I originally thought this dark color was optional woodgrain, but I would have bet anything that this truck was Mayan Mist with Burnished Gold Metallic, as seen on page 8 of this brochure. The seller lists the exterior color as green, so maybe the lighter color is Grenoble Green? It doesn’t look green to me in the photos, but International charged $106 extra for two-tone paint on this truck. This 1974 International Travelette 200 Camper Special is listed here on Facebook Marketplace in Springfield, Ohio, and the seller is asking $9,500. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Zappenduster for the tip!
Page 5 of this 1974 International Travelall brochure shows the Travelette four-door pickup, and I-H was reportedly the first company to offer four doors and a pickup bed made in a U.S. factory. They were made from 1957 through 1975, and 4WD went away for the last two years of production in 1974 and 1975. This truck is a rear-wheel drive model, a 200, so a 3/4-ton, and it’s a Camper Special, with a 166-inch wheelbase on the Travelette.
You can see some rust on the edges and under the trim, and we don’t get to see the underside or inside the bed, but I’d want to. You won’t find a more unusual truck to have at almost any Cars & Coffee event than an International Travelette with all four doors open. As is often the case, the optional $71 rear step bumper seems to be affected by the ol’ 9.8 m/s² (gravity). As in, being bent down a bit. The seller says the tailgate is off, even though it’s shown in place here, and it needs work on the hinged area. As part of the $740 Camper Special package, this truck has air-conditioning, a sliding rear window, big mirrors, a underside-mounted spare tire, heavy-duty cooling, dual exhaust, and more.
The new D-Series International consumer trucks (pickups, Travelalls, Travelettes) were redesigned for the last time for the 1969 model year, in this iconic boxy, pragmatic form. It’s impossible to confuse these straight-edged trucks with anything else seen on the roads today, or anything that used to be seen on the roads. I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen one in person, maybe a solid decade. The interior of this truck looks nicer than I expected, both front and rear. I believe this is the Deluxe Interior, and is that a clear plastic cover on the rear seat? This one has factory air-conditioning, but it isn’t currently working.
The seller says the engine was originally a 392 V8, but it now has a 345-cu.in. OHV V8. The 345 would have been rated at 156 net horsepower with dual exhaust (which this one has), and is backed by an optional ($238) three-speed BorgWarner automatic sending power to the rear wheels. There was no 4WD for the Travelette in this era. The seller says the fuel tanks (16-gallon main tank and 16-gallon auxiliary tank) need to be cleaned, but it has had the heads “reworked,” and it has newer tires, brakes, fuel pump, alternator, exhaust, and battery. Have any of you owned a Travelette?
I saw a couple of standard cab Int’ls at Back to the 50s last weekend. Several years ago at a show in Hastings, Mn., I saw a standard cab; must’ve been the deluxe like this because the seat was pretty upscale like this one for a pickup in 1975. Had a/c & AM-FM, too.
Looks like this one needs a lot of bodywork & other things. Unusual, though.
Whoever buys this better fill the gas tank slowly otherwise they’ll get a geyser of gas on them. Trust me I know from my service station job & my neighbor’s ’68 IH.
Hey Scotty, do you suppose that’s a Fingerhut seat cover protecting the back seat? Looks like it to me.
Surprised to see a 5sp available.
5sp OD was an option.
I thought in those years the 345 V8 was the biggest engine you could get in an IH pickup. This example has rust-aplenty, more than I would want to tackle…Now if it was a single cab…
I read the 392 was available in all pickups, but a shortage of them resulted in IH using AMC 401s as a substitute in ’73-’74. You could also get an AMC 258 in-line 6 too, as IH didn’t have their own in line 6 at the time.
Yes, the federal emission laws of ’73 pretty much sounded the death knell for the 264. AMC had a surplus of 232 and 258 sixes which passed emissions so IH bought a bunch of them. The 401 engine got used in the lightest of light trucks because of the demand in larger trucks for the 392. The 392 was considerably heavier so it was sent to the larger truck lines. I guess the writing was on the wall too, as IH was only going to be around for (2) more years at best…
Scotty, it appears lately that you’re subconscious is steering you to International Travel again..
I’m still flabbergasted that in the 70s, this was the last vehicle you’d be likely to see. A 4 door pickup? Get out. Goes agin what we held dear. Makes you wonder what the next big thing will be, 9 passenger station wagons? Very rarely in a campground, one might see these pulling a camper with a big family, but for the most part, were for municipal duties.
These were just the worst,,,:0,,I’m sorry, awful vehicles, gas hogs ( I can smell the overflowing gas from here) still used king pin/straight front axle, drum brakes( although front disc helped here) it was practically archaic compared to the others. The Asian trucks put the final nail in, and rather than retool, decided to drop the line and concentrate on the heavy duty trucks, going great guns at the time. Kind of strange how you’d think big companies would have some insight, I mean, Volvo decimated their class 8 business, and all vehicles became these 4 door pickups. I know there is no crystal ball saying which way trends will go, but what a bust on IHs part.
