Right away, there are going to be Barn Finds readers who know far more about this truck than I do. However, among the few anecdotes I’ve found, the history behind International R-230 line is fascinating, with the most notable among them being the use of a Rolls Royce-supplied diesel engine. This 1964 model listed here on Facebook Marketplace features a wrecker-style body, clearly useful for moving large vehicles from the roadways once damaged or incapacitated. This International features a Cummins diesel engine, and is said to have last run six years ago. The seller is asking $5,000.
Now, the Rolls Royce connection has a few different twists and turns, so bear with me. It seems International only offered the Rolls Royce diesel in the Canadian market, so we didn’t get this option here in the states. That may have been for the best, as reports at the time indicated the British-built diesels were notoriously leaky, likely owing to a bevy of external oil lines. Many, if not practically all of them, were replaced with a more reliable Cummins diesel at the time. Thus, finding a 23o with the Rolls Royce engine still installed is quite rare, and one of the only trucks still in operation with that engine has been completely restored.
In the case of this truck, one has to wonder if it has been a U.S. market model since new or if it was imported from Canada at some point. It’s always tempting to over-analyze a seller’s choice of words, but I’m curious if referencing the Cummins engine specifically is due to knowing it was a replacement mill back in the day. In all likelihood, it’s had this engine since new, but given the long and colorful lives of older working rigs like this, you just never know. For what it’s worth, the C6N-210 inline-six diesel built by the British manufacturer was good for 210 horsepower, and other sources indicate quality was hit or miss, with some engines providing reliable service.
My favorite detail is the standard bull bar, which appears to be a factory feature based on the number of historic photographs showing the same feature on other trucks. The bodywork certainly looks like it could have come from Canada, as there appears to be extensive rust damage on the sides of the body behind the cab. There is still a Duley’s Service and Towing business located in Bowie, Maryland, so it seems likely this was their truck at one time. With that in mind, an enterprising truck detective could certainly call them up and ask for more details on this International’s history, which would be great to have for the next owner regardless of my daydreaming about it once sporting a Rolls Royce-supplied diesel engine.
Gives the “ran when parked!” schtick a whole new meaning! This would be a massive redo to bring it up to safe driving conditions but to the buyer with the wherewithal and burning desire to have a unique showpiece, this works.
Sure would bring a truckload of spatial traffic respect on the weekday commute besides..and to that end, most likely no one else at the Cars And Coffee get-togethers has one!
Just imagine, indeed! Removing the gear out back and fabricating a massive pickup bed…
The first thing I thought, too.
Okay, the venerable RDF230. One of the heaviest trucks ever to be allowed on the highway (as long as there weren’t any roadbans); it will give you a slow, rough ride but it will get you and your load there.
The Rolls Royce C6N, about 210 hp. Skuttlebutt says, In the 50s, RR got into some financial glue with its jet engine division. The British government asked members of the Commonwealth if their industries could kick in and help RR out in any way, shape or form. International of Canada said they would. They bought several batches of C6N engines and installed them into R-series HD trucks.
IH of Australia and Great Britain dropped them into TD20 crawlers and other types of industrial equipment.
Almost right away the Rolls Royce developed problems. Yes, there were oil leaks, Injection pumps (made by Lucas/CAV) snapped off the drive ends of the camshafts, and they simply didn’t have the comfortable powerband that a comparable Cummins did. Needless to say, the lion’s share of the Rolls engines came out and Cummins 220s went back in.
My boss came across the yellow beast (long before it was a yellow beast) a number of years ago and he was determined to restore it c/w the RR boat anchor. Fortunately the truck itself was the same as a typical RDS230 from Fort Wayne so the major pitfalls were with the engine itself. I wasn’t working for him at the time (I was in an independent diesel shop) but I was able to source parts for the fuel system.
The truck runs great and gathers a lot of attention whenever George takes it to an ATHS show/convention. Of course everyone wants to see the engine. Have a look at the truck and its restoration… https://oldinternationaltrucks.com/kirkham-collection/1959-rdf-230-h-rolls-royce-diesel/
Again, an incredibly cool picture of an incredible truck, geomechs and you made me look-never heard the term “road bans” before now. That must’ve been crazy to keep track of insofar as what roads were prohibited when and to what trucks the were prohibited.
You, Howard and Dave have really educated some of us with regard to truck lore here-thank you!
BTW, Scotty, Fahrvergnugen brought up an interesting point you could address- what WOUKD this look like with a freakin monster size pickup bed??
*WOULD* 🙄
Never get Spellcheck when we really need it..
Folks, this guy should write for the site, specifically, older trucks. Get with it, staff!!! This is what we want to see, and I’d love to volunteer to help!
Amen Howard!
