Welcome to Curbside Cafe; may I take your order?
Yes, I’d like an obscure 1950s pickup and one of those futile Cadillac two-seaters from ten years ago.
You mean an XLR?
Yeah, one of those.
You want those together?
Yep, is that available?
Um, I guess so, but you’ll have to wait in the parking lot. We’ll deliver them out to you there.
Did such a conversation actually take place? Doubtful… but is there any more likely explanation for this odd pairing of Curbside Classics to be parked next to each other in a fast-food restaurant’s parking lot?
I saw this unlikely pair of classics as I fueled up my car at a gas station about 100’ away. While watching, I got to see the drivers of both vehicles – the truck was driven by a young man in his early 20s, who was soon joined by a group of friends driving relatively new trucks. The Cadillac was driven by a man of about 60 wearing a golf shirt and shorts… as different as the cars themselves. Let’s take a brief look at these two uncommon vehicles.
If I’d count on seeing an International pickup anywhere, it would be in the rural Midwest, where these pictures were taken. Internationals were popular with farmers when new, and even in recent decades it wasn’t completely unusual to see examples roaming around farm country, since they were fairly indestructible. This is an S-series truck – made only for 1956 & ’57 – and even by farm country standards, seeing one of these in regular use is exceedingly rare.
International’s postwar trucks are an alphabet soup of confusion, with prewar-based KB series superseded by the L series in 1950, followed by the R series in 1953, and then the S series (essentially an updated R) in ’56. The very next year, International started the alphabet anew, as the A series replaced the S.
This rear view provides a good shot of IH’s “Comfo-Vision” cab. S series trucks came in numerous configurations (including a Travelall wagon), but my best guess with this one is that it’s a ¾-ton S-120 4×4. Power came from International’s “Black Diamond” 240 cid 6-cylinder engine, making 131 bhp and 208 lb-ft of torque.
Survivors like this 60+ year-old truck have plenty of stories to tell, likely of a life full of work. Its parking lot neighbor has undoubtedly led a vastly different existence.
Produced between 2004 and 2009, the chiseled XLR was an attempt to inject excitement in Cadillac’s model range in the form of an expensive two-seater. That was a questionable move, coming only a decade after the Allante failed in a similar mission. Selling in the $70,000-$80,000 range, the XLR was never meant to be a big seller, but even so, Cadillac’s initial goal of 5,000 to 7,000 units per year was never realized. Just 16,652 were produced over the XLR’s six-year model run, with 76% of those coming from just the first three years. Our featured car is one of only 1,542 XLRs to have left the Bowling Green, Kentucky assembly plant for 2008.
Part of the XLR’s claim to fame was that it was built alongside the Corvette at Bowling Green, and shared many ’Vette components. The two cars were not quite twins – XLR buyers were treated to more luxurious driving environment, and also to one of the Cadillac’s notable features, a retractable metal hardtop. And while the XLR did not use Corvette’s engine, with its own 326-hp 4.6-liter Northstar V-8, the XLR could certainly xlr8 quickly.
XLR’s angular and flattened design was inspired by Cadillac’s 1999 Evoq show car. One GM designer called this a “contemporary industrial design;” regardless of labels, it was a significant departure from the Eldorado, which bowed out of Cadillac’s lineup when the XLR debuted.
Taken individually, these two vehicles yield interesting perspectives from vastly different angles of automotive history. Viewed together, they yield… bewilderment. It’s hard to imagine ordering up a more divergent pair of curbside classics. But if one did order such a combination, what would be for dessert?
Maybe this: A 1993 Volkswagen Fox that was parked directly across the street. I can’t remember ever coming across a more varied sampling of unusual cars in one small area. So, these vehicles go well together? I think they do — consider this a Curbside Classic Combo.
Photographed in Monroe City, Missouri in April 2019.
I knew it, these are in Monroe City. That explains it all. That town has an amazing magnetic like quality to bring the unusual out in the open. In fact, I think I may have seen that XLR last week when I went to nearby Hannibal.
Of the three, the VW is what most surprises me.
Each were a great catch, particularly when clumped together like this.
Yes, Monroe City always offers up a few surprises. Northeast Missouri is far outside the Fox’s natural habitat, though!
Something looks a bit cartoonish about the ‘binder, out of proportion. Maybe it’s just the fat tires, or perhaps the body was dropped on another chassis?
That would be my guess. Chassis swap to something easier to modify and find parts for. Maybe an 80s GM platform?
That was my thoughts exactly, square body gm truck. I dont see manual lock outs on the hubs.
I see where you are coming from but that solid front axle has me swimming against the current, wondering if it’s original.
