Now here is something I haven’t seen before! Retired service vehicles have always been of great interest to me, particularly unusual examples such as this 1934 International. A Google search turns up nothing but the photos from this listing, as well as listings for the same vehicle on other sites. The seller claims this is the only one known to exist, and while I don’t know if that’s true, I can’t find any information that says otherwise! While there are other International service trucks of this style and age in existence, none seem to have the high roof of this one. Though rough, it is easy to picture this truck chugging along a neighborhood street in 1930s America with USPS livery. In fact, it still says “United Postal Service” above the windshield! Find it here on eBay in Oregon with a Buy It Now price of $6,000.
Although much of this truck is missing, its character certainly isn’t! You’ll see that it is set up much like a modern delivery vehicle in that it has space only for a driver and lots of cargo. It looks like it even has some shelving! This is the type of vehicle with which the possibilities are endless. There is lots of space for all sorts of tools, furniture, or anything else you desire to have in your custom or restored delivery van!
From this shot, it can be seen just how narrow this truck is. The driver’s area isn’t meant for anything other than a place for an operator to sit. By modern delivery van standards, this would be considered fairly small, though for a small company looking for an eye-catching delivery vehicle, small could be ideal! The doors are sliders, and the vent windows are on neat little hinges for ease of use by the driver. It is clear that this International has been sitting for much of its life in an environment that was not kind to it, so it will require many hours of labor inside and out.
If you haven’t already noticed, it doesn’t have a roof! I suspect this is because it was vinyl stretched across wooden bows that have disintegrated over time. I would love to see this van restored to it’s former glory, but I wouldn’t hold it against someone if they wanted to make a custom cruiser of some kind. It has an odd beauty to it as it sits! Regardless of the direction the next owner takes it, with large rear doors and a big cargo area, this van could lend itself to many fun and creative uses. Lastly, if anyone has more information on International delivery trucks like this, please chime in!
Interesting truck
I found one on eBay in smaller form
https://www.ebay.com/p/Matchbox-Collectibles-1932-Ford-Model-AA-Postal-Truck-YYM38239/1701725912
A little humor but shows how tarp looked on roof
I see a mini camper🌴😃
cool
Would’ve said “U.S. Mail” back in the day. Maybe “United Parcel Service” (UPS)? :~) A slighter newer version, found on autolit.com, attached.
In those years it might have been marked as “Railway Express Agency”.
I bid on this one a few times when it first came for sale. The price (reserve?) seems to go up as time goes by. Kind of a specialized item but I love IHC’s and thought it would be fun at the shop. The bodies on trucks like these were commonly made in separate factories so it can be difficult to establish the specifics of what it was originally like.
Found an original add for 1934-1937 that shows it more than likely was sold as what we now consider a cab and chassis and the body added by a coach builder of unknown origin
That makes sense!
Something about this screams police paddy wagon to me. Looks like a nice project to turn into a rolling billboard for a business.
LOL! All in on the Paddy Wagon! This thing is really cool but would cost a ton to get moving. The funny thing to me is they have another real boat anchor for sale. It must be the cold weather. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Large-vintage-Ship-boat-Anchor-200-pounds-Near-5-ft-Tall-Nice-Nautica-Yard-Art/291760899073?hash=item43ee4e0401:g:a84AAOSw1DtXJsYQ
Hey Mike, I need that anchor for my pontoon on windy dayz.
Screams “I want a Big Block” to me!!!
Yes! I have a 1934 International sedan delivery in the rough….. I have been researching these for a few years now. For what I gather they made 400 sedan delivery trucks from 1934-37. I had seen one (hotrod) on ebay sometime back stating that their are 4 known to still exist.
Screams ‘money pit’ to me.l
They can be!
Makes me scream!
Definitely worth a full restoration. It would take a lot of time and many skills with sheet metal and wood but the end result would be worth it. This truck is likely powered by a 4 cylinder motor so don’t expect any jack-rabbit starts. For me it would get the full treatment. Something like this needs to be restored and preserved so others down the line can appreciate what these old relics were all about. If you do the full resto and want to drive it, don’t get in too much of a hurry as 40 mph will probably be wide open….
cute, but when saner heads prevail this hulk (supported on a dolly) is worth restored value minus the cost of restoration. which is to say it is worth minus money–not $6k
When I was a kid I can remember trucks like this parked at rail road stations across the north east. If I’m not mistaken they were Rail Road Express Trucks and yes they were built by various body company’s I can remember one on wayside ave in West Springfield Ma. That closed its doors in the mid-50’s but the name of the business eludes me
It looks to me like the lettering above the windshield says “United Parcel Service” not “United Postal Service” which I don’t think is even a thing, without the word “States” in there, and there’s not nearly enough room for that. If it’s an early UPS vehicle, though, the color scheme is completely wrong. Wikipedia has this interesting info though: “When UPS ground vehicles reach the end of their useful service life and are no longer roadworthy (typically 20–25 years or more, but generally when the body’s structural integrity is compromised), they are almost always stripped of reusable parts, repainted in household paint to cover up the trademark, and then sent to the scrapyard to be crushed and broken up. The only exception to this policy is when a package car is repainted white for internal use, usually at a large hub. ” So whatever it is, it’s an oddity!
I was looking at some of the pics for the eBay listing and I think it might be a former “United Parcel Service” (UPS) truck. I see some of the lettering above the windshield area.
Put a seat in it anchor it down in a city park somewhere for kids to play in, on, and around. Not a lot of cost but a lot of fun for the little ones.
Why people leave these types of vehicles outside to rot, I’ll never understand.