Travelalls of this generation have such a no-nonsense attitude to start with, but this one really takes that to the limits, or beyond. Between the stretch and having four-wheel drive, this rig just reeks of…a bunch of hardworking lumberjacks or back-country utility linemen who were ferried in it to their remote jobsite. Who else would would have bought one? It’s not exactly a suburban Mommy-mobile.
Absolutely fantastic find! Now if it only had wood on the sides; it could be the ultimate Suburban Assault Vehicle!
Sweet looking Travelall. It’s unforgivable that International Harvester would quit building SUVs and off-road vehicles.
Was this the car used at the end of Dog Day Afternoon? That would be a fun movie to remake.
Yes, but with another pair of doors.
When I was in 7th and 8th grade, my best friend’s mother actually drove a 1971 Travelall as her suburban mommiemobile. Although it was 2 wd, 4 doors and had wood on the sides. I have been in love with Travelalls ever since. The Dodge van they replaced it with was a better family travel vehicle, but it was never quite as – I’m not sure what – as the T-all.
I know this truck and its owner or former owner as the last I heard it was up for sale. The guy I know did not build it he bought it from the guy that built it. It is a home built affair and since the Travelall, Travellette, and regular pickup were built from the same modular pieces it isn’t that hard for everything to go together.
This one has an International IDI 7.3 diesel as its motivation.
Home built you say? I just assumed it was an Armbruster-Stageway creation until I read your post.
Nope not a Stageway as they made an 8 door configuration and a stretched ambulance. The stretched ambulance had the same length as this but had a fixed panel inserted between the doors and a high top roof added. Those were not built on a stretched frame though they used the short bed Travelette chassis with its 149″ wheel base to give a 30″ stretch vs the Travelall’s 119″.
Hello, is the travelall still for sale?
The late, lamented nudie-film director Russ Meyer (Faster, Pusscat! Kill! Kill!, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls) drove one of these (the normal four-door version) for several decades. With a large RM Films logos on the sides, it was a fixture in the driveway of his Toluca Lake home. This “no-nonsense” vehicle as Paul correctly calls it, to me the perfect conveyance for an irascible, outdoorsy, WWII-era he-man like Meyer; and transported him, his gear, and his starlets to the remote desert locations (largely because cacti don’t ask to see your filming permits) where he liked to shoot his eccentric low-budget movies.
In later years, the T-all was accompanied in the driveway by Meyer’s other personal transportation, a silver Cadillac Allante… also notable for the same large RM Films logos on its rear quarter-panels.
Also: those of you with the 2014 CC Calendar will be aware that March is “1965 International Travelall Month”!
“Also: those of you with the 2014 CC Calendar will be aware that March is “1965 International Travelall Month”!”
Yes, March has been so much more pleasant than February, when I had to look at that damned Maverick all month. 🙂
Plus check out those rims–this is an 8-lug 3/4 ton model. Absolutely nothing says “badass” like a 4×4 3/4 ton Travelall.
Some of the early Chevrolet extended cab pickups had a “3 + 3” badge. I suppose the IH above would be a “3 + 3 + 3”.
That would have been the early crew cabs (although I’m assuming by “extended cab” you meant “anything larger than a standard cab”). The 3+3 label was the seating configuration as opposed to the “Bonus Cab,” with four doors but no backseat.
“3 + 3 + 3”, I like it! It could also be a “Alltravelall” perhaps!
My stepdad had an 71 International pickup for his shop truck years ago and I must have gotten the bug from him.
I bet somebody from International is still wishing they didn’t give the SUV market away.
These were used as airport limos too. The pickup & travelall last year was 1975.With the two front fender gas fillers, and rear tank it held 55 gallons total I spent one summer in one & don’t recall stopping for gas often.
This is/was not an airport limo, it is a custom build done in the 90’s. The Airporters built by Stageway had another pair of doors.
Travelalls do not have gas fillers in both front fenders unless someone added one on the driver’s side from a pickup/Travelette. The main rear tank is ~19 gal and that is the standard tank. The front passenger fill was the optional aux tank and depending on the year holds 14~16 gal. Travelettes, the 4dr pickup/chassis had the standard tank in the passenger side front fender while the one in the driver’s side was the optional aux. The standard pickup had it’s base tank fill in the cab corner on the passenger side and the aux in the driver’s side fender. It is a real pain if you want to fill both tanks.
Sorry I wasn’t 100% sure. If International could have hung on until the SUV boom in a few years. They had trouble in 1980, which with interest rates, etc. a rotten year for car buyers.
My brother owned one of these, also with 6 doors. It spent the first part of it’s life as a railroad worker transport vehicle. It had the 345 ci engine and it was a beast. It sat far more than it was driven, as it couldn’t even manage 10 mpg on the highway under perfect conditions. Which, because of poor ignitions on some of these engines, was almost never.
Sweet looking Travelall. It’s too bad that International Harvester quit making SUVs and light trucks. While I don’t know anyone who has had a Travelall of any year, I’ve seen plenty of this vintage when I was growing up. 🙂
We have one of these here in Indiana that was a factory school bus with a high top. It was not a homemade custom. They really build these. I don’t know if they were factory or Stageway or Armbruster but they were NEW with 6 doors on them.
“they were NEW with six doors on them”
Have you looked at yours and the brochure picture you also posted? They clearly only have FOUR doors. I’m still inclined to think that the featured Travelall was custom built from two trucks.
Here is an original ad for the bus
Oh snap Paul Niedermeyer he got you there