1968 International 1200C Travelette Campermobile

[Mat Shelton]

This International was found in a barn on a wheat farm in Colfax, Wa. in 2009.  It is mostly all original/unrestored with only 48,000 miles on it.  The truck has a 345 V8 with a 4 speed manual transmission, 4.56 Power Lock rear end, power steering and power brakes.  

 

The fiberglass canopy/camper shell is a 1968 Sportsman Deluxe made in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia.  I bought it from the original owner's grand daughter in 2016.  

[STEVE POLLARD]

Very nice...that has to be very rare, something you just don't see anymore ! Is it a 1/2 or 3/4 ton ? Looks to be two wheel drive. I remember back in the Seventies, our local volunteer ambulance corp had a suburban style International ambulance with 4-wheel drive.

 

Steve

[EmTee]

I think a "1200" would be a half-ton model, but I'm no IH expert!  That said, a half-ton IH would probably tackle many 3/4-ton tasks without complaint.

 

A nice truck and crew cabs were rare then; 99% were bought by highway departments or other government agencies or contractors for carrying work crews.  Whoever originally bought this must have felt that he needed the truck box and a Travelall just wouldn't do...

[Mat Shelton]

The truck is a 2 wheel drive 3/4 ton with a 7,300 LB GVW.  The half tons were the 1100 Series.  The fellow that found & bought the truck from the estate said it was stored inside a very large steel barn that was almost full with a 6ft wide path down the middle.  He noticed the tail gate hanging on the wall and thought there had to be an International pickup in there somewhere which he found in the very rear of the barn.  Next to the truck was a very nice Bell 10-1/2ft camper that still had plastic covering the upholstery and the knobs on the cabinets.  Everything inside the barn was covered in a thick layer of dust.  The attached pictures show the truck when it was found.  Notice the belly bar for securing the camper and the extendable rear bumper.  

[Mat Shelton]

Here's some pictures of the truck that were taken after the fellow that bought it from the estate had cleaned it up and was preparing to sell it.  I got lucky, I had put the word out that I was looking for a Travelette long bed and another fellow I had been in touch with told me about this one.  He heard about it and considered buying it to make a short bed 4x4 out of it but decided it was too nice to be modified.  He told me to act fast because the seller was going to advertise it pretty soon.  I phoned the owner, asked him to email some pictures to me and after looking at them I said I would take it.  

[STEVE POLLARD]

Mat, so the gas tank filler caps are located in the front fenders, so the tanks are located under the bed ?

 

Steve

[Mat Shelton]

Steve, the fuel tanks are under the cab on the outside of the frame.  

[Mat Shelton]

The wheelbase on the factory built crew cab long bed is 166" and the frames are much heavier than the crew cab short bed and regular cab trucks.  I mention factory built because I have seen many crew cab long beds that are lengthened short beds with the lighter frame.  The frame rails under the cab on the factory built crew cab long bed are 8-1/4" tall x 3" wide and are 1/4" thick.  The crew cab short bed and regular cab short & long bed frames are 7" tall x 3" wide and are a little more than 1/8" thick (9/64"?).  Also, the heavier frame has additional crossmembers under the bed and the mounts on the bed are modified to fit the heavier frame making the bed sit a little higher, notice the bottom of the bed sides are not even with the bottom of the cab.  

[STEVE POLLARD]

1 hour ago, Mat Shelton said:

Steve, the fuel tanks are under the cab on the outside of the frame.  

Did not know that..... I have a 1969 Chevy 3/4 ton and the gas filler is next to the driver's door, basically the tank is inside the cab and my back is to it ( not really a good safety aspect of the truck, they have kits to relocate them to under the beds )

 

Steve

 

 

 

 

Edited April 25 by STEVE POLLARD (see edit history)

[Mat Shelton]

That's a good looking Chevy Steve, is it a factory black truck?  

 

My son has a 67 GMC 920 (Canadian built) that also has the tank behind the seat.  We are aware of the tank relocation kits but haven't looked into them yet.  The regular cab Internationals had the standard tank on the passenger side of the frame with the filler near the back side of the passenger door and a pipe from the filler through the floor inside the cab to the tank underneath.  

 

 

[STEVE POLLARD]

48 minutes ago, Mat Shelton said:

That's a good looking Chevy Steve, is it a factory black truck?

Yes Mat.... factory black, but it's been repainted at one point......396 V8 with a 4 speed !

Steve

 

[Mat Shelton]

Very nice!  And I like the North Dakota flaps, looks great.  My dad had a medium blue '68 GMC 910 (Canadian half ton) with a 396 TH400 and bucket seats.  It got wrecked in a head-on collision in 1974.  He bought a new '74 International after that and we still have it.  The attached picture is of my dad's GMC, he added the white mirrors.  

 

 

Edited April 25 by Mat Shelton (see edit history)

[STEVE POLLARD]

21 hours ago, Mat Shelton said:

The attached picture is of my dad's GMC, he added the white mirrors.  

I'm almost positive that my '69 had those style mirrors on the truck.....when the truck is outside in the sun light and if you look at an angle, you can see where the mounting locations were in both doors - previous owner must of fill in the holes prior to painting it. 

Edited April 26 by STEVE POLLARD (see edit history)

[Mat Shelton]

Those mirrors were quite common on those trucks and the ones that followed from 1973-1980.  

 

The original mirrors on my dad's '68 were noted as code D29 MIRROR BELOW EYELINE JUNIOR PAINTED on the Canadian GM Historical Services Document.