(first posted 8/12/2012) Once upon a time, if you wanted a big, sturdy four-door “wagon” (the term “SUV” hadn’t yet been invented), there was really only one choice: head to your local International dealer. Until Chevrolet finally got wise, and slowly started adding rear doors, one in 1967, the other in 1973, the Travelall pretty much had that market all to itself. And in those times, the word “Travelall” was as iconic and familiar as “Suburban” is today. It was an institution of higher function, and a very highly regarded one.
Like the rest of its utility wagon competitors, the Travelall didn’t start out with four doors. It arrived in 1953 looking very much like the others in the field: two doors, and lots of scrambling to get into the back rows of seats.
An all new A-Series line of IH trucks arrived for 1958, the firm’s 50th anniversary of making trucks. Foreshadowing the Suburban’s trajectory a decade later, it too had just one rear door, on the right side. A big improvement; almost downright modern!
This basic body is the same as our featured truck, but then it still sat higher on the older chassis with a solid front axle.You won’t find this side shown in any of the ads.
In 1961, International took a very bold step forward: a completely new chassis featuring a torsion bar independent front suspension, with the front wheels set further forward, both allowing a significant lowering of the body. Well, now that was going against the trend in more recent decades. But at the time, many folks were still a bit averse to the “truckiness” of utility wagons and pickups. IH’s trucks now sat very low indeed, and made them so much more palatable during the lower, longer, wider era. And available automatic transmission, and power steering and brakes meant Mommy was much more likely to share Daddy’s dream of a Travelall.
The C and D Series Travelalls were iconic in the sixties and seventies, before the SUV fad kicked in. If you were going to move to the country and haul horse trailers,
or wanted to join a Airstream Caravan through Africa, or just wanted or needed the ruggedest hardworking wagon around, this was it; you just got a Travelall. Well some folks didn’t, and lived to regret it.
I was friends with two University families that each bought old farms outside Iowa City, for horses and other gentleman farmer/back-to-the-land activities. One bought a used Travelall almost exactly like this; the other a used 1964 Jeep Wagoneer. Those early Wagoneers had the infamous Tornado OHC six, and sure enough, problems developed with theirs. Its delicate and warp-prone hemi aluminum cylinder head might have been “advanced” for the times, but when you’re lugging a horse trailer out of a muddy field, Italian sports-car engineering is not necessarily an advantage. Also, the Wagoneer was considerably more compact than a Travelall, and didn’t offer a third-row seating option.
No such problems under the hood here. International’s highly-proven line of six and V8 engines were already legendary for their ruggedness; not surprising since they also powered much larger IH trucks and vans too. To the best of my knowledge, the six was a 241 cubic inch version for this vintage, and the 304 and 345 V8s were optional; possibly the 392 version too, if you asked nicely.
Given that this is a 4×4 version, I was a bit surprised to see a three-on-the-tree. But then these weren’t necessarily bought for off-roading; maybe they lived in a snowy area. And I assume all of these have a transfer case with a Low Range, which would take care of any need to pull stumps.
Nobody built more utilitarian instrument panels than International. A row of genuine gauges, and another row of chromed knobs; they look the like stops on a pipe organ.
Yes, it’s for sale too. Or was. I shot this a while back, so I’m sure it’s long gone. A genuine antique, too.
Between sitting so low, and all that glass, visibility was superb. In fact, I’m surprised it sits as low as it does, given that this one is a 4×4. This was also a significant departure from the Big Three 4x4s: they rode sky high, and on punishingly hard springs. Their market then were serious off road work applications, like utilities and loggers and such. Of course, the International could handle that too, but it didn’t require a big penalty to have four wheel drive with one.
Such a clean machine; no gratuitous chrome or affectation anywhere. Eminently desirable. Why didn’t I buy it?
Every time someone posts a vehicle like this, I feel like a kid again, looking through the Sears Wish Book…
I have a serious crush on Travelalls of all vintages. Although all of my firsthand experience was on the 1970s versions, I like these older ones too. I recall a few years ago, I saw one of the late 60s versions (a highly optioned version in yellow with a black roof) pulling a trailer with an International Cub tractor on the back. Probably heading for the State Fair or some other vintage tractor show.