Not a lot of interest, while the 4 door will attract the curious, one test drive will have them screaming into the night. They’ll never be so glad to get back into their new F-150.
@Howard A,
Starting in 1974, International two wheel drive trucks have coil sprung independent front suspension. This of course made a huge difference in front end ride quality. Disc brakes were also the norm in these years as well. Kind of sad that they only had the independent front suspension for the last two years of production.
I drove my 74 International tow truck across Kansas doing a steady 70mph. Every single fill up the mileage was 12mpg. With the wrecker bed and tools equipment it weighed over 5,000 lbs. The engine was the 345. I doubt that any Chevy or Ford of that day could have done any better, and in fact probably worse. My 1994 Ford Powerstroke diesel gets 12 mpg.
Yes, this would have a straight axle but you would be surprised at how sharp it would turn. Dad had a ’69 and it turned a sharper corner than the Chevy he had before, or the Ford that came after.
It was a good truck overall except that no one could seem to fix the A-C. It lasted about 7 miles then was blowing hot. The guy who bought it (and his kids still own it) after Dad traded it off finally found someone who was able to trace it down and it was cold after that.
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: 1974 was a real nasty year for IH. They had a strike that lasted for months, and when you can’t build trucks, you can’t sell them. And when you can’t sell them you can’t get enough capital together to properly design new ones. But a dealer just outside of Chicago told me some interesting news that came out around that time.
Apparently Chrysler and International had a little meeting in which a deal was struck. Binder would terminate its Light Line if Chrysler shut down its big truck production.
And that tends to make sense. Notice that in 1975, International stopped building small trucks and at almost the same time Dodge quit building big ones.
Binder had some pretty good facelifts on the books and was actually getting into the prototype stage but the agreement shut all that down. Skuttlebutt suggests that someone else adopted some of those designs 20 years later.
Now, this truck. I could never be attracted to a long box crew cab, or even a Clubcab/Supercab. The box was WAAAAYYYY to long. But, you can sure put a lot of stuff into a long box.
Short ones just had more appeal. My dad had a shortbox Travelete, and I’ve attempted to get my hands on it a few times. Not for sale. I’ve got lots of customers fixing these up and some of them are looking pretty good.
☝️ nice one there bigtime geo 👍
Good job SG. These square-everywhere Internationals are always interesting to see. It is definitely a l-o-n-g truck.
Geo, it seems I have heard that International/Chrysler tidbit before (maybe from you?). Who knows what discussions go on behind the scenes even today among company execs.
I used to know an engineer who worked for Chevrolet Division at GM. He said that Industrial espionage was the way of life in the designing field. To the average layman an engineer’s job was to sort fly $h*t out of pepper but what he’s really doing is looking for opportunities to–not rain on the competition’s parade but–to steal his parade, and in such a way that he thinks it’s his idea.
A few years ago I had a conversation with a service rep from New Holland, I told him they needed to go back to gasoline on smaller tractors, the diesels had become to high tech and to costly to repair, he agreed whole hartedly but said the hard part would be making corprit think it was their idea!
That’s the sad part with a lot of products. And if someone comes up with a good idea to change and improve a product they’re not interested in it unless they think it’s their idea.
I remember with John Deere, I had a customer come home one evening to find his 4630 tractor sitting in the yard with the lights on. The only way to turn them off was to pull the battery cable. I went out and it took a lot of searching but I found that a tin cover, on the lower right front corner of the cab, had cut through into the cab harness, causing the dome light feed to short out with the headlights.
Two hours to find it; less than an hour to fix it. Just a few weeks later, another tractor did the same thing. Within three months four tractors had the same problems.
I sent off a service report to John Deere and talked with other dealers in our zone, who contacted dealers in neighboring zones. In less than a year the word was out. I found out that dealers in Texas and California had encountered the same problems. We all submitted reports.
Well, one day a service bulletin was issued: “It has been determined that there is a possibility of damage occuring when the lower trim piece on the cab contacts the cab harness. Trim back the edge of the trim piece then repair or replace the harness as necessary. If the tractor is still under warranty submit a standard claim… Yadda–yadda–yadda…” Add nauseum…”
I kind of thought that maybe a miniscule bit of credit be given to the guys in the trenches who keep those tractors running. You know, “Thanks to the guys in our service departments for bringing this to our attention.” But no, THEY found the problem; THEY fixed it, no thanks to us; we’re supposed to crawl back under our respective rocks and continue the fight.
