In the long and storied history of International trucks, there has been plenty of cross-pollination between their commercial-oriented heavy-duty trucks and more pedestrian pickups. Today’s truck represents the 1959-1961 B Series as an ordinary flatbed goods hauler. Despite its inline 6, think of this as equivalent to today’s Ford F650; a genuine medium duty truck. This short lived model was previously only represented at CC as a junked pickup; today, we get to admire a proper working heavy-duty variant.
The model name would be retired after it evolved into the more radical C Series that appeared in 1961. That model broke with tradition, introducing a lower and more car-like stance thanks to a new drop frame that allowed the cab to be mounted significantly lower. There was also an available independent front suspension.
In fact, I have a C series pickup taken from a similar angle sitting in my CC photos folder along with this car’s predecessor, the S Series. With this imperfectly identical comparison (a 4×4 pickup vs a 2WD pickup compared to our 2WD flatbed), you can clearly see how each successive iteration carried through a focus on adding car-like qualities and reducing overall height. The B series’ distinctively massive windscreen makes the cab sharing with the later C Series all the more evident.
Our featured truck is in remarkable condition for its age. Some surface rust, chipped paint, and a missing headlight pod are most of the visual ails it has suffered due to the passage of time, despite its ever-useful flatbed upfit.
What is this truck doing parked on an industrial street in Atlanta? Its location our front of an auction house may give a clue. It’s likely part of an estate sale.
It certainly looks nothing short of remarkable inside, despite the layers of dirt. An unripped vinyl bench seat betrays that this example has been cared for. The hard-earned grime shows it has been used. You expect neither creature comforts nor cleanliness in an old flatbed; I think the dirty, sparse interior suits the scrappy character of the truck.
It will be a tough ask to source that missing headlight bezel, but everything else looks ready to go. The tires hold air and it’s not that dirty on the outside. It may even run and drive! It’s not often a short lived 1960s commercial vehicle pops up on a random city street, so I enjoyed this glimpse back into time.
Related CC reading:
Junkyard Heirloom Gallery: 1959-1961 International Harvester B-Series 4×4 Pickup
There was a headlight bezel lying on the seat of Jim Klein’s junkyard find linked above … maybe that truck is still there.
That was my first thought too!
The truck in fact IS still there but I’m not sure about the headlight bezel itself…more than likely yes though.
What a fortuitous coincidence! Can’t be that much demand (or supply) for IH B Series headlight surrounds.
The B160 was the equivalent of today’s F-650, a class 6 truck. The C-series did introduce the torsion bar IFS equipped 2wd 1/2 ton but you could still get a straight axle 1/2 ton 2wd. The option for both the lower IFS 1/2 tons and the higher riding straight axle 1/2 tons continued until 1974 when an all new coil spring IFS was introduced as the only available 2wd 1/2 ton.
This is a pretty nice find, too bad about the missing driver’s side headlight assembly. It does have the shifter for a 2sp axle so whoever ordered this truck was probably planning on exploiting the full GVW and then some of this truck.
I’ve amended the text regarding its equivalent today.
Thanks for the quality control. It can be hard to be accurate about context when writing about something 40 years older than me.
I suppose my confusion lies in the fact that the name didn’t change between the medium duty variants and the lighter duty pickups.
Well, it did actually. The B Series started with the B100 1/2 ton trucks and went up in increments all the way to B180, depending on their load capacity.
If I am not mistaken, I think while the basic cab is similar between the B and C series there are some significant differences. The dash in the C series is obviously more elaborate than the B’s minimalist design, but I believe the C also had a flat cab floor while the B had step wells. It appears that the C’s door is shorter as well. The B-160 would be the equivalent of the later Loadstar 1600, which used a modified C series cab.
That’s kind of the opposite of many of today’s medium dutys, where they use the cab of the light duty pickup. That approach inevitably produces a “short cab, big chassis” look that is less cohesive.
This is a really nicely designed front end! What agreat old truck – hope it goes to a good home…
What a great find! I agree with Huey above that this is a nicely-designed front – in pickup or heavy-duty use.
And here’s a good period ad to go with this truck too:
Love that ad.
Very interesting contrast with the Scout Sidebar. They tout the D301’s 113 hp and the B(C) 160’s GVWs of up to 19,000 lbs. Meanwhile the Scout has 93 hp and has a max GVW of 5000lbs.
A-B model down this way Aussie build, a mate had a 110 flatdeck and a 4×4 Traveller, personally I like old Inters actual work trucks.
Nice and the two speed final drive is a very handy thing .
-Nate
It’s always fun to look at the sheet metal on this model and see the shared DNA with my C-series Travelall. The doors are interchangeable, as is the windshield (and, I think, the hood?). My dashboard is a more traditional design, and actually just fits over that rounded metal curve above the flat white panel. It’s a tall ask, but I hope this old girl finds a home.