The local Chevy dealer in my hometown, Bryson Chevrolet-Oldsmobile of Gaffney, South Carolina, used to pick up inexpensive franchises for other brands from time to time. In the late '70s they had Fiat, Lancia, and International as their side brands. An unusual combo--I remember a black Fiat Spider and a "traffic yellow" doorless Scout SSII side by side.
Sold my man on a tractor sign last year. I have two needle nose pickups. The large K models could be had with duel intakes (inline 6 motors) They also had a version of the Chev Cameo. What do you mean I.H. arnt hot rods
Maybe OT, but Hell, I can remember when my Dad bought a new IH refrigerator. Cool old art deco piece It's still at the old farm...
The building in my avitar was an IH dealership I worked there as a kid and bought the building in the 80's we were one of the first dealerships to sell a tri axle truck in western Pa back in the day. Now it serves as our toy bunker.
Here are a couple of photos from Coffey Implements in Polo ILL. (circa 1967). My oldest brother, Larry worked there in the mid 1960's and is the 5th from the right in the first photo. The owners, Bob and Thelma Jones, are in the second photo.
Ever heard of Smokey Yunick? Among his other ventures, he was also an International Harvester dealer. GGB
I worked for a farmer while in high school whose uncle was our local IH dealer. The uncle was also a Chevrolet dealer. The shop foreman and the farmer I worked for hopped up everything of the farmer's that they worked on. Had an M tractor that had been bored out with a reworked cam and bigger carb-it really had a sweet sound, and a lot more power than a typical M. They also worked over an 806, and pulled some big numbers on the dyno after adding a turbo and some other goodies I can't recall now. They dialed it way back for farm work, but it sure pulled a six bottom plow easily. Then there were his pickup trucks, grain trucks, and his cars......more fun! Great memories from an IH/Chevy dealership in my home town. Sadly, both dealerships have closed. GGB
Almost forgot about a guy who had a Binder pickup truck that used to come into the auto parts store I worked in while I was in college. He built up one of the IH V-8s (345 or 392?) including a mild cam and some other typical hot rod mods. He just wanted to have something different than everyone else, and I recall that he surprised a few guys with that truck! I was mildly surprised at what performance parts were available for those engines. It was fun to help him find some of the pieces. GGB
Yeah yeah blah blah... every time the 8 volt setup gets mentioned, there's always at least one that wants to have a pissing contest and argue the virtues of the mighty 6 volt- and I'd bet very few of them has ever actually tried it. We were in Southern Tier NY, and both the 8N and Chebbie tonner were used in the business, the 8N plowed out the local one-room Post Office, hardware store, and Red & White grocery first thing in the morning after every snow, usually with my butt on it before the school bus, and it rarely had the priveledge of getting parked inside the warm shop, sometimes got to roost in the pole barn, but had to start quickly and dependably, even if you had to dig it out of a drift first. The Chebbie delivered coal for home heat, and likewise had to start every time when needed, and nobody likes to screw around with jumpers in the cold, especially trying to jump a 6-volt. Stock they would start most of the time, but never spin very fast- the sweet '50 8N with 1050 hours that I have here right now starts every time, but still just goes rrroww-rrroww-boom, with a fresh battery and good cables. the 8-volt setup spins fast like a 12 volt system, and just flat starts a lot better, and doesn't hurt a thing with a properly adjusted regulator. So go ahead and stick with your rrroww-rrroww's and your opinions BTW, we used to use 6V starters in the later 12V REO trucks for the same reason, just spun the engine faster for better starting, and actually got better life out of the starters when they spun faster and didn't lug down and get warm
I guess that depends on what are you live in. At one time there were at least 6 IH dealerships with 30 miles of my home. We used to be fairly rural before the great urban spawl began to take us over. Pretty much every small town around had a dealership in the '60s to early '70's. Now most are gone.
Ya, and at the time IH had a strategy of having at least one Dealership in every County Seat-most of the time it was more than that-
There was an IH dealer in Ironton, OH, Jenkins Garage. It carried the light & heavy trucks, farm, & construction lines. The urban renewal program took their building in the 70s, and they relocated to South Point, OH, and they were open into the late 70s. The building is still there, it's now a church named the Point. It is very easy to see from US 52.
Out here in farm country, we'd be in trouble if we didn't have plenty of IH dealers. I asked them if they may have any parts left over for my 35 pickup but sadly, all the old inventory was gone...got lots of big truck and tractor parts tho.
My first hotrod project was a '38 International 1/2 ton pick-up. I put a 304 IH v-8 and a torqueflight in it. My dad worked for IH for 33 years, as a mechanic, service manager. The shop I work at now was the original IH dealer in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Even though there was a plant about 30 miles from me in Springfield Ohio I only remember seeing only a few dealers and most were in small towns,I do remember seeing one in Springfield that I think was on Rt 41.
I worked for them for 35 years. Started right after college running Diesel engine dynamometers in the development labs and ended up in management. Running dynos was more rewarding, though it didn't pay as well and the smell of diesel in your skin seemed to never go away. I did some field test work, and in the late 70's there were still dealerships with dirt floors and Quonset huts for service departments. I don't know how some of those rebuilds survived. Those dealers were later culled. The name changed to Navistar in the mid 80's when they sold the farm equipment group to Case, but the company is still around building trucks, school busses, motor homes (Monaco), and military vehicles (MRAPs). They are also in China, Mexico and Brazil. Most of the true IH people from before the name change are either retired or are approaching retirement. Hope they stay around as I need the pension check for another 30-35 years.
International used to have what they called J88 acounts which were basically parts dealers a lot of their smaller dealers ended up changing into these type of acounts as they could not afford the upgrades international required many continued in that way for many years one of the best ones around here was in laceyville PA called J and J sales still in business today not much to look at building wise but they knew their I H trucks and they had inventory last thing I knew they still have some scout parts and yes they srill have all the old IH parts books and know how to use them
You go off topic on Ford N tractors and Chevy trucks with 8 volt systems and then whine when I have another opinion based on my experiences ? Then called me narrow minded? You are comic relief,thanks for the laugh
Like I said, there's always one Every time this subject gets brought up on any antique tractor forum, the Hatfields and McCoys get lined up and start shootin' Like I said, go ahead an keep your rrowww- rrowww setup (and they work OK for me in warmer Kali winters) and it'll probably start, but it would spin faster and start better with the 8V, and the battery costs about the same, just adjust the regulator, no other changes required- we used to use a Prestolite regulator that had an external adjustment lever, didn't even have to take the cover off. And you get headlights like a 12V system, with no rewiring, changing bulbs or mods- there's no downside.It's been done very successfully by lots of folks on lots of machines, and that's a fact, not an opinion. If you don't want to try it, don't LOL Later, Son
Athol, MA, a mill-town, pop about 11,000 now, had a good-sized IH dealership, apparently into the 1980's. About 2 years ago, the property owner sold the dealership's '48 K-5 dumper with plow gear. Spent most of its life inside the shop, judging from its condition at sale. Wish I could've snagged it
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