I was always struck by the low beltline on these. These vehicles had really big side windows. I used to see a lot of these, growing up in Fort Wayne, Indiana where International built Scouts and heavy trucks. I think that there were a lot of IH employees who took advantage of their company discounts. Unfortunately, the rust bug has largely eliminated these from my area.
You comment on the utilitarian instrument panel; but on the A Series (maybe the similar B-Series too), it was more stylish, less Stewart-Warner. The half-moon speedometer sat in a plastic or Bakelite upright housing, with gauges in the housing.
Don’t have a photo; but it was somewhat similar to this:
http://www.affordableclassicsinc.com/ClassicsPgs/1957%20INTERNATIONAL%20HARVESTER%20A110%20PU/P1100924.JPG
My best friend owned a 2WD 65 with his brother. He lived in San Diego, while I lived in San Jose. In ’77 he drove up and we took it up the Left Coast to Vancouver Island. I think it was the V8. Mileage was about 15 or so, but with the twin tanks, it had quite reasonable range. Power nothing, except maybe a brake boost.
The transmission was 4 on the floor, with the granny first primarily useful on a traffic jam coming back to the Golden Gate. I suspect that put the truck bug in my brain, since my next new vehicle was an 84 Ranger, and trucks have been in the family ever since.
Getting back to the US was interesting, what with the Hussong’s Cantina sticker on the bumper and the differences in addresses between my friend and me. Not sure what the customs guy made of us, but he was medium hostile. Fortunately, it was raining, and I had passed on the Cuban cigars in Vancouver, so we didn’t get searched and I didn’t have to worry about getting caught.
What year did IH begin to offer V8s? Were they internally developed or based off of someone else’s?
The Jeep Wagoneer was unusually low to the ground because the drive line to the front wheels ran to the side of the transfer case rather than below it, as was typical. I don’t know the approach used by IH, but the pictured Travelall looks higher off the ground than the Wagoneer.
I find the styling of the Travelall pictured to be iconic. In contrast, the next generation was too generic, boxy and rather awkward. A big part of the problem was that IH seemed to want to run and hide from its past look. That’s too bad. The approach they used with the previous redesign, where you have to look hard to see the differences, would have been a better way to go.
Of course, IH also suffered from lack of development dollars. Thus, they may not have been able to afford curved side glass, which was becoming commonplace in American trucks by the early-70s. However, IH didn’t help itself by offering two completely different light-truck platforms (its big trucks and the compact Scout). IH didn’t have the economies of scale to keep both current.
The IHC “Commanche” V8 family was strictly an in-house engine, arrived in 1959, and came in 266, 304, 345, and 392 cubic inch versions. This engine was very common in everything from the later Scouts to medium sized trucks.
Yes, the Wagoneer was lower yet; it was specifically designed to be a “station wagon” with four wheel drive, rather than a utility wagon sitting on a pickup chassis.
Agreed, with you comments about the next generation, and International’s challenges in the seventies.
IH only referred to the 4cyl and later 304 versions by the Commanche name. They referred to this series of V-8s as the SV for Small V.
There were significant economies of scale between the Scouts and their Pickup/Travelall cousins most of the non sheet metal body items like handles gauges, switches, light buckets and lenses are shared. My Scout IIs have many parts that are a direct interchange with my “D-series” Travelall.
IH also outsourced so many things they didn’t have to spend big bucks on development. By the time the 69 Full Size and 71 Scout II came around GM divisions produced more of the parts on the Light Line vehicles than IH did. Saginaw steering columns PS boxes and pumps; Delco Remy distributors, starters, alternators and switches: Packard Electrical Division wiring terminals and connectors. Guide lights, lenses and light housings. Rochester emissions components.
Some of the other things were outsourced from companies that supplied other mfgs, for example hub caps were the same as Rambler bought, less the “R” in the middle for a number of years. Drivetrain on the light duty trucks was also outsourced once you got past the engine. Borg-Warner transmissions. Dana transfer cases, drive shafts and axles. Bendix and Kelsey-Hayes Brakes. Of course other mfgs used those sources too which is why so many items are on the shelf at any parts store to this day, even if the guy behind the counter says who makes International, GM?
