(first posted 3/21/2013. Updated 3/28/2016) An American pickup with a six foot bed and a 93 hp 2.5 L four? Sounds rather like a base model short-bed Ranger or S-10 from the eighties or nineties, eh? But International trod that ground before, with its C900 compact pickup, offered in the US for just two years (1963-1964). Obviously, the market gave it a big thumbs down. Well, I gave catching this one a big thumbs up, as I just barely caught it on the go between two parked cars. I saw it out of the corner of my eyes, and what really made it obvious that it was a rare C900 was its distinctive four-cylinder bark as it accelerated briskly from a traffic stop.
Here’s the ad for it; love that yellow. The US version only came with a step-side bed.
The C900 first started life in Canada, in 1961, where it also had a sweptline bed. Odd. I suspect it was more successful there, as Canadians were generally thriftier. I guess that applies to certain a Eugenian, as this one appears to be still working away, thriftily.
I strongly suspect it’s not just coincidence that the Toyota Stout, which appeared in 1963, two years after the IH C-Series, had arather remarkable resemblance. Oddly enough, the Stout didn’t sell very well her either. It was a “midi-size”, like the IH Compact, and buyers were more interested in the mini-pickups that Datsun was selling. So Toyota switched gears within a few years and dropped the Stout and started selling the Hilux.
(PS: I know that the title might easily be challenged with vehicles like the Crosley, etc. In this case, I’m referring to traditional American pickups in the modern era as typically defined)
My dad has had several binders over the years (currently a ’69 4×4 running on LP) but this is the first time I have heard of this. IH had several unique ideas in their line in the 50s and 60s.
I’ve seen a couple of the sweptline ones for sale locally. Sadly they looked consumed with rust.
I think the Canadian ones were made at the Chatham plant.
I had no idea these existed, but assume it was the same 4-banger that was available in the original Scout?
Yes, the 152, basically 1/2 of the 304 V8.
I assume the engine wasn’t very refined, but then that wasn’t in the design brief.
My names is Tony,I live in Michigan, and I have international c900,but the title says 1965.??
Add me to that list….never knew these existed and I am a fan of the IHC trucks of the period.
Suzuki almost pulled the trigger on selling their Jimny pickup in the US several years ago which would have made it the smalled pickup ever probably sold. (Although not a domestic make). Well the Jimny pickup is gone and, now Suzuki too.
Canada got a handful of Suzuki SJ-1 pickups in the very early 80s. I’ve only ever seen this one.
I suppose the current crop of Kei trucks are smaller but they are all 15+ year old imports.
You might be able to buy & drive a kei truck in at least some States. I spoke with a fellow hauling a year-old used Suzuki Carry (with 3-cyl engine & drop-down sides) to AZ for a customer. He explained that in this condition, they’re street legal in the state. It still had Japanese scrawled on its rear window.
My grandfather used to have one like that, replaced by a Subaru
Back in 1979-82, SJ-1 pickups were available in Hawaii and Guam . . . . .
Brand new Suzuki SJ-1 pickups are still available in New Zealand. The Mazda-Suzuki dealer 100m up the road from my house stocks them in cab-chassis and tray variants. They’re imported from the Suzuki-Maruti factory in India (as evidenced by the Maruti-badged steering wheel. They aren’t road legal now, so are sold as farming vehicles.
Here is someone else who never knew that these existed. And as a native of Fort Wayne (Home of the Scout), I am ashamed of myself. A really cool find.
Is this smaller than the WIllys FC pickups?
http://assets.speedtv.com/images/easy_gallery/1031571/1961_willys_fc150_pickup_m.jpg
It’s undoubtedly longer, due to the hood. I anticipated someone bringing up the FC150, which is why I put that disclaimer at the end of my post, referring to “traditional” American pickups. The FJ was decidedly nontraditional.
Yes, the Jeep FCs were the little COEs that could.
LOL; I thought you’d say that.
Even though you call the FC a “non tradional” format pickup; it is most assuredly a pickup; and I am sure there are those who used FCs as traditional pickups.
This International was considered “non tradional” [vs. full sizers] at the time of its introduction which is one reason it probably sold so poorly.
I know that in Arcadia Publishing’s book about the history of the NJ TURPIKE [ISBN 9780738535777] it shows a picture of a fleet of FC Pickups converted into tow truck form circa 1963. Pickups converted into tow vehicles is highly traditional.
But I guess we will have to agree to disagree.
Instead of “traditional” I should have said “conventional”, as in conventional cab for trucks, which means that their hoods are out front. I was referring to their configuration, not how they’re used.
