This is an awesome rig I didn’t even know existed but now desperately want: a 1973 International Harvester Wagonmaster, a very cool four-door pickup with a short bed and room for what looks like a six-passenger seating arrangement. What’s incredible is this segment of trucks has become enormously popular in recent years, but International Harvester was clearly decades ahead of the competition by building a truck with room for multiple passengers in relative comfort along with a modest bed for hauling whatever didn’t fit inside. There can’t be many left, and this one here on eBay comes with its original 392 V8 engine and paint. Bidding is up to $5,000 with the reserve price met.
You could get the Wagonmaster in a variety of configurations, from 4WD to 2WD and 1/2 and 3/4 ton. This is a two-wheel drive and 3/4 ton model, and it’s optioned with the automatic transmission, power steering, and power brakes. The Wagonmaster offered impressive towing capabilities right out of the box, ranging from 9,600 lbs. to 12,000 lbs., depending on your specific configuration. One of the tactical errors in judgement impacting the truck’s muted success was the proclamation that it was perfect fifth-wheel tow rig. Unfortunately for the truck’s sales prospects, the mounting location of the hitch resulted in a somewhat awkward appearance, which turned some buyers off.
The interior may be original, but it’s also in tatters. Bench seats front and rear mean there’s plenty of room for passengers without any ungainly consoles or amrests to scramble over, and despite obviously being an ideal setup for a highway work crew or contracting business, International was targeting suburbia dwellers who wanted a truck that could haul a fifth-wheel trailer without having to feel like they were residing in a penalty-box of a 4×4. Up until this point, the idea of a truck that wasn’t used purely for work was still a foreign concept, potentially another reason why International didn’t put more customers behind the wheel of this slick crew cab.
The listing doesn’t specify whether the 392 still runs, but the engine bay looks fairly clean with some recent parts installed. The 392 was the range topper of the possible engine options, with other engines offered including the 258, 304, and 345. Aside from the surface rust, I see no egregious evidence of runaway rust pummeling the side sills or rear quarters, but given the truck’s location of Idaho, this isn’t exactly a surprise. While rare vehicles will always catch our eyes, obscure models like this of which there are likely very few left are hard to ignore, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see this Wagonmaster turn up again in a year or two as a fully restored example.
I swear, this doesn’t make a lick of sense. There were very few IH pickups, a few more Travelalls, but never saw one like this, and craziest part, is, THIS IS WHAT ALL PICKUP TRUCKS MORPHED INTO!!! A noodle scratcher if I ever saw one. The Scout type vehicles became the most popular vehicles, and pickups became this. How did IH miss the boat so terribly? Obviously, nobody has a crystal ball and can see where styles might go, and at the time, IH was on top of the heap for commercial vehicles, and the decision was made to drop the light truck line in ’75, Scout soldiered on until 1980. Not mentioned, is IH used AMC motors in ’73 and ’74, because the demand for the 392 was so great. They substituted AMC 401’s. I believe the in line 6’s were available too and they made a IH 266 V8 too. Great trucks, just missed the boat by a long shot.
I always thought they faded out just before the big 80’s craze with S10 Blazers, Broncos, Troopers, Toyota SUVs etc etc.
A big shame as i liked their Javelins too 😟
IH Javelins? 😐
Oops 😬 brain slipped international Harvester vs American Motors Corp 😹
I believe the 266 was the first ‘small’ V8 Binder made. I get into arguments on which came first: the 266 or the 304. I’m going to stay with the 266 because it was offered back in ’59, the first year Binder offered a V8 in its light and medium trucks. Of course, the real big V8 (401-549) came out a couple of years before that…
266 was first , turned into the304
Those trucks in the background look like old man Skinners trucks out of Reedsburg, Wis. I heard the son sold off most of his collection. Had some nice IH iron, he did.
I’m not sure where some of the trucks in his collection came from; he has around 50 trucks in showroom condition. I do know that he’s restored more than half of them.
Not sure what you mean, “missed the boat”? IHC offered a full line of light trucks, including this example. If you’re wondering why they quit, I can explain. It cost IHC more money to built their engines because they were all commercial heavy duty grade. Yet they had to compete with Chev, Ford, Dodge in the market. They were doing great, then the Auto Workers Union slammed them with outrageous demands, and then the finances didn’t work. So they ended the pickups and Travalal’s. The greedy union did it. All those auto workers lost their jobs.
There’s a book entitled, “International Trucks,” by Patrick Foster, which pretty much tells all about the International company. The union(s) did a lot of damage but there were some things that Binder did that they shouldn’t have done, and some things they should’ve done but didn’t. For example, in the early 70s when they could sell more than they could make, profits were high and Binder paid out handsome dividends while ignoring the fact that their many manufacturing facilities dated back to the Titanic. Instead of withholding those huge dividends Binder should’ve taken a page out of John Deere’s book and started building new facilities and developing newer and better trucks and equipment. But too late, they almost bit the dust; they only way to survive was to stop production on stuff that didn’t sell as well and to sell off divisions. A bad move that was regretted by many who sold and serviced them…
I say missed the boat, because, like geomechs said, they had the right idea, but needed better facilities and a restyled product. Instead, they stayed with the commercial aspect, which was their bread and butter, until a truck named Volvo hit the scene. Singlehandedly, took the steam out of IH, and went through a rift of owners and is not very popular today, sadly. Had they invested in the SUV market instead, who knows where they could have went.