The other economy of scale IH had going for it was the fact that many light line parts were actually heavy truck parts too. The cab of the pickup version of today’s subject was the basis of the world famous Loadstar. The floor and firewall are different but the rest of the cab is the same, which is why you can still buy new glass for today’s subject w/o a problem. The later “D series” trucks share some cab sheetmetal with the Fleetstar of the time.
Then there are the engines. Note the title is wrong the ad is from 1972. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsmawXv_pvY&playnext=1&list=PLD3ABD385F7848A37&feature=results_video The only thing they are fudging with the add is the Loadstar has a larger oil pan and often a governor distributor and carb.
All independents have to be much more clever than major automakers when it comes to parts interchangeability. Bodies have nevertheless always represented one of their biggest costs. Major restylings have thus tended to be less frequent because it takes longer to amortize that cost than with a high-volume automaker.
IH made it even harder on itself by offering two completely distinct bodies. In key respects this effectively doubled their cost. Compare that to Chevrolet, which based its Scout competitor, the Blazer, on a shortened version of its big truck body.
If IH had gone that route with its second-generation Scout it might have been able to afford new-fangled features such as curved side glass. Instead, by the mid-70s its big trucks became too dated to be competitive in a market where styling started to matter more. Indeed, a similar situation befell the Scout.
By spreading its resources too thinly IH wasn’t able to stay competitive in any field. A modular platform might have saved the day (at least for a while).
I knew there was a smaller V8 thanwhat was mentioned – 266, that;’s the one.
My buddy has a 266 in his ’68 pu.
I had a 345 in my ’73.
WAY overbuilt trucks top to bottom.
Mmm mmm, I sure could use me some of that! I am back to driving an old (diesel 3/4 ton 4×4) Suburban now, but boy those era of Travelall have always been on my wish list. I’ll bet he does still have it.
Is the Suburban a new acquisition? If so, does that mean the Landy is gone?
Yes. I got tired of stressing over repair costs and paying high insurance. To top it off it blew the water pump three moths after having a new Land Rover one put in while on my way to show it. So for $1,000 I picked up a nice near perfect Burban’.
Excellent – give it another 4-5 years and you’ll be able to add to your fantastic COAL series! (which I miss, by the way Michael, your vehicle choices were all so interesting and entertaining!)
The torsion bar IFS model was a line extension not a replacement for the old straight axle models. They were designated the 100, 1000, or 1010 series while the 1/2 ton models with the straight axle were 110, 1100 or 1110 depending on the year. In base form they had the exact same weight rating. The torsion bar frame was entirely different from the straight axle version, instead of a deep C it has a rectangular tube frame which through most of it’s length is wider than it is tall to give the low ride height. The straight axle rigs sat a couple of inches higher than the IFS unit. The 120, 1200 and 1210 3/4 ton models did sit significantly higher.
IH (and Ford) did start using the term S/U or Sport/Utility in the 60’s and that only referred to a purpose vehicle the Scout (and Bronco) while they kept calling the Travelall what it was a Truck based Station Wagon. Nowadays everyone considers the definition of a SUV as meaning that it has 4wd.
Today’s subject is wearing the D-1×00 front end which was a longer than average run built from Dec 64 to Mar 66 with no technical model year in IH’s mind. That was added by the dealer/state to conform to what “the other guys” were doing.
If only I could get you to write some of these CCs. 🙂
I recall that. Smokey Yunick, the Car Clinic guy at Popular Science, also had an IH franchise at his garage; and at one point he wrote that the solid-axle model was so unstable on the highway he stopped selling it.
Apparently there was no Panhard rod or solid spring shackles – the AM General mail jeeps had the same problem, the two-bar front-spring shackles would flop over, left or right, and change their lean depending on how the driver pulled the steering wheel. Made it very unstable.
Anyway…the IFS units solved this problem. The only truck I had with IH pickups was one four-wheel-drive unit; only drove it once and it had a Fisher snowplow on the front. So any judgment of handling couldn’t really apply.
