Every once in a while, a true mystery machine surfaces, something that’s been quietly sitting for decades, waiting for the right person to figure out its story. That’s the case with this International Six-Speed Special, reportedly discovered in a shed when the current owner purchased their farm, and now it’s listed here on Facebook Marketplace. With production believed to fall somewhere between 1928 and 1931, the exact year remains unknown, adding another layer of intrigue for potential buyers and historians alike. Thanks for the tip, NW Iowa Kevin!
The seller doesn’t provide extensive details beyond the basics, but the core of the story is clear: this is an old International truck that has been off the radar for a long time. It was already on the property when the farm changed hands, and its past remains largely undocumented. That alone makes it an interesting piece, especially for enthusiasts who enjoy digging into serial numbers, components, and historical records to determine originality and production details.
Vehicles from this era weren’t preserved with the same documentation standards collectors rely on today, so uncertainty about the model year isn’t unusual. The International Six-Speed Special designation itself points to a truck built during a period when manufacturers were experimenting with improved drivability, durability, and mechanical refinement for both agricultural and commercial use. For someone familiar with early trucks, identifying the correct year and configuration could become part of the appeal.
One important note from the seller is the lack of a title. That means the next owner would likely need to research local registration requirements and determine what steps are necessary to establish ownership and road eligibility, if that’s even the goal. For some collectors, though, the real value lies in preservation, restoration, or simply owning a genuine early workhorse that has survived this long.
Farm finds like this tend to spark imagination. Was it used for hauling supplies, moving equipment, or serving as a daily work truck decades ago? How long did it sit in that shed before being rediscovered? Those unanswered questions are often what make projects like this especially compelling.
With minimal information and a wide estimated production window, this International Six-Speed Special is very much a blank slate. It’s the kind of project that rewards research, patience, and a genuine appreciation for early commercial vehicles. Would you try to pin down its exact year and bring it back, or preserve it as a piece of working history?
Ah, just a sec, old truck endorphins kicking in, the general consensus of most viewers here, is whether the boss likes to hear it or not, THIS is what many tune in for, and quite frankly, simply not enough featured. You can endorse that by giving a record number of thumbs up, or just say so.
If the author doesn’t mind, more on this is needed, and here it is. The 6 speed International ( Harvester came later) was a groundbreaking truck. It came out at the worst possible time, height of the Depression. Even with the Depression, I read, International made 14,000 of these, and sold for $820 bucks, a hefty sum for 1929, so the folks in Springfield( Ohio) were kept busy, but the world kept turning, and trucks were still needed. The 6 speed, actually, a 3 speed crash box with a 2 speed Eaton rear axle, was novel for the time. It had a top speed of 38 mph, almost unheard of then for a 1 ton truck. 4 wheel 4 wheel brakes, still mechanical, and a cab were also a big plus. The motor is a 173 ci Waukesha XA 4 cylinder flathead of about 40hp, but had torque up the ying yang. Always liked a 4 spoke steering wheel, and title, shmitle, who is going to drive this thing? The International 6 speed was such a special truck, it should be restored with just a velvet rope around it. Bald tire shows someone ran this truck and stashed it away. Think of the stories associated with this truck. One of you old farts got to have a hankerin’ for this, no? Perhaps it’s later than we think.
Oh, one more thing, this truck appears to have a hydraulic dump bed, also unheard of at the time, as most dump beds were either cable lifted or Jethro Bodine powered, aka crank lift. Doesn’t look like much, but was a heck of a truck for 1930.
That dump bed is this truck’s saving grace, I think, because it could still be a useful FARM USE ONLY truck for ‘this, that, and the other.’ Just restore the engine and bed hydraulics to function ability.