I knew I was forgetting something; I thought I would throw in a random shot of a C6N engine. Very typical 6 cylinder diesel engine that could actually be built by anyone in the business.
North of the city of Medicine Hat, in AB, Canada is a British Army training base. Part of their T,O, and E is a battalion of small tanks, I understand over 200 on the base at any given time. Those tanks are maybe 2/3 the size of a Sherman and just a roller skate compared to an Abrams 60 ton battle tank.
Those tanks were orginally powered by the newer version of the C6N. It was almost identical to the one in the picture except that the injection pump was now fastened directly to the gearcase. They rev’d the daylights out of those engines. For a 743 CID (12L) they often saw 3000+ rpm. Of course some of them exploded in a shower of hot oil and bent cast iron.
The British government decided to repower all those aging tanks. Their choice: Cummins 6BTA5.9, essentially what you would find in a ’96 Dodge/Cummins truck. I’m sure you could stick a spare engine in that same bay…
GEO, Thanks Much for the additional RR information.. I am learning a lot from this topic..
You’re welcome, Brocky. Being a border brat, and coming from a region that consists of such a diverse group of people, I’ve learned a lot from both sides of the 49th. It kind of stuck, and I wouldn’t want to trade it with anyone else…
Thanks for the history. I worked as a mechanic at Cummins NW Diesel circa 1980. 220s were passé even then, but garnered a lot of respect from the veteran mechanics. They were still being “factory rebuilt” under Cummins extensive “Recon” program at that time.
Boy…..A fella works a 12 hour day comes home, finally gets a chance to look at his phone and BAM!!! This is awesome. I can imagine it being a bit tough driving this twin stick with the Brownie box shifter way back there I can understand the shift lever extension. The wrecker body alone adds a lot of weight to this old workhorse. And I’m sure it would be more lively to drive empty, but personally I’d love to see this restored as a wrecker. This old International was built to work. Its a great find and thank you so much for writing it up Jeff, I really enjoyed it!!!
Geo, Lavery, Dave, thank you. #Howard
Pshew, where to start? I suppose I can start by saying thanks to Jeff, the site, and of course Geomechs, who has forgotten more than I know. Make no mistake, if you look up the word “beast”, a picture of this truck will appear. Being red inside, I’d almost think it may have been a repurposed fire truck. I’ve never had any experience with a RR diesel, I can only imagine aside from the prestigious name, it’s as oily and gutless as most of the time. But you weren’t hauling a load of taters up Monteagle Hill, and smaller motors in recovery or fire dept. trucks were adequate. The towing unit itself is horribly out of date, and could be used better in another application, flatbed, dump, etc. That seat,,,the Bostrom “Viking T-Bar”, makes my back hurt all the more. This was the standard, non-air, hydraulically dampened, isolator( usually with flat rollers) seat, I’d say 90% of heavy trucks used. Set of “clubs”, oddly positioned, will keep you busy, no doubt, ask me how I know. Nothing says “outta my way” like that front bumper too. Must weigh a ton. Cool find, and for you politically correct nuts, it’s okay to say “Cummings” instead of “Cummins”. Goes way back,,,
Oh, love the “chain drive” horn, “PULL THE BLOODY CHAIN, BOY!!
Better not say “Cummings” anywhere near a Cummins dealership. Or “diesel motor”. The guys I worked with were not gentle in their corrections.
Well, for us, it was a “Columbus Vibrator.” We had monikers for nearly all the truck engines, some weren’t very flattering but we called them that anyways…
Actually, I’ve heard the nickname “Crummins” many times lol. But I like them nonetheless.
These rigs always draw the comments, this wasn’t up when I left with hogs for the abattoir,10 comments before I got back!
In the 70s I was working for a KW dealer, we had an R190 wrecker, gas 5spx2sp single axle, about half what this beast is. However we had 2 major towing and recovery shops to the south at the intersection of the NJTP, I-295 and the PA Pike so to me rigs like this were common place.
Some notes about this truck, it must have been changed to piggyback brake chambers,’64 should have still had a drum parking brake for which I don’t see a lever, and Rockwell rears, Eaton rears had a cable for the diff lock with a little short stick in front of the driver’s seat.
It’s my opinion that diesels can sit longer than gas engines and still run. It’s also my opinion this should be left as a wrecker, it’ll draw more interest and the weight of the bed/booms will soften the ride (HA!) to the shows.