Ewwww, that interior is really gross. I probably don’t want to know what is on the seats and steering wheel. I can’t believe that the seller is so lazy that they can’t remove a dirty seat cover or clean 45 years of grime from the steering wheel. How could someone get inside this thing and drive it around like that?
Can’t remember ever seeing one of these. Who would have thought this would be so popular today in vehicles. Can say their drivetrain was as tough as they come. Hard to fault an IH for durability, body always gave out long before drivetrain did. Could be a very cool ride with a little bit of work.
Not anymore, i have aprox 250-280 IH in my fleet, while i don’t work on them the mechanics hate them, the highway maintenance guys dont like them either. They sure look beasty with the front and side plow lowered going in a stagered tandem of 6 clearing all lines at once
If those mechanics hate an International plow truck, just see what happens when they throw a bunch of Detroit powered Freighliners at them. Total garbage. Still running a 2008 International tandem but it’s brittle with rust everywhere, like a Butterfinger candy bar.
I remember seeing these as a kid and thought they were DIY Travelall pickup. IH was truly on the cutting edge.
There’s a guy here in my town that is big into IH and he has one of these. They are known as a Travellette. Wagonmaster may have been the trim package.
From what I can find, the Travellette was the actual crew cab pickup with the separate bed. These Wagonmasters were unibody, no gap between the bed and cab, and the rear end and tail lights of the Travelall, not the pickup.
Thanks Red, I see it now.
This is a new one on me. I worked at the IH Scout plant in the late 70’s. Lots of the full size IH pickups still around then, but I never knew they made these.
Wow….IHC pioneered the “Avalanche” concept. I would love to see this restored to it’s former glory.
Not sure how stable it would be towing a fifth wheel though. The hitch pin would be just aft of the rear axle and make it a little light in the front end. Would pull a 30 foot classic Airstream in style though, with a good Class 4 weight distribution hitch.
Totally cool.
Give some props to the Honda Ridgeline
Man I sure wish I could buy this. But ofcourse I say that about many cars and trucks that come through BF. My wife constantly complains about how much time I spend on these pages. I love it and will continue until I die.
God bless America
Nice unit and a good candidate for restoration. Interesting to see how the trend would follow this line 30 years down the road. I have an acquaintance with an impressive Binder collection which includes one of these. He gets a lot of attention wherever he goes…
George K. has the greatest collections of IHC I have ever seen. And he is one heck of a guy to get into a conversation with. He bleeds IHC Farm truck red. Always love visiting with him.
Just as UGLY NOW as they were when new!
A “Travelall” with the roof cut off!
yup, ford did the sport track, Oz still has UTEs like it (but smaller) subie: baja.
Surprised this is not a ‘Scotty article’ (the oddities or ‘small’. This is both).
I’ve seen those crew p/u’s from IH in the 70’s Paul & Red post abt that will surprise U at how huge they are…
IH was a good truck and I believe ahead of there time with quite a few different things I had a 66 that had the first hydraulic clutch I ever saw!! Not sure if they were the first but it was a first for me!!!
I don’t know when Binder started using a hydraulic clutch but Chevy/GMC ran a hydraulic clutch starting in 1960. It was a nice, compact modular unit. I saw a few of them adapted to hot rods/street rods along with the swing pedals. Worked fine.
Replying to Geomechs, the “Newer and better trucks” WERE being made by IHC. The multi million dollar investment IHC made for the 1974 light trucks was stupendous. All models received a brand new coil spring independent front suspension, 1/2 ton through 1 tons. All new frames, much wider track wheels front and rear, and new springs, engines all modified to be center mount and placed further back for better weight distribution. The new trucks had a Cadillac ride. Not much new styling, but there was a new grille and new hood. This is right when the Auto Worker’s union hit with ridiculous demands.
Ended:May 28, 2020 , 8:00PM
Winning bid:US $8,001.00
[ 41 bids ]
This model of IHC had a model run of 7 years, 1969 through 1975. The number one truck manufacturer Ford, also had a model run of 7 years, 1973 through 1979. The next Ford model run went from 1980 through 1997, an incredible 17 year span. I don’t know how critics can say IHC needed more frequent model changes when the big three competition didn’t restyle their trucks any more often. Also consider IHC didn’t have the volume and cash flow of the big companies to restyle every other season.
I owned one years ago for a shop truck..great old workhorse but needed “40 acres to turn this rig around”..
It’s the easiest way that I’ve found.
Wasnt a 401 v8 available also.. I know the travelall had that option a two gas tank that held 52 gallons of fuel