Good morning Howard! Yes a,dump bed. But because of the bed location (not centered over the rear axle with the majority of the bed hanging after of the axle) It might just be a manual dump bed. (Pull the handle, bed automatically dumps, and then lift up the bed to latch back into the horizontal position) Think early Gator without the hydraulics! (Thank God my wife’s Gator has the hydraulic bed!) Very cool unit to restore. I had friends in high-school (2 brothers) that had a,few years newer International hot rod with a nail head Buick and dual quads. Their older brothers had started the project that the younger 2 decided to complete. I went over one evening as they were beside themselves trying to get to start. I don’t remember what did the trick. But they were beside themselves with glee when the engine started and idled petfectly. (Well as perfectly as one can idle with a seriously lumpy camshaft.)So they decided to do a burnout out of the garage. We’ll, the rear tires bit so well (I think that age had them glued to the garage floor.) that the truck popped a wheelie out the garage door. It was such a surprise, the driver immediately backed off the throttle and the front end landed pretty hard in the driveway. (About 20 feet from the garage) When that happened the radiator, which was only held in place with by the hoses. Crashed to the concrete driveway with a loud thunk! Needless to say, there was coolant everywhere and a lot of laughter!
Thin tires. What a neat truck. Thanks for the article Elizabeth and for the extra information Howard 👍
Now THIS…. Is a Barnfind!!!! It actually came with the barn. First off. Great write up Elizabeth!!! Thank you, and a great tip too NW Iowa Kevin. I saw this on Fast Finds and was hoping to see it written up. I have no knowledge of these, other than looking up some photos of restored International 6 Speed Specials and this would look great restored. Like Howard said, a velvet rope around it. Maybe run it on a nice day on some private property. I like the authors viewpoint here, from a history standpoint, to see if you could dig up who’s it was what it was used for, what was the original color, information like that, and then try to make it as close to original as possible. Digging for information like that would be a deep rabbit hole to go down, almost 100 years worth of time has passed since this was new, and it would be a great winter project too while waiting for some warmer weather to start working on it. Please keep these old trucks coming!!! I really enjoyed it.
-Dave
Hi Dave, just a wild guess, there was another similar vintage dump truck posted almost 10 years ago, a Ford, and it was used for WPA projects. I read, in the 30s, WPA would contract private folks that had a dump trucks for govt. jobs. I don’t think it paid much, and that box doesn’t look very big, but any dump truck was better than shoveling. Perhaps that’s what this truck did. Remember, these trucks were shipped with just a front end, and a cab and dump, or whatever, were added later.
Hi Dave, my area is farms with corn and soybeans as far as the eye can see and then some. This truck most likely was used to bring grain and/or livestock into town, much the same as it is now. However, now livestock hauling is done with semis and pickups with long aluminum 5th wheel trailers. My farm neighbor across the section owns 7 cattle pots pulled by his older Peterbilt conventionals, all meticulously maintained. Don’t ask me what the direct hit tornado did back in May 2008.
I love old vehicles, especially bonafide barn dwellers and rarely seen brands/models. I wonder sometimes if this website should be renamed as scant few are actual dusty old barn finds. Take care my friend.
Great display of what went on in the ’30s with wars and recessions restricting everything in our population. Save this old guy for sure.
First of all, great writeup! It seems like you folks outdo yourselves every time. That makes for good reading and conversation.
Lots of these trucks on the farms all across the plains. Unfortunately many of them are in this shape. However, there’s the odd one that lasted through the years. Always glad to see them out and about. I might add that I like to see them restored too…
I can’t open Facebook ads with my phone. Since it’s not shown in the writeup, what is the seller offering to pay to have this truck hauled away?
Steve R
There is no price Steve just says to make an offer. Paying someone to haul it away may very well happen. Looks like it is slowly sinking into the ground and will be a job getting it out of there.
Thanks for the reply.
I know something like this gets a lot of love on this site, but that’s not the same as being willing and able to undertake what would be needed to get this back on the road and reliable. That likely consists of a very small set of people, with lots of options to choose from.
Steve R
There’s a lot of people with the means, and quite willing to fix one of these up. I sure wouldn’t hesitate if I had the facilities and the means. The end result is always worth it…
Hey Steve, just my opinion, but I believe you’re mistaken on the desirability of this old beast. Now that it has seen the light of day, it’ll probably be snapped up pretty fast. There was an International a little older than this stored in a barn 2 miles from here, after 60 years of undisturbed slumber, it was discovered and a gang of truck enthusiasts pulled it out faster than if the barn was on fire. There was a story about it in Old Cars a while back. I hooked up a former coworker with a guy that had 30 or more 40s and 50s road tractors in the woods behind his shop, he hauled out 2, word got around and in 6 months they were all gone. A year later people were still calling Puff to see if he had anymore. Like Geo I have the ability and wherewithal to bring this back but have more projects than I can handle now.The biggest drawback to owning an old truck like this is they’re slow and you have to be man enough to drive it.
