When talking about vintage pickup trucks, we usually think about Fords and Chevrolets. Because let's face it, the Ford F-Series and the Chevy Task Force / C/K Series are indeed America's most famous haulers. However, the pickup truck market was contested by quite a few other manufacturers in the 1950s and 1960s.
And I'm not only talking about GMC, which offered more upscale versions of the Chevrolet trucks, or Dodge. International Harvester was also a big player. Moreover, the Chicago-based company built a few cool pickups.
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.
Discovered and rescued by YouTube's "Adventures Made From Scratch," the medium-duty truck spent a few decades in someone's backyard. What makes it special? Well, it's a four-door, crew cab-style truck, which is an unusual setup for a medium-duty B Series. But that's not all. According to our host, this hauler is actually a super rare prototype.
While it may look like a regular International B-150 Travel Crew (that's how International Harvester named its four-door crew cab trucks at the time) at first glance, this hauler sports unusually wide C-pillars. It's like someone slapped C Series pillars on a B Series truck. Except it didn't because there are no signs of sheet metal modifications. What gives?
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 probably left the factory as a chassis cab and got the utility bed after a few years. All told, there's no way to tell which application this truck was originally made for, but it's still a cool prototype. And based on how few B-150 medium-duty survivors are still out there today, it may be the only thick C-pillar unit in existence. Is it worth restoring? Check it out in the video below, and tell me your thoughts in the comments section.
Ask Ciprian about cars and he'll reveal an obsession with classics and an annoyance with modern design cues. Read his articles and you'll understand why his ideal SUV is the 1969 Chevrolet K5 Blazer. Full profile
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