As for the IH model years…there weren’t any, until the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 started specifying requirements to be phased in…by model year. There was no way to avoid it; and IH started declaring model years in 1970. Which was the year of their new white-bread blandwich truck.
Other utility vehicle manufacturers declared model years by year sold, also. I don’t know if auto titles needed a model year in those days; if they did they surely went by the Customer Order.
The IFS was designed by TRW on spec and supposedly tried unsuccessfully to sell it to at least some of the “Big Three” first. Trucks equipped with it, particularly the Travelall W/sway bar are far and away are the best riding and handling vehicle to wear the man on the tractor logo.
Love these honest old trucks. My favorite is John Wayne’s Travelall that sits in the car museum part of Don Laughlin’s casino in Laughlin, NV. I didn’t gamble while I was there but I sure did ogle… 😛
No mention of the Willys Jeep station wagon? It probably preceded International’s wagons. Many older people here still call light truck based family haulers `wagons’, while the mfrs. insist on calling them SUVs, MUVs, CUVs, MAVs, whatever the nom du jour.
And the six was the Tornado OHC, Willys’ own design, not GM’s Toronado. Did the Toronado even have a six?
The Willys were even smaller than the Wagoneer. They played an important role, for sure, but like the Wagoneer, they were essentially “car sized”, and on towards the compact end of that spectrum, back then.
If you wanted a big, truck-sized utility wagon, the Travelall was it. That’s why I say it was the Suburban of its time, not the Cherokee of its time.
“Tornado”, it was meant to say; fixed. Actually, the later generation Toronados had sixes, but those were the GM 90 degree V6.
The Tornado six was the old 226 inch flathead six that Kaiser-Frazer had used, and started out as the Continental six wayyy back, with a new OHC hemi-head, designed by veteran Italian engineer A.C. Sampietro. Here’s a little post on it:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/mexican-jeeps-catch-aire-thanks-to-the-tornado-ohc-engine/
That flying wagon tickles my childhood fantasy of a Jeep wagon. I only I can find one with the six…
Any light diesels suitable for swapping available currently?
I worked on a surveying crew in the summer of 1966. We traveled all over the tri-state area in a Suburban. I could have sworn that: 1.) it was not at all new, and 2.) it has four doors.
And how many beers a day did the crew consume 🙂
Seriously, if it had four doors in 1966, it was not a Suburban, but a Travelall. You just confirmed my point that the names were interchangeable, over the decades, as the standard vehicle of its type.
We never drank until the working day was over, and even then not much because a couple of guys on the crew were Mormons.
I was a car nuts kid. The one thing every kid knew back then was GM vs. Ford vs MoPar, vs Outer darkness. I could tell a GM vehicle from an International. I am positive it was a GM. I am not so positive on the 2 doors vs 4, but I have never recollected it as a 2 door.
There would be no mistaking the 1966 or earlier Suburban. You’d have gotten in on the passenger’s front (only) door, the seat would have folded forward and then UP.
You’d have had SLIDING windows at your seats.
IF you’d gotten an early-production 1967 Suburban for a ride, you’d have had a curbside rear passenger door but no driver’s side.
You were either in a Travelall or maybe a Wagoneer or a custom rig.
I worked with an older gentleman in Seattle in the early ’80s who swore by his ’62 Travelall, mostly because of the thick gage sheet metal and that the floor was level with the door sills, allowing him to hose it out occasionally.
Unfortunately that changed on the next series, just another reason I would love to own one of these.
Now I’m gonna light off a stink-bomb:
When exactly did IH start using AMC V8s? I understand towards the end they were pretty common; it was a win-win, with IH able to focus on their small diesels and AMC able to spread the costs of their V8s which they needed for Jeeps but could no longer use in their cars.
There were at least some V400’s (AMC 401) in late 1973 1010’s (torsion bar) they were officially noted as an option in 1974 2wd but disappeared from the 75 MY literature and order guide though there are some out there. So they were not that common.
The back story was that IH couldn’t keep up with the demand for the 392 due to the high take rate for it in Loadstars. The New MV was waiting in the wings to fill both MD and LD engine bays, but it was not on schedule. Since they were buying 6cyls from AMC, they struck a deal for the 401 to free up 392s for Loadstars.
