International Intrigue

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Vintage Trucks and Commercials Magazine

Nov 05 2024 Updated November 5, 2024

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The VTCM Team

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1938 D15 one ton. This was the first restoration project in 2008. It sits on dual rear wheels and was rusted, but complete. As with many of the trucks in the collection, the Corstorphans did a full rebuild in their workshop at Lilydale, Victoria. Mechanicals are Inters 213 motor and a four speed box.

1971 Loadster 1850D. Steven Livermore also likes Internationals, but much bigger and more muscular. The early life of this ex-tipper is not known, but in later years, it served a landscaper at Pearcedale, Victoria before going to central Victoria. When Steven bought it in 2013, it had sat for ten years. The truck had a rusted cab, but a repaired cab came with it and the running gear was mechanically sound. A Detroit 6sV53 feeds into a 13 speed Roadranger.

1940 American D2 half ton. This truck was restored in the US and was imported four years ago. The pickup- bodied truck has a non-factory paint colour, but the body style makes for an interesting comparison beside the Australian versions. This model uses the 213 backed by a three speed box.

1938 DS35 Four Ton. Number nine in the collection had the crew at Corstorphan’s shaking their heads when it arrived at their workshop in 2011. The truck belonged to a farmer at Bathurst, NSW and ended its working days as a superphosphate spreader. The fertiliser acids had corroded the panels causing the cabin to sag, the chassis was found to be twisted and the tray had rotted away, plus the usual tired mechanicals. Clearly all is as good as new now. An overhead valve 241 six turns a four speed box and two speed diff .

1940 D50 six ton. This is an ex-fire truck out of America, that had done only five thousand miles when retired. It had the fi re body replaced and the 298 engine was refitted with a RD450 and three speed joey box. A sleeper box and turntable had it ready for rally duties. Mike Rudd put another ten thousand miles on it before Doug imported it in 2010. Marker lights on top of the guards denote it as a 1940 model.

A little side valve 213 cubic inch rebuilt by the late Jim Bury sitting on the test bed makes for an interesting display piece. First developed in 1930 for the A Series, the engines went on to power International Harvester light commercials for many years.

Circa late 1970’s. Detroit 4-53 is an ex-promotion piece. The well detailed but gutted engine would have once decorated a sales room or trade stand. Doug’s son, Steven, came across it years ago, just before it was going to be scrapped.

1939 D30 two ton. E.R. Schurmann of Minyip, Vic brought a new cab and chassis combination and then had George Bros. of Melbourne fi t a tipping hoist and what is believed to be the first bulk grain body in Australia. (Everyone else was still lumping heavy wheat bags). It would take twenty minutes to load seven ton onto the two ton specced truck and only four seconds to offload at the rail silo. It worked until 1960, and on the odd occasion until de-registering in 1972. It was part of Jim Bury’s l.H. collection until 2010. Doug purchased the well kept truck and had it restored. Mechanical features are a 232 side valve, four speed, and power take off to operate the grain auger.

1939 D30 one and a half ton. This is the original family market garden truck that so impressed Doug as a seventeen year old when it arrived new. It has a wide cabin built by Smiths of Camberwell that can seat five or sleep one, and an elaborately pin striped stake side tray. Retired in the late 1970s, Corstorphan’s restored it in 2007. A full feature was in Vintage Trucks & Commercials Magazine issue #8. A 232 side valve six turns a four speed transmission.

1938 D2 Utility half ton. International Harvester Australia introduced the utility in the previous C series and evolved as a more satisfactory bodied vehicle for the D Series. At half ton capacity, it was the smallest of the eleven models off ered in Australia. The utility body was unique to the local market and it is told that this one may have served military duties. Doug purchased it, already restored, a few years back. Like the American counterpart, it runs a 213 cubed six and three speed box.

1939 D2 half ton utility. Max Kelsall from near Grafton, NSW restored this olive green utility. Although it looks similar to its 1938 stable mate, there are styling differences. The quarter side windows are a shallower set; twin rolled bead lines form the belt line which makes no effort to blend with the U.S. sourced front panel pressings and, at the rear, the taillight and number plate housings are quite different. Whether this is due to different body builders or just changes as time went by isn’t clear.

1937 model D15 one ton. No work history of this truck is known as it passed through the hands of two other collectors before Doug bought it. The truck was reasonably solid but had the usual rust in the cab base and the doors were sagging. It’s been re-sprayed in a non- original metallic colour, and Brian Corstorphan gets credit for the tray. Mechanically, it uses a side valve 213 Inter petrol six and four speed box.

Cabin lines are very different between the US pickup and locally built utilities. Door tops, cabin lengths, rear windows, belt lines and higher domed turrets on the Aussie half tonners are among the most noticeable variations.

Doug Livermore’s love of the International marque goes back to when his father traded an aging Bean truck on a brand new D30 in 1939.

He was eager to see the family’s new truck, but first it had to go to Smiths in the Melbourne suburb of Camberwell for its wide coach-built cabin and stake side market garden body.

He was duly impressed when it arrived with its shiny, flowing lines and its capability to handle a whopping 175 cases of apples or pears. But what really caught his eye was the fact that the instrument panel was illuminated from within. To a boy on an orchard, that was wonderful stuff !

Doug was only seventeen at the time, and is now a spritely ninety- three, but there’s still a place in his heart for that old 1½ ton truck. In fact, he still owns it, plus several others. The truck was finally retired in 1977 and left in the shed until 2008, when it was transferred to the restoration workshop of Kim and Stephen Corstorphan, who went through the mechanicals before tackling the panels and paint.

That’s when Doug thought, if one is good, two would be better, or even, how good would a whole set be?

Needless to say, the hunt was on and has been ever since. Some arrive as projects, others are already completed, some are just parts donors, and a few have been brought in from America.

*Douglas Hamilton

Wheel styles also show variations. The cream rim is from 1939, the pale green ‘artillery’ version is from 1938, while the dark green is with a more domed hub on the 1940 US import.
Hub caps are all the same, with Internationals triple diamond logo - only the restoration detailing differs.

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