Text by Patrick Bell.
Today we have a gallery of tow vehicles and trailers in a variety of settings. Most of the vehicles are cars, and most of the trailers are of the recreational type, with a few U-Hauls used for moving. Cars as personal tow vehicles used to be the rule, but of course now they are the exception. These images are mostly from the 50’s and 60’s with one from the 70’s for good measure, so hitch up a chair and enjoy the ride.
In the first image, we have a pleasant looking couple with a ’62 Plymouth Sport Fury hardtop towing a Trailblazer camper. The Sport Fury was a late entry in the ’62 model year, reviving a nameplate that was previously used for one year in ’59. Plymouth’s new downsized restyle was not selling well and this was a way to boost sales. They came standard with bucket seats and a console, and had a unique grille, wheel covers, and other exterior trim. The 318 V8 with a 2 barrel carburetor was also standard. From the looks of the air cleaner on this one, I would say it had one of the larger, 4 barrel equipped engines. It looks like it was running hot, with the hood open and a puddle of water on the ground. The front license plate is not an official one, but it does say ‘Grand Canyon’ across the top and ‘Arizona’ on the bottom.
The camper has an air conditioner on top, and bringing up the rear is a ’57 Ford Custom or Custom 300 Fordor Sedan.
An image search reveals this is Route 66 in the Ozarks, which would mean Missouri. It must have been a slow go in this ’53 Chevrolet Bel Air 4 door sedan towing a West Wood Trailer Coach that is longer than the car. It is a warm summer day and the lady on the left has a picnic basket style purse.
A Cadillac would certainly be a powerful and comfortable tow vehicle and I am sure this ’56 Series Sixty-Two Coupe was no exception. With a canoe and a small pop up type trailer this one does not seem to be overloaded, but the canoe might cause issues on a windy day. The car also has a made to fit bug shield, and it is a warm day perhaps in the southwest USA.
“On the way to Florida” is how this photo is labeled in a search, presumably for a fishing trip. It looks like a truck stop in the background, and I am not sure about the large building. The tow car is a ’55 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight Deluxe Holiday Coupe that could use a set of whitewalls to brighten it up, and the boat and trailer both look new. In the background is a ’54 Chevrolet Bel Air 4 door sedan.
The Silvanus’s may be snowbirds. A search brings up a caption that indicates they are heading back north after a Florida trip. They are well equipped for life on the road with this ’57 Ford Country Sedan with an Illinois license plate with a matching boat and very nice looking camper.
This gentleman looks like he is ready for spring but winter just won’t let go. The featured tow rig is a V8 powered ’57 Chevrolet Two-Ten Townsman (six passenger) or Beauville (nine passenger) wagon with a matching camp trailer. The car was registered in Spokane County, Washington, where the seat is a city also named Spokane.
Here we have a ’57 Plymouth Custom Suburban 4 door with a V8, Sportone trim, and towing a small camper. They are parked in a picnic area of a seaside park in a tropical looking location.
This is likely a late spring or early summer photo but it does not look very warm. A plain looking ’63 or ’64 International Travelall with a custom bumper and towing a small camper. It makes me think of a U.S. Forest Service truck but there is no door sign. International was an independent company whose specialty was farm equipment, but they were ahead of their time in many ways as this large, four door, SUV body style is very popular today.
Another comfortable tow car, a ’62 Pontiac Bonneville Vista in resale red with a Cree camper. It is equipped with towing mirrors that are clamped on the doors instead of the fenders. The lady behind the wheel looks like she is ready to go.
Moving day in or out of a duplex with a ’62 Dodge 330 4 door sedan and a U-Haul trailer. There is a new plant in the yard protected by a small fence.
One more moving day, this time with a clean ’64 Ford Country Squire and a 14 or 16 foot U-Haul, with a ’63 Chevrolet C10 bringing up the rear. The grass is green and the flowers are blooming so it is a summer day.
What IS that down the road? Three out of the four seem to be interested. They are traveling through farm country in a ’63 Mercury Colony Park towing a Corsair camper with the front roof extended to make room for a bed. It appears like they pulled off the road in a shady spot for a rest or perhaps a meal.
A nicely restored ’62 Chevrolet C10 Custom Cab Fleetside short wheelbase pickup from Oregon is towing an Aladdin camper trailer. The ranch style house is located at the bottom of a hill.
The load looks full and the passengers are outside the car. This ’68 Plymouth Fury VIP 2 door Fast Top with a license plate I can’t read is towing a large pop up camper and the low sun is in everyone’s eyes. The VIP was the luxury version of the Fury, their answer to Ford’s LTD and Chevrolet’s Caprice. The LTD and Caprice were much more successful as the LTD name lived into the eighties and the Caprice into the nineties while the VIP name died and was forgotten after a four year run. This car was equipped with one of the ‘Commando’ V8’s, which was the 383 or 440.
In the carport is a ’68 full size Ford, the driveway a ’60 Comet 4 door sedan, and speaking of Caprices next door is a ’67 Sport Sedan.
Tire changing time. I have done it many times on the road but it has been a long while since the last one. This ’72-’75 International Travelall from Michigan has a full load, including a motorcycle and a pop up camper. It looks like a cold day in the desert. 1975 was the last year for the Travelall and pickups. Increased competition from GM’s restyled 4 door Suburbans in ’73 plus the fuel crisis finished them off. The Scout model soldiered on for five more years until it too bit the dust.
Thanks for tagging along and have a great day!
I can only imagine that poor ’53 Chevy’s 216CID Babbit Pounder wheezing along with that massive trailer .
From the late 1950’s through the mid 1960’s we had IHC Travelalls, good trucks when you had 6 brats .
No trailers though, we used a Cottage tent all over New England .