WOW What a great truck!!!! This truck would make a large truck collector an excellent vehicle to bring home more projects, haul other trucks to shows, drive in parade or show as is with a paint job.. Possibly needing only cab corners and door bottom repairs?? Where to start?? I had never heard of the RR connection with IH. GEO, Thanks for all that information!!! Since it has a 220 I would have to assume it is factory?? Only a serial number search will answer that question. As far as the “run when parked” is concerned, these old Cummins are very good about starting after long periods of sitting. I have a feeling this truck may have been red from original then painted in Dudley’s colors, not many fire truck had this heavy a chassis. The wrecker unit looks like a Holmes 750 which is a great unit for the size of this truck. Half track’s comment about weight bans usually means bridge structure weight limits or in the north Spring frost heave limits. Yes Howard that seat also makes my back hurt, but it is a simple process to replace it with an air ride seat. Yes, that auxiliary trans shift lever is in a awkward position for shifting both at the same time, Depending on how the auxiliary ratios are set up. I drove a 1964 IH M200 plowing snow, 450 Black Diamond gas engine and a 5 X 3, only the under was so far under that you could NOT use it progressively, with the lever in the same position. It was bent down parallel with the floor and direct and over was an up and down shift.
Would like to know more about the 750 myself.,.worked one many years. Also I’m noticing an extra recovery winch mounted on the bed floor!
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Most of the 750’s I have seen also had what we called a “belly winch” so that on a lot of rescue missions they could tension on the complete unit as they “wiggled” or were righting a unit with the outrigger winches. Not sure of the correct name, but Holmes has a recovery museum in Chattanooga TN which might be able to answer more of your questions???
That’s NOT s Holmes 750!! It’s Weld-Bilt imitation 850!! The trussed booms are the difference between the 750 and 850.
Hi Brocky, we put up with a lot, hey? Show this truck to a new truck driving grad, they’d run in horror! Be fun to watch. This was about as “Beasty” as it got, along with the M series, the White Construcktor, or the Hendrickson, but were actually not that hard to drive. Trucks like this were pretty standard in operation, just the name on the door differed. Most trucks until, I’d say, the 80s, all had small motors. 238s, 250s, 270. If you had a 290 or 318, that was the norm for local stuff. A 350 was considered a “big” motor, and only for OTR uses.
Also, that front bumper wasn’t just a battering ram, it was also used as ballast to keep the front end down. I had a friend that operated a towing outfit in L.Mills, Wis., and as a possible career change, I thought of driving for him. 2 words,,,no thanks. The “trailer wheels in the ditch” calls were pretty easy, but the fatalities, I never went on those, and there were plenty, that I couldn’t handle. It was bad enough just driving by one. Shows like Heavy Rescue or Highway to Heck, are mostly scripted, with some actual calls mixed in. Regardless, it’s a tough job.
You’re pretty safe to have a 220 under the hood; that was actually the main event, even amongst the Canadians. We deal with a lot of guys running F210s and RDF220/230’s with the venerable 220 in there. I do have one guy in Central WA with a ’60 F210 running an NH195 that I almost had to say was the first one made. It’s got the external rails and is still painted the Cummins burnt orange color. But there’s a house mover along the Pacific Coast Highway who’s running a V8-549…
In my line of work at a class eight truck assembly plant trucks are built to order. Commercial chassis’s go to companies that add bodies. Concrete, garbage disposal and hauling/wrecker bodies. This truck most likely was built into a wrecker. These trucks are in service longer than their over the road counterparts. A local company has a heavy that he keeps in his fleet that is over 30 years old. The issue with these old haulers is not that they can’t still do the job. Everything is manual. They are slow and not enough power. Still to rescue and restore would be great to add it to the fleet and use it for advertising.
Yes I had an A.S.E. Master Certification for HD trucks. (Besides Medium Duty and Automotive) but I never worked on anything like this. This is definitely a cool truck!
And just to make an obvious comment. (And I’m surprised no one beat me to it.) A BRITISH ENGINE THAT LEAKED OIL? What a surprise! (NOT!)
AND Cessie Cummins would probably take exception to getting his last name correct. My Grandfather worked with him at Marmon in the 1914 era. Back when Marmon was building the Wasp Indy winning cars.
A.S.E. Master Tech, me too, that and $2 will get you a cup of coffee. I was between jobs and walked into a local dealer to see about a job, shop forman saw the patch on my jacket, “I see you’re ASE certified”, “Does that mean more money?”, ” No, but it’s nice to see you took the test.”
The only reason I took the tests was way back in the middle ’80s. None of my techs were certified. Being a Ford dealership, Ford required all techs sent to school to be master certified. Once I announced that they all had to get certified they all complained that “no one can pass those tests. They are all trick questions.” So I took all the automotive tests in one night and passed them all. I hung my certificate above their time clock. They all knew that they were smarter than me. So on the next go around in the tests they took all the tests. Most of them passed and the ones that didn’t, I coached before the next test period came up. Once they all had their Automotive Masters Certification. I took the balance of the tests. (Medium, Heavy Duty and alternative fuels) I passed all those and replaced my old certificate with the new one.
