We picked up some International truck parts recently, and this original 6.25 x 3.5-inch metal data plate was among them.
The letters and numbers are difficult to make out in the photos, but the model is “KB-3,” and that means this plate dates to the late 1940s. The KB-series was introduced in 1947 when it replaced the K, which had been around since mid-1940. The KB was then replaced by the L-line in the fall of 1949.
International touted “95 features and improvements,” but the primary changes apparent to the naked eye included a wider, lower grille with extensions that flowed out over the fenders in graceful curves, and a triple diamond emblem perched on top of the grille.
The year 1947 held additional meaning for International Harvester as it also marked that company’s fortieth anniversary as a truck manufacturer.
The 1907 version of the International truck was called the Auto Wagon, seen below with International’s Auto Buggy.
This first International truck was high-wheeled with a two-cylinder air-cooled engine and friction transmission. According to a 1961 press release by IHC, 73 Auto Wagons were produced in 1907, representing around seven percent of the total production of motor trucks in the United States that year. Their speed topped out at around 20mph, and they were utilitarian in looks, built purposely to resemble the buggies that farmers had always used to haul their produce to market.
International trucks quickly caught on with the farming community and evolved into a rugged workhorse that helped transform agriculture. I have mentioned Pioneer Village here before, and that museum really does seem to have almost everything. Here are a couple of early International trucks on display there; the green one is a 1912, and the red one is the 1913 version.
Trucks from the Auto Wagon to the KB helped to build International’s reputation for quality and durability, and it all started in 1907.