-Nate
It’s got the 235 six. Same engine used in hundreds of thousands of big Chevy trucks hauling big heavy loads. Yet folks kept buying them…
I believe they started using insert bearings on the 235 in 1953.
55 Olds 98, 324V8 240hp 4sp castiron Hydromatic, leave it in third gear and it’ll pull like a road tractor. ( still on the night shift Patrick?)
Yes, sir!
The photo with the U-Haul and the two door Dodge in front of a duplex, looks like a typical military housing unit for lower ranking enlisted members.
Great photos and essay, Rich! That green IH Travelall, I trust, was equipped with the base V8 and not a six. It was, therefore, be a V-304 (CID) that was designed to haul medium-duty trucks up to 24,500 pounds GVW. Ergo, that engine could HAUL! Change the thermostat for the seasons, incidentally. A 160-degree F for the summer and a 180-degree F for the winter and, hopefully, they ordered or the dealer ordered the Super Capacity Heater and Defroster. The interior has thinly padded trim panels and much painted metal work. So, thermal transmission in the winter necessitated the top-of-the-line heater. Great vehicles. Desperately needed disc brakes. The later model shown had them in the front.
I tried to identify the Spokane location without success. The view looks like what you see from Northwest Blvd south of Wellesley. But those addresses are around 4400 in both directions, and the house clearly says 7705. Searching Google Streets with 7705 doesn’t find any similar houses. Possibly it was replaced since then.
I believe the Spokane house is at 7705 E. Euclid Ave. It’s in Spokane Valley, not Spokane itself, so that could be why you didn’t find it at first.
Google StreetView here:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/3rJm3cVAgg9juWm4A
In the second to last photo, the front license plate on the Plymouth is a Florida “Arrive Alive” plate that was sold at the time in souvenir stores and gift shops. The style of the houses also suggests typical Florida developments of that period.
Thank you for that! I couldn’t place that license plate, but now it makes perfect sense.
Seeing the ’53 Chevy/West Wood Trailer Coach reminds me of the 1954 movie “The Long Long Trailer”.
The trailer used in the film is the 1953 36-foot Redman New Moon model, which sold for US$5,345 (equivalent to $62,817 in 2024). The new car used to tow the trailer is a 1953 Mercury Monterey convertible with a 125 HP flathead V8 engine.
Starring Desi & Lucy, what could possibly go wrong?
Phil, if you look closely at that movie in the mountain-climb scenes where Lucy just had to collect boulders (!) they used a `53 Lincoln Capri cvt. ! It had the 317 OHV V8 & hydramatic and could handle those grades! Too much for a flathead without overheating.
Oh yeah.
No special effects in this movie. I remember a thank you to the National Park Service in the credits. That was a funny movie!
Looks like the Airstream in Picture 5 could be a ’57 Flying Cloud … single axle about 3200 GVW … that ’57 Ford didn’t have any trouble pulling it. Looks like the Olds in Picture 4 needs a set of air shocks or they could have put the heavy stuff in the boat. And that Chevy C10 is a nice looking truck, but “three on the tree” and “armstrong steering” might not make for a fun camping experience. It could be a deluxe model since it’s sporting a chrome bumper which means it could have power steering, but I kinda doubt it.
The distinctive windscreen of that 1963 or ’64 International Travelall (picture #8) certainly travelled.
At first I thought it was South American But a search revealed this: https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/cohort-sighting-australian-dodge-truck-wearing-an-international-cab-and-possibly-with-a-chrysler-engine-cast-by-international/ Google lense produced this interesting listing from down under:https://www.grays.com/lot/0001-10075031/classic-cars/1978-dodge-200-auto-heavy-duty-hemi-245-6cyl-utility-last-australian-built
John it’s a Dodge D5N, which was mildly facelifted update of the earlier 1962-on Dodge AT4-series. This cab was built by Chrysler in South Australia, and shared with International A-series and their following D-line.
AT4 = Australian Truck series 4.
D5N = Dodge series 5 Normal (conventional cab).
D5N sold well, viewed as a ‘good cheap honest truck’. They were offered in a broad range of tonnages in rigid with single or crew (dual) cab, or arcticulated including tri-axle.
It featured 6 different engines in 10 specifications:
The petrols were 245 Hemi 6, 318 & 361 V8s.
Diesel variants include Perkins 6, UK-built Cummins V8, and Detroit 6V-53.
At work carting steel back in the ’70s I drove arctic variants of the two petrol V8s, and a mate’s 20 ton dump truck with the Detroit screamer – a beast!
I can’t remember if any Dodge variants were also available with 4WD (?) but some of the Internationals certainly were.
How about a ’56 Chevy 150 with a 275hp ’66 327 towing the then largest U-Haul trailer with all of our stuff from L.A. to Madison, Wisconsin during the height of the first gas crunch? A fun trip at 8-10mpg on Premium in early 1974…uhh…… Adequate power but oh that gas mileage! DFO
The later Travelall is a 1973. 71-73 shared that grille, but the wood grain on the 72 and earlier only went up to the top of the front wheel opening and has none in front of the tire. At the back there is only a very thin strip above the rear wheel opening. The 73 and later had the wood grain as pictured. The 74-75 doesn’t have the vertical gap in the middle of the grille and the hood is bumped out in the center.
Hooked up many U-Haul trailers back in the sixties. We we’re a AAA dealer and had everything. Hanging temporary hitches and Tap-A-Lites in the winter was a treat. People throwing their butts out the window into a loaded open trailer….the stories I could tell.
We used to have a 69 dodge super bee with the 383 4 barrel and manual 4 speed. My dad pulled a used 20 foot camp trailer up into the Uintah mountains in Utah every summer for our 2 week family vacations. I loved that car and our annual trips. Wish I had someone photos but just have to live with the memories.