Ebay Find: A 1935 International Harvester C35 Armored Truck…And One Of The Strangest Photo Sets We’ve Seen Yet To Sell A Truck


Ebay Find: A 1935 International Harvester C35 Armored Truck…And One Of The Strangest Photo Sets We’ve Seen Yet To Sell A Truck

Finding an 80-year-old armored truck on eBay is sweet. Finding a fully restored one that is running, driving and as gorgeous as this truck is a needle in a haystack, and finding one with documented history is just plain awesome. Armored trucks normally don’t live gentle lives, and that would certainly be the case for something from the Thirties that was undoubtedly used, patched, repaired and used again for years on end.

According to the ad: This truck was custom built for the Little Rock Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis by the John C. Dix Company of Memphis, Tennessee. It is our understanding that this was the first and only armored truck built by Dix.

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This late 1935 International C-35 chassis was state-of-the-art, offering the FAB-3 engine: a 241 cubic inch, overhead-valve six cylinder, boasting 27 horsepower, mated to a 4-speed gearbox with hydraulic brakes. The truck weighs approximately 9,200 lbs, measuring 7’9″ tall, 16’11” long and 6′ wide; the body only being 4’7″ wide. The armored body is riveted 3/16″ boiler plate with a solid oak interior; the truck has a tremendous amount of hand-forged “blacksmith’s” work. Of the five plates for the brass gun ports, no two are alike. When looking at the truck, please note the hand-forged angle on the corners and rear fender mounts; an excellent example of blacksmithing from this time period. It goes without saying that all the glass mounted in this beast is bulletproof and at least 1.5-2″ thick.

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This truck began service at the Little Rock Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis on April 30th, 1936, replacing a 1928 Ford, and remained in service for 11 years – through World War II. It transported money between the Federal Reserve Bank, the U.S. Post Office, the Railroad Depot and the major Little Rock banks. Two former employees were located and interviewed regarding their having driven the truck. Both gentlemen had driven this truck in the mid 1940’s. They both described going by the “Ice House” and picking up a block of ice and placing it in a wash tub in the back to help stay cool during the summer months. They explained that keeping rags in the tub to wipe their faces off helped as they rode in the back. After its tenure with the Federal Reserve Bank, the truck was replaced with a 1947 Diamond-T armored truck and was transferred to the U.S. Postal Service. The truck transported registered mail and money. It’s believed the truck was retired in the late 1950’s and sold as surplus property.

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After the IH was retired from service, the truck made it’s way through a few owners until 1991, where it was fully restored in painstaking detail by Frank and Karen Howell. They made contact with a former Dix Co. employee who had worked on the truck to get some of the backstory, had the engine and transmission rebuilt by IH specialist Dick “Pappy” Vance, and was shown off until the truck was acquired in 2005 by Bruce Burrow, who refreshed the armored car to it’s current state.

The truck is absolutely gorgeous, no doubt. We are especially fond of the woodwork in the interior, which had to take a long time to complete. But it’s the photo set that Motoexotica Classic Cars included with in the listing that caught our eye. It’s not out of the ordinary to have a hot model posing with a Ferrari or a Mustang. But to have a hot cop and prisoner routine going on in the pictures is one of the most laughable things we’ve seen in quite some time. We highly doubt that she comes with the truck, and if, by the slimmest of margins she does, expect to pay a lot more than the $59,900 that is currently being asked.

eBay Listing: 1935 International Harvester C35 Armored Car

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6 thoughts on “Ebay Find: A 1935 International Harvester C35 Armored Truck…And One Of The Strangest Photo Sets We’ve Seen Yet To Sell A Truck

  1. RockJustRock

    Forgive me for staring at what is about 10 inches below that nice young lady’s belt buckle. It IS Sunday AM after all.

  2. Barry_R

    9200 pounds
    27 horsepower
    Wonder what the 1/4 times look like on this one?
    I’ll bet traction is not a problem…

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