I’m not trying to quibble or argue; I knew upfront that the FC150 was shorter; my point was simply to make folks aware of the fact that there was a very compact 4 cyl. pickup made on a conventional chassis.
And here’s an older CC post on the FC you might like: https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/news-flash-1958-jeep-fc-150-mini-van-color-photos-discovered/
From the same time period- the Toyota Lite Stout-
http://bringatrailer.com/2008/09/29/rare-survivor-1966-toyota-stout-1900-pick-up/
I did a post comparing the Stout to the C Series here: https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/separated-at-birth-1961-ih-c-series-and-1963-toyota-stout/
No need to go to a competitor site; just use our search box on the upper right!
Seen one of those in Aussie so some must have escaped or did IH A build some, I like it but I do love me a Cornbinder
In the movie “Crocodile Dundee” filmed in Australia, they used a funny looking International truck. Only way I could tell was the familiar looking rap around windshield. Then the rest looked a lot different and strange, like the Beverley Hill Billy truck. The movie also showed a Plymouth Valiant truck.
That may have been a Dodge, I can’t remember from the movie. Dodge & IH combined light + medium truck production in the 60s using the IH model as the base – the Dodges got different grilles, etc.
This is the one and only time I ever saw a Toyota Stout in the flesh. This fella turned it into something of a rat rod with the gas tank that resembled a beer keg in the trunk. I cannot recall what was in the engine compartment.
I was in Japan when these came out and don’t think I ever saw one. Good find.
A high school buddy of mine had one of these, I guess it was a ’61 because it had the 4 headlight front end and (I think) the swept side box. It was so rusted out the RCMP finally made him quit driving it. His dad owned a small trucking outfit and apparently he had gotten the truck new. His story was that when he was dealing on a new 5 ton truck he jokingly suggested that the dealer throw in the little pickup to sweeten the deal, or else he was headed to the Ford dealer. The binder dealer agreed, and the family got 15 years of use out of it.
I do recall it rode like a coal cart and 50 mph was about it.
I love the ad with the “compact” scipt in the corner, compact was such a buzz-word for 1959-1960, everything that was just a tad smaller than normal was an ooohhhh ahhhh newfangled compact
Yea the only real “different” compact then was the Corvair. Ironically, the Corvair was the first “sport compact” about 25 years early.
“Smallest American pickup before the Ranger and S-10”? How about the Crosley? This ad is from 1947. And how about that “Sport Utility”? Another first?
Okay, so it’s non-conventional.
Uh oh, we have a discrepancy!
My book “The standard Catalog of Light Duty Trucks” says that these were made from 1964 to 1966.
I have heard of these but had no idea they had such a short run. (Whatever the years made)
Great sighting!!!!
I had a ’73 3/4 ton.
A 1/2 ton binder is like a 3/4 ton Chev/Ford, a 3/4 ton IH is like a 1 ton Chev/Ford etc.
Way over built trucks!
Well, there’s an awful lot of stuff that comes up if you google “1963 Internationaql C900” https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=1963%20international%20pickup%20c900&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.44158598,d.cGE&biw=1460&bih=929&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=iw&ei=uTpNUYOJC6jGiwLc14D4Cg
If you can show me more definitive proof, I’d be happy to change the article. FWIW, I have found mistakes in encyclopedias. But then that applies even more to web searches, eh?
No proof other than what by book says, just offering up the info.
But the lincs you posted showed ’63 & ’64s, so my book could very well be wrong.
My name is Tony, and I have a 1965 900 with short bed,and no running board between bed and cab.I have title to prove it
Before there were standards, or categories…there were vehicles that were different.
The idea of a vehicle fitting into “parameters”…is very much bureaucrat-ese. Very much that of the regulatory mind.
The Jeep CJ broke ground. So too did the Japanese imported pickups. And the Ramblers. And the ponycars…can you imagine a GM product planner, saying where are the insurance boys going to put this new Camero?
New ideas just ARE. And as the auto biz becomes more capital-intensive…more iconoclastic ideas are going to be discarded.
This little IC was before that glorious government-controlled time.
Very nicely said.
New ideas are only “good” if they sell.
Creativity is reduced to a bean to be counted.
Or more-so, creativity and originality is shunned.
Back then IH would find the tiniest nische and fill it. Somehow they could afford to think outside the box – perhaps afforded by their immense diversity in the heavy duty truck field and farm equipment.
They made a vast array of highly specialized truck cabs in the ’30s through the ’50s.
