1929 International Harvester Six-Speed Special Pickup
Owner: Bernie and Janice Taulborg Collection
Original cost, previous owner(s), and number made: NA
Engine, etc.: 4 cyl. cast in block; 19.6 hp (NACC) 3 speed, 1 ton; 6 SPLFD 5 PEC; 124″ wheelbase
The Classic Car Collection has International Harvester vehicles from 1907 (auto buggy), 1909 (auto wagon), and pickups from 1919, 1929, 1939, 1949, and 1959.
Truck came standard with front fenders, running boards, electric head and tail lights, starter, storage battery, speedometer, air cleaner, electric horn, and tools. (Model name is from plate on firewall inside engine compartment.)
The McCormick Harvesting Machine Company was founded by Cyrus H. McCormick who invented the first commercially successful reaper to harvest wheat. When he died in 1884, his son, Cyrus Jr., became president of the company.
During the 1880’s and 1890’s the company retained its position as the leading agriculture equipment manufacturer. By 1900, however, it was facing increased competition from Deering Harvester Co.
International Harvester Company was formed in 1902 by the merger of McCormick Harvesting Machine Co. and Deering Harvester Company. Three other rival companies also joined the merger: Plano Manufacturing Co., Milwaukee Harvester Co., and Warder, Bushnell, and Glessner.
The founder’s sons, Cyrus Jr. and Harold Fowler McCormick presided over the company for its first 40 years.
Auto wagons were originally produced at the company’s McCormick Works in Chicago but in 1907 that was switched to the Akron, Ohio, Works.
By 1915, motor trucks began emerging as an important factor in the transportation industry. Production switched from Auto Wagons to a limited line of new trucks that were low-wheeled with increased power and speed.
Between 1915 and 1925 when the Akron Works closed, a total of 56,685 trucks in ten different models had been manufactured there, including the first “heavy-duty” truck with a capacity of five tons.
It was the U. S. Army’s use of trucks in World War I that gave the trucking industry its first big boost. A great number of military vehicles were manufactured but when the war ended, surplus trucks started a national adoption of trucks, with the slogan “Ship by Truck” gaining prominence.
In 1921 International Harvester helped lead the way by converting its Springfield, Ohio facility to motor truck production. It designed and built the first pneumatic-tired “speed” trucks, so named because they had higher speeds to match the road-building progress of the 1920’s.
The company’s production went from 7,183 motor trucks in 1920 to a new record of 39,008 in 1928. Introduction of a new line of trucks in 1929 boosted production to 49,797 units.
Sources:
http://tractors.wikia.com/wiki/International_Trucks
http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/ihc/id/4315/rec/15
http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Content.aspx?dsNav=N:1167 (Wisconsin Historical Society, McCormick-International Harvester Collection information)
http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm/ref/collection/ihc/id/34270 (Specifications, IH trucks, 1907 – 1929)
http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm/ref/collection/ihc/id/34269 (Specifications, 1929 six-speed special; name is 6-speed but specifications list 3 speed transmission and reverse)