I’m not on Facebook- never will be- but I can open ads on Marketplace.
I don’t know why your phone won’t let you do that, Steve.
I 1933 after having been brought from Sicily to the states from and winding up in Leavenworth Kansas I saw my 1st truck a red flat bed INTERNATIONL wity a flat bed. WOW was I amazed. That is where I learned to drive hauling bales of hy
shame but it’s reduced to yard art. way too many negatives for anything else
My Grandpa purchased one of these new in September of 1930, the same year my Dad was born. Grandpa sold it to his brother in the late 1940’s and in the late 1960’s my Dad bought it back from his uncles estate. Dad restored it. To get it to run he filed the points, cleaned the plugs, added water and fuel, checked the oil and it ran. Grandpa, the original owner rebuilt the bed, grain box style and my youngest brother now owns the truck. The truck has resided in North Dakota its whole life, starting in Napoleon ND, moving to Bismarck ND when Dad got it and now being in Fargo ND. Things I always heard about this truck. Has to be 1930 or newer, 1929 was the last year of wooden spoke wheels. Seeing the gas filler on the hood by the windshield makes me believe it is not a 1930. 1930 had the fuel tank under the passenger seat in the cab. Not a good system as it was a vacuum system and did not work. Dad fixed the problem with an electric fuel pump and a little holding tank under the hood. Became a gravity feed system for fuel, much like a fuel tank on the fire wall would be here. Like Henry Ford said “you can have any color you want as long as it is black. Red spoke wheels were on Dad’s vehicle, that is the way it was when Grandpa had it. Grandpa used it as his family vehicle, farm truck and tractor (actually pulled the plow with it). It is now relegated to fun drives for Great Great grandchildren and parades on occasion. If you ever get to the Western Minnesota Steam Threshers Reunion in Rolag MN, you may see it driving around out there as my brother is very involved with the organization.
Elizabeth, what a great write up about a wonderful truck!!! This truck is all there so it looks like a restoration will not take a lot of parts hunting. The one thing no one has mentioned, This truck probably has a wooden framed cab, so the restorer will have to be a cabinet maker as well?? The dump body looks to be a manual counter balanced dump assembly. You can see the box front hold down in the second picture you posted. No title is no problem as there are people in both ATHS & ATCA who know how to get them and basically it would only be driven in parades..
I watched several of these Six Speed Specials in all different conditions sell for thousands of dollars at Aumann Auctions last year. That includes the ones with rotten and broken wooden cabs.
DISCLAIMER: I STAND CORRECTED
Has to be 1930 or newer, 1929 was the last year of wooden spoke wheels. (THIS COULD BE OLDER THAN 1930 AS SOME BUILDS SWITCHED TO STEEL SPOKE WHEELS AS SOON AS 1928. INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER HAD A HABIT OF USING UP PARTS FROM ONE YEAR TO THE NEXT AND THEN MAKING THE SWITCH OVER. I AM GUESSING THAT INSTRUCTIONS TO THE ASSEMBLY CREW WERE “USE THE WOODEN SPOKE WHEELS UNTIL THEY ARE GONE THEN SWITCH TO THE STEEL, JUST MAKE SURE YOU DONE USE STEEL ON ONE SIDE AND WOOD ON THE OTHER”. Seeing the gas filler on the hood by the windshield makes me believe it is not a 1930. 1930 had the fuel tank under the passenger seat in the cab. Not a good system as it was a vacuum system and did not work. Dad fixed the problem with an electric fuel pump and a little holding tank under the hood. Became a gravity feed system for fuel, much like a fuel tank on the fire wall would be here. (I WAS INFORMED THAT THE GAS FILLER ON THE COWEL LIKE THIS ONE WAS PREVIOUS TO 1929, NOT AFTER 1930). MY BROTHER THAT NOW OWNS THE TRUCK SAID THERE ARE LOTS OF THEM OUT THERE, HE SAID A COMMON CONVERSATION WHEN HE TELLS PEOPLE ABOUT HIS TRUCK IS “I HAVE ONE JUST LIKE IT AT HOME IN THE GARAGE, I AM IN THE PROCESS OF RESTORING IT TOO.”