Pick-up Trucks in a Junk Yard

Downtown Vernon BC, during a recent road trip. The weather was wet instead of hot and dry this time around during our stay in the Vernon area. This bone yard is just off the main highway through town.

I have an odd fascination with International pick-up trucks. As a West Coast guy, they were a very rare sight in the logging business, in years gone by. The only ones we ever saw around were driven mostly by retired farmers who moved out towards the Pacific. Internationals were viewed as the ugly duckling of pick-ups...and under-powered to boot. A logger that drove an International just couldn't be taken seriously.

 

In the 70's, my dad would jokingly say "You never see a Kenworth plowing a field, you shouldn't have to see an International on the road."

So my thoughts are...after all those years of jokes and disdain...maybe International trucks could be the sought after hot-rod/restoration vehicle of the future. Rare, seldom seen...plentiful out in the farm country...and under valued. Some body work and modern powertrain...and presto-magico....new trend in the gearhead world.

Even these late 60's and then 70's Fords are a tad under appreciated so far....they seem to be everywhere....the quintessential "truck"....they seem to be in a bit a dead zone for restoration and hotrod buffs.

In these days of all aluminum engines, turbos and computer controlled everything....the simplicity of a 300 cubic inch straight 6, with a little carburetor perched on top sounds pretty good. Repair it with tie-wire, duct tape, a pocket knife and a crescent wrench

Almost every abandoned truck has these objects in the cab or behind the seat...2 mismatched gloves, both left handed..stiff and moldy. A pack of matches, 3 wet ones remain. Broken pair of 10 dollar sunglasses. 1 piece of the tire changing gear. 14 coffee cups, 8 lids. 9 pens and pencils. 6 feet of speaker wire, 1 loose and broken stereo speaker. 4 empty packs of cigarettes...( older trucks will have Players and Matinee brand ) 87 cents in loose change, mostly in nickels and pennies. A rusted crescent wrench and a damaged screwdriver. An empty motor oil container, power-steering fluid bottle, and maybe an empty anti-freeze jug. A small piece of  2x4 wood. Stained piece of paper with a shopping list of parts to get when in town. 3 granola bar wrappers and a forgotten fossilized brown bag lunch.

These old Ford trucks were really good at burning gas...on the 460 engines, you could actually watch the gas gauge go down as you were driving.

See, it's not really ugly...it's just not that pretty either

Emblems and badges...markers of status on the road and in the parking lot

It's hard to hide in the grass, when you are big and orange

1 ton, 4 door Chevy. From the days when you could make 13.50  an hour, get 10 miles per gallon and support a house and family.

Big, heavy, obsolete. Just barely good for parts....more like ready for crushing and melting

These old work horses are on their way to becoming extinct...