OK, I’m off my soapbox…
I was always told I should be thankful I had a job, then I quit and a lot of the things I did (trailer hookups, road work) they didn’t do anymore.
Before I bought my ’77 Scout Terra Diesel, the local IH dealer let me borrow one of these (single cab) to tow a utility trailer to the Sierra foothills and back. It got something like 9mpg. The Terra was much more economical.
A neat old Cornbinder.. With that much surface rust and a sagging rear bumper it would put it on a lift and examine the underside VERY closely.. For some one with an International lust / desire it could be a desirable show truck like GEO’s picture, but for practical purposes it is beyond it’s best.
I had a 73 Travellall with the 390 back in the early 90’s
As tough as that truck was, I couldn’t find parts for it then
Maybe better now with the internet
I too remember IH parts were tough to get. Seems they used commercial spark plugs and filters not many auto parts stores had. Not unlike a foreign car. Typically, you had to go to an IH tractor dealer and stand next to Farmer Brown and his stinky overalls,,,
I resemble that remark!
Hey, let’s dispense with the stinky overalls. That’s the smell of unrefined money. My wife used to stand by her chair at the kitchen table at dinnertime and gave me that “LOOK” that only women can give. “Are you going to change your shirt or eat dinner by yourself, Diesel Boy?”
I never realized it but I did smell like diesel fuel. Go back to the days when I smoked and you could add smoke to the mix. Now how about having to work on one of the rendering trucks, or some farmer’s “HONEY WAGON,” and like that song 50 years ago, “It’ll make you swoon!”
But get this; the WORST stench I ever had to put up with was a customer’s car that had dirty disposable diapers all across the back floor; it was enough to make a maggot gag. I HAD to light up a cigarette for fresh air when I took the car for a test drive or I’d have lost my lunch.
A footnote to the last one: I drove the car with the window rolled down. The customer went right to the boss and complained about some “filthy greasemonkey” smoking in his car. I took the boss out to the car and opened the door. The color drained completely out of his face and he quickly exited the scene.
Did you ever hear about the woman who went to the butcher and told him she wanted a nine pound chicken and it better be fresh. The butcher went in the back and came out with a chicken and placed it on the scale, nine pounds even. The woman walked up, sniffed the chicken, lifted the wing and sniffed, then sniffed under the leg and exclaimed, this chicken isn’t fresh enough, do you have a fresher chicken? The butcher looked at the woman and asked Mrs. Howard, perhaps you could pass this test???
If you think Farmer Brown and his overhauls stink, maybe you should try going with out food for a week or two. No milk, eggs, cheese, butter, bread, donuts, meat, potatoes, and vegetables. If after a week you can still stand, then you can stand next to your empty refrigerator and tell us all how it stinks.
Yeesh,,,trouble on the farm? I practically lived the 2nd half of my life( 35 years) on farms, so I apologize for any ill feelings. I understand your frustration, but aim your sites elsewhere. Are you the “truck” JoAnn, because I’ve known you a long time and you should know me better than that.
Those stinky overalls is what helped put food on your table. It doesn’t just magically show up at the ‘gettin’ place’ as my grandpa called it.
Yes, Howard, this is JoAnn, your trucking buddy. You should have known better that to pick on Farmer Brown. I’ll forgive you this time but don’t let it happen again or I’ll get after you with my pitch fork. As punishment (hardly punishment) I want you to watch “Green Acres” for the next two week and by then you should be walking around reciting Oliver Wendell Douglass’ speech-The American Farmer is the backbone of this country. Have a good day.
This has a Cummins swap all over it!
I’m sure this isn’t any longer than any other crew cab 8′ bed pickup, but something about the IH styling makes it look REALLY long!
https://barnfinds.com/travelette-1973-international-harvester-1210/
Pretty sure you could get a 4×4 Travelette any year. That article shows my 1973 I sold.
That was one thing about IHC truck, they would pretty much build you a truck with any options you wanted. Winches, rear pto shaft, or any color as long as it was a ppg color you could have it.
Brett, what a great-looking Travelette! Man, I would love to own that one. You are correct about the 1973 Travelette offering 4WD, but the ’74 and ’75 models only had rear-wheel drive.
Wiki says this, “For 1974, the four-wheel drive configuration was discontinued, and the front suspension was redesigned.”
And, page 5 of this 1974 International Travelall/Travelette brochure says that 4WD wasn’t available in the 1974 Travelette, and I just assumed that an actual factory International brochure would be correct, but maybe not?
https://xr793.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/1974-International-Travelall.pdf
I stand corrected!
I didnt realize I had a final year 4wd Travelette!
Interesting decision for IHC because they continued 4wd in other trucks. I’m sure higher ups already knew 1975 was the final year for a pickup. Maybe that influenced the decision.