My best friend’s dad bought one of these in ’63 to take on the Pan American highway. Trips to Baja had nearly killed the ’57 Buick station wagon it replaced.
The Travelall was the ultimate paramilitary dad-mobile ever made (you know the type of dad-the one who woke up the kids at 0530 because thats how they did it in the Army/Navy/Marines/because his old man did it when he was a kid and that’s how it’s gonna be done, goddammit!). Those of us who grew up in the Seventies would recognize the family-while the rest of us had our hair long and wore bell-bottoms, these kids all had matching crew cuts (even the family dog). Nope-can’t buy a Suburban-it’s too wussy for Paramilitary Dad! Gottra have something to haul the trailer & canoe to the lake so he can teach the kids to swim by paddling to the middle of the lake and tossing ’em in.
I’m sorry that there is no thumbs up function in these comments. So, thumbs up!
That 1965 travelall is still for sale, I ran across it in eugene this morning with the for sale sign in it.
Had a carryall 1st cannot find a pic anywhere the wagon was 4 door front side by side rear w/glass the 4 front doors were all glass the rest was paneled.The rear crew seat folded forward and made the back flat that’s were we slept,The second was a Travelall glass all around and side by side doors in back seat also folded forward again slept there.Was w/the carnival for a lot of years I loved those wagons.My second choice would have been a checker cab and I doubt it would have been nearly as comfy.
Maybe it’s time for some historical revisionism. Vehicles of this type are now considered cars. Willys has been making cars of this type without a break since 1947. The current Willys products are called cars, but the earlier ones were called trucks, and we didn’t consider Willys to be a maker of passenger cars. Where do we draw the line?
It would make more sense to redefine all of them as cars, and start counting both Willys and IH as carmakers in all of those years.
We can consider Willys a carmaker because they made the Aero and various prewar cars. The Travelall was always a truck, regardless of how carlike it may have been.
The Travelall was always a Wagon no matter how truck like it may have been.
Use the 5-year-old rule!
Show a 5-year-old a picture and ask “Is that a car or a truck.”
Whatever gets said, that’s what it is.
A bit of family COAL: my uncle had an Israeli-assembled Wagoneer with the Hurricane engine and hated it. Reliability was a requirement given that a lot of his time was spent on road construction sites in the Sinai desert (he was a contractor for the IDF) and that engine did NOT like heat. At some point he discovered the Travelall and never looked back; if he needed a 4X4 it had to be an IH from then on. We used to borrow his 1010 SWB p/u when my father had a yard cleanout and I drove it a lot. It had “un-burstable” written all over it and was paradoxically very useful in Tel Aviv traffic, as other drivers thought better of challenging it for fear of being mangled. 3-on-the-three and 70 MPH top speed but in for Israeli in the late 70s it did not matter.
Maybe I need glasses, but from some angles it looks like an overgrown Studebaker Lark.
Definitely shows some Studebaker influence. These no nonsense tough as nails vehicles were ahead of their time, but I don`t think they would appeal to today`s affluent suburban SUV buyers.
You’re not the only one. I once did a post on that: https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/cohort-sighting-1962-studebaker-lark-wagon-what-does-it-remind-you-of/
That does bring back memories, but of the final-generation model, a 70-something.
When I was a teenager in the mid 80’s an adult friend of the family had one, it was a bit of a junker by then but she ran a small summer camp and needed the small bus capability it provided for cheap. The power steering had failed and it had no rear window. I suspect the brake booster was shot too, don’t recall for sure.
She found a rear window for I think $200 (big money back then) and had it installed. Two days later she forgot she had left the tailgate down and drove off; first bump = no more window! And no more money for power steering repair, so she just hauled it around. Plastic and duct tape on the back meant lots of noise but nobody suffered CO poisoning that we know of, so I guess it was effective.
I didn’t have my license yet, but she let me drive it on private property sometimes. It did require muscle, for sure. But, it meant I had access to the keys; the campers were primarily female and I always had an eye on the back seat as a possibility, but I must admit I had limited success in that regard.
I do remember the alternator died on a road trip and pulling into an IH dealer alongside all the big trucks. No problem, an alternator was in stock.
