Sometime in 1974 or 75, my father came home with a “new” International Harvester pickup. It was the only “new” vehicle I remember my folks buying, and “new” has quote marks around it because it wasn’t really new at all.
Rather, it was a 1973 model that, according to my father, had been used by the railroad to shuttle workers around. It was as bare bones as could be—no air conditioning, no radio and a heater that barely worked. It had a pintle hitch rather than a receiver hitch, and was equipped with vinyl seats. Yes, plural. It was a four-door, stepside model that Harvester called a “Travelette.” My father was ahead of his time—four-door pickups are ubiquitous now, but in the mid-1970s, that truck stood out like a sore thumb.
The International became our family vehicle, as it was the only one we owned that could capably transport two parents and five kids. We weren’t comfortable in the least—without air conditioning, the Spiegel family was a hot mess by the time we reached our destination. But we were together and made lots of memories in that old truck.
My sisters and I all learned to drive in the International, my father believing we all should learn to drive a stick shift. Anyone who could master the temperamental Borg-Warner four-speed transmission, engage that heavy-duty clutch and strong-arm the manual steering wheel would do okay in most civilized cars, he correctly theorized.
It’s big 392-cubic inch, V-8 engine had loads of power, but got terrible gas mileage and, coupled with a 16-gallon fuel tank, meant we never got anywhere fast. It had a four-barrel Holley carburetor that gave us fits, and we seemingly never could keep it running quite right. The brakes were always temperamental. Even if we could keep it running, stopping the 3/4-ton beast was always an adventure.
By the middle 1980s Old Blue was parked in the weeds on the farm, its dull, dark blue paint earning a nice patina. I mowed around it for years until 2000, when I sold it to a collector in northeast Kansas on e-Bay.
Binder loyalists
Folks who love International Harvester pickups and trucks (commonly called Binders) are a funny bunch. We seem to be extremely loyal to this brand. I’ve bought —and sold—a couple of Internationals since my youth. One of them was a shortbed pickup that I bought from a guy in central Kansas. It, too, had few redeeming creature comforts; yet when I put it up for sale, the guy from whom I bought it called and said he’d take it back. He told me he’d always regretted selling it in the first place. Like a little kid, he jumped in the pickup and sped off down the street.
If you’ve read this far, you probably know where this is going. I didn’t find my father’s Old Blue; instead, I found a different one. Inspired by seeing a restored 1973 International pickup at the Little Apple Car Show in Manhattan a few weeks ago, I shopped around and found a dark blue, 3/4-ton, four-wheel drive model. After a little dickering, it soon sat in my driveway.
My 11-year-old twin sons are pretty excited about this “new” truck and are anticipating the day they can learn to drive it, just like their old man did in the pasture across the road from our farm nearly 35 years ago.
Sitting in the driver’s seat of the new Old Blue, I was transported back in time: the longitudinal instrument cluster, the same four-speed transmission, a big ol’ bench seat, a lack of air conditioning…and just like the original Old Blue—brakes that don’t work worth a hoot.
Bill Spiegel can be reached at 785-587-7796 or [email protected].
