International Harvester – well known since 1902 for its agricultural equipment – began making heavy duty trucks in 1915, concentrating on delivery markets. As its finances flourished, the company invested in more models, including a step-van introduced in 1938. IH didn’t invent the step-van – that was Pak-Age-Car Company of Chicago, circa 1926 – but it did popularize forward control, and it capitalized on Raymond Loewy’s considerable design talent. Loewy had been working with IH since 1935, penning not only its trucks, but also the IH logo and the company’s modular service centers. Known for his curvilinear style, Loewy rounded the van’s corners and gave it a bullnose. Unlike IH’s other products, which were made in-house, the van body was made by Metropolitan Body Company (later absorbed into IH). Today we have a 1961 Metro AM-120 van advertised on craigslist for $15,000. The van can be retrieved from Tucson, Arizona. Thanks, T.J., for sending us this tip!
The van is equipped with IH’s B-220 cu. in. Silver Diamond in-line six, good for 100 bhp; it’s paired with a four-speed manual. Speaking of the manual, check out that gearshift lever! It’s about as tall as me. Meanwhile, the seller notes several repairs, upgrades, and maintenance work already performed, including starter and water pump rebuilds, new brake master cylinder and wheel cylinders; and a refreshed radiator, new hoses and thermostat. The engine was re-sealed. The generator was converted to an alternator and the van also now runs a PerTronix electronic distributor. Underneath, the chassis was lubed, and the u-joints are new. The fluids have been changed. All five tires have been re-mounted on the original rims with new tubes and liners.
The interior is said to be in good original condition – note the fold-away seat and the large shelf designed to stack the next-to-be-delivered packages. Auxiliary volt, oil pressure and water temperature gauges are installed. The rear cargo area is a Big Empty at the moment, but we’ve seen these vans converted to campers, food trucks, mobile dog grooming stations – the sky’s the limit. Here’s a Snap-On truck recreation that sold for over $192k!
IH’s model naming system tended toward mystery – but generally the letter corresponded to the model series and the number corresponded to a combination of the wheelbase length and GVWR. The 120 was the smallest van offered. Its minimal brightwork, narrow rear “barn” doors with their rounded windows, and kidney-shaped grille inspire passion in the right van fan crowd. If a Metro is on your bucket list, better put this one on the roster – because even project Metros can trade hands for a lot more than this seller wants.
I used to see a lot of these on the streets when I was a kid. Most of the ones you may see today in junkyards or parked in the weeds behind a garage have broken or missing grilles.
My friends and I rebuilt one for a friend of ours who was confined to a wheelchair. And as Todd said, we found our project in a local wrecking yard. It was rusty and didn’t run when we started with it, but six months later, we had it ready for him to use and enjoy. First thing we did was swap in a
300 cubic inch Ford 6 mated to an automatic transmission so that he could drive it using hand controls for the throttle and brakes. Once running, we took it down to Wherry Welding to have reinforced floors welded in to take the weight of his wheelchair. Next, we put a Tommy lift on the back with two switches, one in the cab to raise the lift once he was inside, and one near the rear doors to get him into the
van after he parked it. That cabin switch on the inside also
lowered the lift to get him out as well. And to cap it all off, we painted it butter yellow with a set of Astro mags to make it all pop. Our friend and his parents were very grateful and he drove it with pride for many years until he bought a factory
lift van in 1981. I’d grown up with him and vowed that when I
made enough money that I would build him a car that he could drive. I was making good money playing music back then and I spent maybe $2K to make him happy. When I see one of these today, I think if my friend, that van, and the good times we had building it.
Retirement is coming up fast and I need a side gig after retirement to keep busy. Thinking this would make a great mobile beer truck. Clean it up some and put a few taps on the side. No need for full resto, keep that great patena.
Aerosmith van? Oh, if THAT van could talk, eh? To be clear, these were never intended to go more than 4 blocks at a time. Most popular with bread and merchandise vendors, they led a rough life. The ones used for perishables, used ice to cool them, and rusted from the inside out. Many then became tool sheds out back. Package delivery was in its infancy, and the step van became the vehicle of choice, still used today. Unless updated to a more modern chassis, the choices for this are limited, as is.
Seeing this, I can hear the milk truck coming with the morning delivery! These and the Divcos had that particular engine sound. This package delivery truck is going to need a package of money to bring it back. Would it be worth it? Maybe to someone who does the work themselves.
Great writeup! It would be interesting to see what becomes of this van. Pak-Age-Car? That name became synonymous with delivery vans. UPS still calls their delivery vans package cars. I wonder why there were contemporary
Pak-Age-Cars called Stutz Pak-Age-Cars and Diamond Pak-Age-Cars.
Didn’t Iron Resurrection do one of these for their guy, Cato, who subsequently left to do his own paint shop. It was really nice when they got done with it.
Could the photos be any more fuzzy? Go to Craigslist to get all the pertinents.
These are still very popular amongst enthusiasts and those who prefer to go modified. Parts fairly easy to come by unless you need brake drums. It might be easier to find a winning Power Ball ticket. There are some drum reconditioning shops that will recondition your old ones but prepare to wait and to spend a few dollars. If you intend to rebuild that engine your basic parts are easy to find unless you need to rebore. You may have to order pistons from one of four companies in the United States, who make them to order.
In 1961, the USAF had these vans painted Air Force blue. Used mostly on base for deliveries of parts, equipment, etc. Had only the driver’s seat to discourage riders!
These were also used to haul aircrews to their aircraft. I’ve seen USAF Metros with plywood benches running along the walls, with an airman sitting in the single seat up front and pilots riding in the back. My squadron in Thailand had one of these for retrieving film from RF-4s after they landed. Apparently, one of our esteemed supervisors lost control of it in front of the Officer’s Club and rear ended a parked lowboy. We got a Dodge W-200 ambulance to replace it, and it was a much cooler vehicle.
A bit rich for me though I can’t help but think this would be a great delivery van for my woodworking/cabinetry business. I like the idea of a ford 300 6 swapped into it tied to that 4spd. With the right pieces it might even be made highway ready without too much work.
Two years younger than me, this truck has got a lot of life left in it!
The best thing for these (if they are not rusted out) is just to swap a modern chassis under it. When in high school and living in a very wooded area back in Illinois. I needed a place to store hay for my agricultural project. I found one (exact duplicate) of these that the mechanicals were swiped from, for free. A buddy worked for a towing company and brought it over and dumped it in my yard. Dad hooked up the tractor and drug it down close to where the “corral ” was for the bovines. That was 1967. The property was sold to a corporation for future building purposes that never happened. The house was torn down so the the “improved” tax rate could be changed to “unimproved”. The property has since been overgrown with weeds, trees and bushes. In 2015 I happened to be back in the area on business and entered the “no trespassing” area to inspection the old home stead property. There at the back of the property was still the old “bread truck” shell. Not very rusted, and now home to dozens of critters in the shade of giant oak and hickory trees, next to the creek. Almost sounds really ideal and peaceful! The really collectable “bread trucks” are the Grumman aluminum bodied ones. Not only are they lighter weight, but with the paint stripped off and the body polished it gives an Airstream a run for it’s money on the cool factor scale.