A fascinating history very under rated, under appreciated company lost to the minds of most gearheads.
hola que tal, no sabe donde puedo localizar una micas para mi camioneta International del 64. Ocupo las micas de los cuartos delanteros. Grax
e_salasjr@hotmail.com
Did anybody here about the diesel IH pickup truck of the 1960s? IH would pretty much build you anything you requested!
I have a running ’63 C900 sitting in the driveway here near Boulder, Colorado. It’s a great little classic but cross referencing parts is pretty tough. The C900 isn’t listed in parts catalogs. Much seems like a parts bin special when your dealing with the brakes etc. while the cab and engine bits are easy because of the “regular” pickups and scout’s popularity.
It’s REALLY slow at 6000ft where I live but a hoot to drive and truly tough like a good binder should be. 3 spd plus a stump puller 1st gear. 50-55 is about tops with its power and gearing but that feels just fine.
It’s spent it’s whole life in Colorado first as an Antiques dealer truck (for pick up and delivery around Denver) and then on a farm in Trinidad Colorado before I got it.
These didn’t even come with a interior dome light. The original owner was smart enough to order a heavy duty heater! Thank you…
So was this essentially the standard cab/frame, with a short box, short wheelbase, and I4? Or were the cab and/or frame actually smaller/lighter as well?
I’ve never seen one, but then again I don’t know that I’ve ever seen an International of this era other than a 1st-gen Scout in traffic.
The cab and frame were directly off a C-1000, and all the shortening of the box was done in front of the rear fenders. So this thing was as wide as any other full-size pickup at the time (around 76-78″, I think), while having a crazy short 107″ WB. Bet that was a lot of fun on washboard roads.
Compare the 6′ box on the C-900 to the normal short bed on 1000/1100/1200s, which was 7′ long:
And yes, I said 1200. IH was the only company that made RCSB 3/4 ton pickups; I think all were 4×4.
Great pic – the arrow really shows what they did. I assume they were mandated to use the existing sweptside and stepside rear fenders, so they couldn’t move the wheel opening.
With new fender stampings they could have had a longer wb on the same length truck, Would have helped handling – and weight distribution. The Stout, in comparison, looks more balanced, but then it was clearly designed to be that size from the start.
International was always of the opinion that if a part worked well on the one-ton truck, it would be fine for the half-tons as well. So for the 900 pickup, the only concession to light weight besides the shorter box and frame was the Scout 4-cylinder drivetrain. When I saw the transmission out of the 900 pickup we had I was amazed at how small and light it was.
Our truck was yellow – a tad lighter than those brochure pix – with a gray interior. I bought a matching-color yellow poof can and did the instrument surround panel and glove box in it, then just for kicks made a yellow candy stripe around the floor-shift gear lever. Pop let me use it for almost a year when it was nearly new, then put it to work in his construction business. He sold it at just under 150k miles of his if-it-moves-don’t-mess-with-it maintenance plan. (Maintenance money and time was for the working money-making machinery.)
I love the title of the ad that describes this as a “Light Duty Truck”, no kidding?
Aside from having the engine “on the shelf”, I wonder what made anyone at International Harvester think the market wanted a 4 cylinder pickup truck in the mid 60s.
I bet having the parts on the shelf was enough, once someone came up with the idea to capture a few more sales. It couldn’t have cost any money to develop.
I don’t think these were sold here in Australia, by this time the IH trucks had the cab built by Chrysler (and shared with Dodge), and they were all powered by the gold or silver diamond engines (or diesels). There were 10 cwt rated pickups though (10 hundredweight is 1120 lb or 508 kg), below the 15 and 20 cwt versions. They won’t have sold too many because you could buy an Austin/Ford/etc ute for a lot less than a de-rated IH pickup.
Was the 1960 Studebaker Champ (based on the compact Lark) smaller?
No; despite the small Lark cab, it still had a full 6.5′ or 8′ bed, either the older stepside-type bed or the Spaceside (with tooling borrowed from Dodge’s 1960 Sweptside pickup). Wheelbases were the same as older Studes: 112″ for short beds and 122″ for long beds.
The Studebaker was bigger with a minimum 112″ wheelbase and 6 1\2′ box.
The C900 was shorter than a regular stepside….The stepside was a 6.5 foot bed…..The bed on the C900 does not have steps as it has been shortened further…..It would be a fenderside pickup so to speak.
Stepside is actually the term used by Chevrolet, and Fenderside was used by GMC (until the 1988+ fiberglass boxes, which were Sportside). Ford used Flareside, and Dodge was Utiline. Neither Studebaker nor IH had a special name for their narrow beds, AFAIK.