When I had taken over that Ford/Mercury service and parts department. Our dealership and one in central California fought it out for the worst Ford customer satisfaction dealership in the country. Mostly due to the service department. With in 24 months we were in the top ten in the nation. It took a lot of work and attitude adjustment to get there. But was very rewarding (pride and monetarily) not only for me, but for my people also. My last time that my certification renewal came up. I took them all on the same night. I was the last one done and finished with 10 minutes to go. But, I passed them all again.
Since I worked a lot in Canada, I was required to be licensed, which is nothing more than putting in your time, attending the technical institution, and writing the tests–almost exactly the same as preparing for, and writing the A.S.E. certifications. But they did throw a curve at you if you worked as a mechanic / diesel service technician, which was underwritten by the ADS (Association of Diesel Specialists). You were required to be either fully certified for each line of equipment, or being supervised by a fully certified technician.
Now, the ADS certification is worldwide. If you’re a Master Technician in Dallas, you’re a Master Technician in Toronto, or Sydney, or London, or even Leningrad. It even applies to Sweetgrass, or Eureka, MT.
Anyways, a bunch of us got together and made arrangements to write the tests. And a couple of them were bearcats; you would read the question and automatically know the answer, but all the responses were wrong; you have to pick the answer that was the least wrong.
Well, despite working on Cummins, and driving Cummins-powered trucks, equipment, and all but living in them, I failed that exam miserably.
Re-wrote it six months later, and passed; I don’t know by how much but I passed. And I got that plaque that I could stick on my toolbox, or on the wall, or stuff it in a drawer where no one could see it but me…
BRUTE of a truck! Would require a lot of work & money to make it presentable! However, the finished truck would draw a lot of attention at a car show! Hope it is sold to someone who would restore this vintage truck….
Thank You for agreeing that it should be restored.. Depending on how much rust is in the cab, and if the engine runs, It can be made into a hobby truck fairly easily with new air lines and wiring. The cleaning and checking out components will be very labor intensive but over all not as expensive as building a “Cruiser Show Car”
Can you imagine looking in your rearview mirror and seeing this barreling down on you. …Black smoking pouring out of those exhaust pipes. ….Like the movie Duel …😮😮
that thing looks mean! I can just see it stalking a hitchhiker or a bus full of kids in a horror movie!
They reran Duel on METV last Saturday night!
Yup. Never gets old.
THANK YOU!!! I remember seeing that movie for the first time about ~25 years ago (I’m “only” 34), but in my mind I always thought it was an early ’60s Hendrickson tanker and not a Peterbilt. It wasn’t until I saw this comment that I remembered what the name of that movie was that I haven’t seen in so long! Wonder if my kids will have nightmares when I put it on for them :)
I agree with most of you to restore it as a wrecker.. what it was built for. Would love to run this down the highway. I regularly drive my buddies 1969 and 1937 pirsch ladder trucks … in the tiller seat, hell of a ride!
The International Towing & Recovery Museum, in Chattanooga, TN. Fascinating place!
Matt Woods, Thank you for the correction of the wrecker manufacturer. I was just guessing off the top of my head.
What a fun toy to have
To summarize: being the 40th post, the reason, I feel, these posts are so popular, is because the site caters to a wide variety of people. If you are even reading this, you have a kindred interest we all share, vehicles, all kinds. Many have memories of riding in dads or grandad’s truck, sitting on the toolbox, watching and memorizing the gear shifting, and learning new expletives. I’m not sure the staff realizes what a powerful thing these vehicles images bring back.
Naturally, we can’t expect these types of posts all the time, however it should send a clear message to the staff as to who their audience is.
Would you just look at those diamond plate front fenders!! Air cleaner bolted down to it. Extra iron everywhere you look. And that massive front bumper. This truck was built to last, and here it is.
The front looks like a REO/White of the era, right along with the tiny cab.
Seems like a worthy project at a fair price, I bet it wouldn’t take much to get it running and drive it home, (if the brakes will air up), and its not too far.
Driving one of these is so totally different than trucks today, it is a reminder how hard people worked BITD just to collect as paycheck..
Being a member of both ATHS and ATCA, I agree with Howard’s above post whole heartly!!!! Those Diamond plate fenders were called “Pit Fenders” due to their use in mining, construction, and other heavy duty use. With those fenders the IH R model became the M model.
thanks team (the writer and commenters) for detail. If I see sompin of interest here I research. You all’ve done that for me. (artie johnson’s character on Laugh-In sez:) “Verrrry Interesting !!”
I do a good deal on ‘older trucks’ but never go the lengths seen in geomechs’ linked restoration pic AND we just wrk on da lill guys (pick ups). This one is HUGE compared. (we’re only 2 guys tho’n a 3-bay+ operation). All props to ya, mate !