels and it was driven away!
I was a second-grader at the time. Every morning when the schoolday began, we had a NEWS session. We’d tell the class about what was new in our lives. Most of the kids told of stupid stuff like a fuchsia plant in their backyard having another flower open up, adding to the nineteen dozen that were already blooming. That next morning I told them about the IH Metro that had tipped over on Lombard Street. The teacher was not impressed. “Is that HAPPY news? If not, we shouldn’t talk about it.” Well, TO HELL WITH YOU, MRS. LEVAGGI (I was capable of such thoughts already)! I sincerely hope that sometime in your life you spent your hard-earned cash on a YUGO!
So, there! I’ve wanted to say that in public ever since. Not the Yugo part; that came later.
Does anybody know if this sold? If so, for how much? If not, who can I talk to about it? I am very interested.
If anybody knows, please email me: aaronalexander1 at gmail.com
i m interesting to by it , cold you call me at 604 771 8164. if someone know when i can by one like that, please let me know. Thanks.
Nathalie
I have nice complete metro for sale 1958 will run down the road… Is built into very 1950’s motor home, very cool, very restorable !!! For sale at 9,000
I may be interested, please email me at b1lzkw73@hotmail.com
any chance this is still available?
The Cadillac article on the homepage is linking to this, for whatever reason.
Which specific Cadillac article?
The 1984 Seville ebay find. I saw it too, but now it’s OK.
The Facebook post for the Seville eBay Find article comes here too. Weird.
Weird; I’ve checked each link in that post twice now. Which exact link took you here?
The shot of the dash has a very euro mini car look about it with all the white accents.
Turner dairy in Pittburgh maintained home delivery until around 2010 IIRC!
Sweet looking bread truck. I’ve always liked this type of vehicle. With some mild restomods, I can see something like this being used today.