For the wide beds, Chevy was Fleetside, GMC was Wideside, Ford was Styleside, and Dodge was Sweptline (not to be confused with the special Sweptside pickups). Studebaker called theirs Spaceside, and IH called their wide bed Bonus-Load.
SWEET ! .
it looks cute but at the same time , Cornbinder tough .
-Nate
Great find, Paul. Never knew these existed. Have to go read up on the Stout.
That is a short truck, and an interesting comparison with the Suzuki X90 we saw recently
I have a C900 sitting in my garage here in the United Kingdom. It originally belonged to the Las Vegas Valley Water Company and spent it’s entire life in the Valley until I bought it and had it shipped to England. They were prone to rust but mine as none because of were it spent it working life. It is an ongoing project which will include replacing the 152 motor and 3 speed transmission.
worked for a international dealer in Bellevue,Wa in late sixties and the city of Bellevue had several they worked in there fleet.
I have a 64 C900 that I sat on grandpa’s lap and steered as a child,we played in it when in the garage,it was the first vehicle i ever owned.I have changed the engine four times(152,304,345,gm350 and now to a souped up gm 230).it has had three different trannys,soon to be an s-10 five spd.i have owned it for 30 years and have not seen another one in person.thanks gramps!!!
erik, my dad has a 64 c900 as well. We are in the process of getting it to his liking and have a few questions please email me at granahan378@gmail.com if you dont mind. Thanks
Erik, it’s not in person, but here’s my 64 C900.
My name is Tony
My c900 did not have motor or trans,now it sports agm 454 mild build and 350 trans and
410 gear what fun, sorry I am no,a puerist.
Tony ;
No need to apologize, you’re doing the essence of Hot Rodding, a very good thing .
-Nate
My phone company had a fleet of C900’s. We used them for contract inspections and transportation for additional crewmen when the line crews needed occasional help. They were tough but slow. Our corporate speed was 45 mph and drivers on I 64 always thought we were deliberately killing time but the little 4 cylinder was really about topped out at 50. I don’t know what the final gearing was. I liked them but I’ve always liked cheap trucks. Too many years in utility company vehicles I guess. Driving a Tradesman (Dodge) now.
There was one of these Internationals, possibly a bit older than this ’64, parked near the –
dining– mess hall. I drew near its open driver window one day, and there was a shiny chrome pushbutton on the left side of the dashboard, just begging to be pushed. So I pushed it! The starter gave a brief groan and the truck jumped forward a few inches. Well more than enough to make me yank my hand back. Good job it didn’t start!The C900. Its a real mini-macho truck!
I suppose the CJ-3 or Scout with a half cab doesn’t qualify as a “conventional” compact pickup truck.
By the way Paul Toyota did not drop the Stout model or name it became a heavy duty Hilux and was still around in the early 80s but virtually indistinguishable from the Hilux cab chassis trucks.
Wow that bed is awkward – did they reuse fenders from some 1950 sedan? The bed is so far from the cab that you can look right through it and see the grass on the other side. Not sure this qualifies as a stepside, as there doesn’t appear to be a step. Maybe room for one foot to stand directly on the frame.
I’ve never seen a C900 with the wide bed as shown in the 3rd image down. But it won’t surprise me if there are a few out there because IH was known for building just about anything in any quantity. These were known as their price leader and grocery getter. Something that Mrs. farmer or Junior Farmer could hop in and run to town in while Mr. farmer worked out in the field.
I’ve got a good eye and memory for oddball vehicles, maybe not great, but pretty good. And I do not remember this IH Pickup. Not at all. I can see an IH pickup at the gas station and ask if it’s a 345 or 392. I remember both the original Scouts and the bigger Scout II’s. An assortment of Toyota Stout’s in my memory banks. But this one I draw a complete blank on. Sounds interesting, except like everything IH it appears to have been too heavy.
I have ac900 my father had to or over 50 years . Dad passed away10 years ago. Two years ago I started to restore it with out taking the body off the fram. I wish I could do it off the fram but I have no home and have to take it with me as I go in my life. I am done with the body work blocking all of the truck I have to do. The motor and transmission never hin changed. I’m going to paint the engine before I finish the body and paint. To make a long story short. I’m hopping to finish my truck before the end of this year see what happens I’ll send photos of it. I hope you guys like it. Oh by the way my name is Tommy Torres and rosemead California.
My name is Tommy Torres I have c900 and I am restoring it it belong to my dad he had it for over 50 years. It still has the original engine and 3 speed transmission. It has all ways bine the coolest truck I ever seen cany wait to start driving it.