How many four-door medium duty trucks have you ever seen? Not many, I’d wager, and the further back you go, the less likely you are to see them. You might be able to find a late-model Chevy Kodiak or GMC TopKick, or maybe an International Workstar like the kind the railroads near BangShift Mid-West use, but finding a rig like this 1964 International Loadstar isn’t a common thing. These trucks were used, abused, used again, ran into the ground and left for dead…that’s not saying that they were beat on like the Accord your neighbor’s kid thrashes around, that’s just how work trucks were used. And that’s what makes these big lumbering trucks endearing to this day…their true work-truck presence and the classic International styling, when cleaned up, re-polished and upgraded just enough, becomes something absolutely badass…we saw that a couple of SEMA shows ago with Mobsteel’s “GangStar” International, which sat on the floor like a hot-rod semi tractor ready to go on a run.
You might be at the beginning of the project with this rig, but see what we are seeing: the body stripped and re-painted, the frame re-coated. Alcoa wheels, polished bright, set the tone, with all of the factory badging restored. A worked over Cummins inline-six would be a great swap for the original IH 392 V8, and you could either use the standard five-speed in there or you could upgrade to a six-speed. Crank the boost, fit a solid fifth-wheel system out back, make sure the seats are comfy and airbag the sucker all the way around, and call it good. And hurry, before Lohnes sees this thing and starts pleading his case to his wife.
Thanks to Tubbed Pacecar for the tip!
Craigslist Link: 1964 International Loadstar 1600 Travelcrew
Scratch the cummins and go with a DT466… Keep it all IH!
These were EVERYWHERE when I was a kid, all the school busses in town were loadstars straight through the mid 70’s when they went over to the squarer bodystyle. Always liked the styling on these…
I am also building a truck like yours . I bought a school bus with a dt466 and moved the cab over to the bus . I was planning on a 24 foot flatbed but have changed my mind and now have shortened it for a pickup box. I used the tilt hood to make it easier to get to the engine. My biggest problem is a doghouse and making room for the engine. Nice to see another binder being saved. Good luck on your build.