I’ve been sitting on this shot from the Cohort for some time, and didn’t write down who posted it, so I can’t credit it. But what caught my eye was that its bed is from an International. Which begs the question: did it come that way originally, or was it added later?
It’s easy to assume it was the latter, but I’m inclined to think not, as these crew cabs back then were all built outside of the factory by coach builders (except for International), and it wouldn’t surprise me if one of those various shops used the extra-short International bed as used on the Travelette. But there’s a little problem with that too…
Looking at this Travelette that I shot and posted here, I see that the International’s bed is a bit longer in front of the wheels than used on that Ford. I don’t think that’s just the camera angle either. But then these companies that made these crew cab conversions were adept at making whatever changes the fleet buyer wanted. If you Google for one of these pre-factory crew cabs, you’ll see some variations on the cabs and beds.
Actually, these all look to have the same basic cab, except for the window on the yellow one. And these are all long beds, so the stock Ford bed fit. I believe these were all made by Armbruster.
But looking at the featured one, it’s clear that the cab is different, in that the rear door and window go straight up, and there’s no vent in the window. So it appears that this one was made by a different company, and they apparently adapted an International bed for the job.
I found an IH Travelette some months ago that also has a shorter bed than the stock 6′, but appears to still be a factory model: http://classiccardb.com/international-harvester/157535-international-travelette-1966-4×4.html
Notice the door plate says “1200-4×4-131″, which I’m assuming means it has the same 131″ wheelbase that the regular cab/8′ bed trucks had. Travelettes of this period with the 6′ bed would’ve had a 140” WB. This truck also appears to have a longer rear overhang than the 6′ or 8′ beds–more like that of the less common 8.5′ bed.
Interesting. Lots of variations, that’s for sure.
And it’s harder to keep track of them all because IH brochures are rarer and included fewer pictures than the Big 3.
I’m not sure what you mean that the brochures are rarer than the big 3’s I find that they are pretty common, or used to be on E-bay. And it isn’t just brochures like the other guys put out it is spec sheets with all the pertinent dimensions and standard options. There are also lots on oldcarbrochures.com but Wisconsin Historical Society has the mother load collection of IH literature, from the spec sheets, to brochures to all sorts of internal memos, production reports ect.
https://content.wisconsinhistory.org/digital/collection/ihc
Well that cab started life as an Govt vehicle, so anything is possible. However that set up definitely would have been a special order and not a regular production item. I’ve never seen any literature showing such a truck nor have I seen anyone in the forums that has mentioned or posted pictures of such a vehicle.
It definitely doesn’t look to be a standard production option length, which I could see as a reason to use an IH bed, to avoid the need to modify. But since it looks modified I guess it could be that the cheapest way to get what they needed was to order the Cab and Chassis from Ford and a service replacement bed from IH.