Ford and Chevrolet pickup trucks typically come to mind when discussing old pickup trucks. Because, let’s face it, America’s most well-known haulers are the Chevy Task Force/C/K Series and the Ford F-Series. In the 1950s and 1960s, however, a number of different manufacturers competed for the pickup truck market.
And I’m not only referring to Dodge or GMC, which provided fancier variations of Chevrolet trucks. Another significant player was International Harvester. Additionally, the Chicago-based business produced a couple unique picks.
International’s light- and medium-duty legacy goes back to the early 1940s to models like the K and KB Series. These were followed by the L Series in 1949 and the R Series in 1953. Subsequent updates or redesigns followed in 1955 (S Series), 1957 (A Series), and 1959 (B Series). The C Series arrived in 1961 and lasted through 1968.
Why am I talking about International Harvester pickup trucks? Well, while most of the models above were renowned for their sturdiness and hauling capabilities, they weren’t quite as popular as their Ford and Chevrolet rivals. Sales were much lower and, as a result, International trucks are pretty scarce today. The 1959-1961 B-150 you see here, for instance, is among the rarest.
The medium-duty vehicle was found and saved by YouTube’s “Adventures Made From Scratch” after spending several decades in someone’s backyard. What distinguishes it? It’s a crew cab-style truck with four doors, which is rare for a medium-duty B Series vehicle. That’s not all, though. Our host claims that this hauler is truly an extremely uncommon prototype.
At first view, this hauler could appear to be a typical International B-150 Travel Crew (International Harvester’s four-door crew cab vehicles at the time), but closer inspection reveals exceptionally large C-pillars. It appears as though C Series pillars were slapped onto a B Series truck. However, there are no indications that the sheet metal was altered, thus it didn’t. How come?
Well, as our host correctly points out, International Harvester had a habit of making prototypes and selling them for special applications. This truck was likely born as a B Series fitted with some C Series features that International Harvester did not introduce on production trucks until mid-1961.
The hauler most likely started off as a chassis cab and later added the utility bed. Overall, it’s impossible to determine what use this truck was designed for initially, but it’s still a neat prototype. And given the scarcity of B-150 medium-duty surviving today, it might be the sole thick C-pillar unit left in existence. Does it merit restoration? See it in the video below, and then let me know what you think in the comments.