Still Needs A Home: 1923 International Harvester Model S
This is a good looking old truck that Matt Williams spotted for us listed here on eBay. I last wrote about it here on Barn Finds in June of 2016. As I said then “When this truck was built, you couldn’t legally buy booze and the Hollywood sign was new and said “Hollywoodland”.” Bidding in past auctions has never reached much above $7,000 and not met reserve. This time bidding is over $10,000 with reserve still not met, but perhaps there’s hope. It’s a wonderful old truck, but what do you do with a truck with a top speed of 25 mph that’s no fun to drive? Reader Geomechst commented it looks more like a later 1925 to 1929 model, but checking Google images, there are a number of 1923 International Model S trucks, that look similar. Barn Finds member Howard A suggested it might have been a Hollywood prop truck. This truck was probably originally delivered without a cab. The new owner built their own cab and bed to suit their own uses. Thus, trucks of this era often have a variety of cabs.
I hope this old truck finds a buyer this time. I hope it can stay just as it is, but I can imagine someone making a few changes to make it easier to drive and improving the brakes. Somehow this truck is looking pretty good for being almost 100 years old.
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Comments
Thats the 64000 dollar question,what do you do with something this old? Parades, help out at the threshing bee,car show I guess. No use trying to make it better in my mind,it is what it is,it deserves to be left alone after surviving this long in this good of condition Farmers tended to gravitate toward the I.H.C. brand of trucks due to dealers having every thing they needed on the farm in one spot.I remember going with grandpa for parts and seeing a lot of big, shiny, red equipment.The distinctly styled building still stands,but of course no longer contains big red tractors.
If you could do a Columbia overdrive unit like some of the cars back then it might be able to muster a lot more MPH. I’m just guessing about this though since I don’t know much about these old trucks. Could the rear end gearing be changed? If you could get the speed to 50 it would be a great round town truck for Lowes and Home Depot runs and cruise nights. It would certainly be smart bomb proof.
That would be very cool however it has been my experience that these older trucks do not handle well at speed, 50 would definitely be “speed”. Also you need to consider that the low hp output of these engines may not pull the truck up to those neck breaking speeds and it may be at full throttle trying for most of the trip.
I’m going to maintain that it’s newer than 1923. Unless it’s a combination of older and newer trucks, it’s got to be newer. I sure hope that it finds a good home. It still has a lot of potential and could be a lot of fun….
Hopefully the seller will come down to a price a buyer is willing to pay.
Fortunatly the year of this doesn’t really matter. I often wonder what sellers base the year on. However, there a bunch of 1921 to 1924 Model S trucks that look very similar, like this 1923. https://vihtr.com/1922-1924/https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1923_International_Harvester_1_Ton_Stake_Bed_Truck_(26257351342).jpg
I’ll have to check my sources again. It’s got my attention.
I wouldn’t want go any faster in this beautiful old survivor especially as it only has two wheel brakes
Trucks of this era were not vehicles so much as carriers of goods. Many still are; my downfall as a delivery driver was to ignore that distinction, possible to do with modern, easy-to-drive and fast machinery. With one of these you are stuck in CARRIER mode, and trying to modify your way past that is just begging for trouble. They CAN be fun to drive, in the way that a tractor sometimes is, but unless you’re either just having a first-time Experience or being in a parade the interesting part will pass rather quickly. It’s ultimately like using a chainsaw or a nail gun for fun.
That does not mean you can’t have fun restoring one and making it shiny again, if that’s your gig. Or giving kids rides, pulling a hay-wagon in a parade or maybe for a hayride …
Looks like the truck the guy delivered booze to the Chicago warehouse just prior to the St. Valentines Day massacre.
I think this may be as late as a 1928 to 1930. The ad states “3 speed with high-low”, which may indicate it’s a “Six-Speed Special”, introduced in 1928. I’m not sure about the cab, as all the images I’ve seen of late 20’s IH trucks had this cab, but still could have been outsourced. It appears to have a Waukesha XA motor with about 30 hp. This is a wonderful example, and should be in a museum, if any left. This truck, even with the 2 speed axle would only muster maybe 35 mph, but in the late 20’s, that was actually pretty fast, but today, will have to be trailered anywhere. At the time, it was one of IH’s most popular trucks.
http://tractors.wikia.com/wiki/International_Six-Speed_Special_Truck
The higher bids but still “reserve not met” just indicates that one particular bidder, Hill, Mr. S Hill is just doing a bit more work this time. But it still doesn’t fool anyone who thinks about it.
Since vehicles from this era did not have VIN numbers, they may be going off the engine numbers. A 1923 patent is cast into the engine = it must be from 1923 in the sellers eyes
love to have this, i live on a 77 acre farm and this would be great to hunt and fish on. could even take (very slowly) the back roads to town 6 miles away