I really like this thing! Studebaker Lark back with a ’61 Rambler American front-end to my eyes. I don’t think these ever made it to Europe, unlike the Scout. They’re like the antithesis of the Hummer. Huge, wide, but no bling, no frills, no cupholders. Beautiful in their own way. Thank you very much for this piece, Paul.
Yes that era IH made it to at least some European countries as I know a few people with this era truck over there including a Travelall of this era that has been re-powered with a GM 6.2 diesel to make it more palatable to the owner’s wallet.
They even had truck and engine factories in Germany and Holland (?) at one stage I believe.
Our neighbours traded in their 1963 Pontiac wagon for a new Travelall in 1965. The fact that they had the IH franchise clearly was a factor, but I don’t know to what extent it was an unbiased choice versus an advertising effort. They were a large (and very sensible) family however, and had a couple of cabins in rural parts of Nova Scotia, so it made some sense for them.
From an adolescent’s point of view in the mid 60’s it seemed pretty styleless, and we used to tease their teenage daughter about it. I can still hear her protest, “It’s not a truck!!”. Turned out they were ahead of the curve :-).
In the late 60’s, my father bought a used ’60 Travelall. It looked just like the aqua and white one in the article, but it was all white. It had a 3-speed stick, and a V-8 (I don’t know which one, I was 9-10 years old at the time). I think he kept it for about a year, maybe 2 years.
Even back then, I always wondered why it only had one rear door
Rear fenders remind me of a ’61-2 Valiant,
Friend of mine in west NSW had a 60 or 62 B Travelall six cylinder four speed exactly the same front panels as his AB 120 flatdeck which ended up as parts, good wagon and well able to cope with the unpaved dirt roads in his area.
Nice truck ! .
We had two of these, both bought new ~ the last one *might* have been a 1961, 2WD, just the thing to haul six kids around rural New England in .
I hope this o ne gets some love, it looks like it’s near the tipping point in it’s long life .
-Nate
IH “A” series trucks and Travelall arrived as 1957 models in April of 1957.
I worked with a guy in the late ’70’s who had one of these, which he called the “Trouble-all”. It was gray, also. I probably rode in it occasionally. Come to think of it, he moved to Oregon around 1980-81 … maybe this was his IH. 10 years later I worked with another guy who had the previous gen Travelall, 2wd. And a good friend had a Scout II. Really, these IH light trucks weren’t that uncommon for a long time.
I didn’t think of it first time around, but since we had a Checker Marathon post this week, I see more than a bit of resemblance. Maybe it’s just that dash full of off-the-shelf S-W gauges.
I’m not sure if the Marathon wagon was offered with a 3rd row of seats, though. But if it did and you didn’t need 4WD, the two might have competed for buyers.
That’s it – the gauges definitely rang a bell here too. Would never’ve made the comparison if not for the recent Checker CC.
Question at large: where would a loyal, IH-owning farmer go to purchase a Travelall in 1965? Our little county had a lot of red tractors, but the IH dealer didn’t have anything like a showroom.
Would the farmer search for a bigger IH tractor & implement dealer in a distant city, or a commercial truck dealer that carried Loadstars and stuff? Did IH have dedicated dealerships for pickups, Scouts, and Travelalls in urban areas? Or did IH grant franchises paired with conventional auto dealers?
Grew up around them and always wondered what it took to get and keep one.
IH dealers did have showrooms in more populated towns. Here’s an example of what the standard design looked like:
https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Image/IM25180
That center sign pylon on a low, flat building is pretty distinctive, and tends to survive subsequent remodels/re-use of the existing buildings that I’ve seen.
Ames Iowa has two side-by-side that are still recognizable, one’s now a carpet dealer, the other’s an auto repair shop:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/128+Lincoln+Way,+Ames,+IA+50010/@42.0229442,-93.6117496,3a,75y,151.95h,97.6t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s7ZhvhFw7qDHFICwI6Lirng!2e0!7i16384!8i8192!4m7!3m6!1s0x87ee70781facf3cf:0xa994da69a4281ab1!8m2!3d42.0226452!4d-93.6117681!14m1!1BCgIgARICCAI