When was the last time GM or Ford had a solid axle on their 3/4 ton pickups? Late ’70s? Then again, Dodge had one until, what, 1994?
The Ram HD trucks are still running a solid front axle. It’s part of why the Power Wagon is the most off-road capable HD pickup by a substantial margin.
2020?
Granted the F250 chassis would probably be rather large for this truck. Hah.
Paul may very well be correct. The rear axle looks like a Dana 44. If so, it very well could be stock. Google shows the stock 4x4s to use a passenger side drop front axle too. Or it could have come from a later cornbinder. Scouts used 44s front and back, as well as their half tons.
This also makes me wonder about modern chassis donors for old trucks. I wonder how a newer Wrangler chassis would work. Front and rear 44s, link and coil suspension. Could be very cool.
It’s not an original 3/4 ton 4×4, as 3/4 ton trucks weren’t offered on the swb pickups. And original 4×4 pickups of these era are quite rare, as they were only a small fraction of total production, unlike in more recent decades.
Also, the axles on this truck are of a more modern style, as this attached shot of an original IH 4×4 clearly shows.
It has a more modern (but straight front axle) drivetrain swapped in, including a V8, given the dual exhausts. But probably still the original frame, although it’s possible the frame was changed too. There’s lots of potential sources for the drivetrain.
And the big-wheel 4×4 look is of course desirable. It looks like an older job, maybe from the 80s or so. If I had to guess, it’s got the drivetrain from a ’70s early 80s Chevy Blazer or 1/2 ton pickup.
They aren’t any more or less modern. That’s just a bigger truck with a bigger axle. Looks like maybe with a removable center section, Ford or Toyota style.
IIRC, IH was the only company that did offer a 3/4 ton model from the factory with a short bed. At least, they did on the ’60s and ’70s trucks. In the ’50s and ’60s, such a beast would’ve shared its frame with the 3/4 ton Travelall.
It’s Mater!
Clearly recall seeing a new XLR at the Atlantic City antique auto auction in 2006 with a whopping $100,000 sticker price. I thought Malcolm Konner Cadillac was smoking something special. First new Cad I had ever seen with a 6 digit asking price.
Love the Stude!
The rims in the Cadillac remind me of those in a type 51 Bugatti. Beautiful simplicity, along with rims made by Dunlop in the 60’s, by Mercedes in the 80’s and by Alfa Romeo. Not many other rims you woud call memorable.
There is something for everyone here. The International – I will wait for ScoutDude to chime in, but I wonder about that 4×4 setup. There were some semi-aftermarket setups for 4wd conversions in that era, but maybe IH made its own. Or maybe this a body plopped on top of a Ford or Chevy truck frame. So an International Harvester Lite?
The Cadillac is something that gives me mixed feelings. There was a dad at my kids school who drove one of these. He was a bit shot executive at one of the big companies here (or at least he acted like he considered himself a big shot executive). I actually kind of liked these, but would never adopt one now. The Corvette would be so much more user-friendly as an older car with its Chevrolet power under hood.
The Fox is a real curiosity. I have seen them rarely, but it has been quite awhile. Yes, a combo meal for sure. One of those “pick any 2 for $6 (thousand) and get a free toy?
The XLR is what the 02 Thunderbird should have been more like.
As a Cadillac it makes no sense and it came across as yet another Lutz creation. I think they are the best application of art & science though, I like them better than Corvettes during these years.
I like the XLR better than the equivalent Corvettes as well. I bet, though, that the original buyers’ demographics for both cars was probably rather similar — overwhelmingly male, ages 50s-60s, probably similarly high incomes, etc. Yet the cars are quite different.
I adore the XLR. It’s the purest application of Art & Science and it looks like a road-going concept car. I have a 1:18 one on my desk and I never tire of admiring it.
Absolutely agree on the XLR, I guess with the caution that I have never seen a real one. It’s not only the purest application of that Caddy schtick, but pretty much the only one that works. Their other concepts all got a bit wonky in execution as production items.
If peas and carrots go well together, these two are more like oil and water.
Yeah I like the S model Inter kinda rare here now especially still in use restored and paddock versions are about, I had a A-L 110 and have a soft spot for cornbinders the Cadillac I wouldnt look twice at sorry it was a dead brand by then all the lustre from the past had worn off.
I had an older neighbor gentleman who bought one of those XLR’s new. I think it was a 2005. He had lots of problems with it. Fed up with the XLR he traded it on a Lexus RX 350 a few years later. Those XLR’s were way overpriced, had cheap interiors, poorly engineered, and basically were pretentious junk. It was just another example of Cadillac’s very poor product development.