If it ain’t red, it ain’t in the shed,” is a popular quote for those who have an appreciation for International Harvester tractors.
But in the case of Bruce Brown and his immaculately restored International C-1300 truck this sentiment applies just as much.
The bright red hue and the superb restoration on the International, which was completed earlier this year, proved a popular attraction at the Weethalle Truck Show.
A regular attendee at historic truck shows and rallies throughout NSW, Bruce had made his way to Weethalle from his home at Glenmore near Camden, and gave Big Rigs the low-down on the International, which replaced another historic truck, a Toyota 6000.
“The RMS took my truck licence off me when I turned 80, and in having the Toyota I had to find something to downsize to – I needed something to pull the caravan and also carry my 1941 Jeep on the back,” Bruce said.
“We went looking around and as it turned out a widow of a friend of mine, Geoff McQuillan, had this truck and was having to sell it, so I went and had a look at it,” he said.
While the 55-year-old truck would need some work to bring it up to scratch, it had been kept well out of the elements for some time and therefore was in sound running order.
“It had had the mirrors removed and had been pushed into a shipping container out of the weather for the last 4-5 years.
“We put a new battery in it and some petrol in the carby, and she fired straight up – we put a bit of brake fluid in it and the brakes worked so we drove it around and up onto a trailer and away we went!”
Given that the truck project was instigated because of Bruce hitting 80 years of age, his wife Kaye sorted a lot of the restoration works as a birthday gift.
Kicking off in 2024 the project was largely completed by March this year and the International was back on the road for its first long run to Corowa.
Over its working life the little International had only clocked up 41,000 miles and overall was in pretty sound order.
“It’s the ‘281’ motor – I had a compression test done on it and it is in good nick, and it has a 4-speed box with a high diff ratio. Everything is in miles on it, she will sit on 60 miles an hour with it all day and we came all the way from home to here with the caravan and there hasn’t been any oil consumption.
“I wouldn’t say it’s economical to drive but it runs on standard unleaded 91, the fuel tank is only 60 litres, so the fuel cap is probably the thing that gets used the most.”
Internally, the seat was touched up, and new mats were fitted but the dash and door seals were left as they were still in sound order.
Externally is where most of the work was undertaken with a lot of work done on the checker plate tray along with the fitment of LED lights and the results speak for itself.
“We resprayed it and mounted the spare up on the tray with the toolboxes for all our bits and pieces.
“One of my sons Graham organised the work on the tray with the checker plate and it has come up a treat. I had some International side steps to go back on it but they didn’t look right so the ones on it are actually off a Mitsubishi Triton.”
As mentioned earlier the International made its first long trip to Corowa earlier this year via a stop in Wodonga for master signwriter Gordon McCracken to sign and line the International with Bruce delighted with the finished product.
“He has done a top job with it – as has everyone involved – a lot of people have done a lot of good work on it.”
Sitting at the controls of the International, the wheel has literally turned full circle for Bruce, who first took to the road at the age of 19 driving an International R-180 coal tipper around the Camden area.
“I was in a semi at 21 and right up until I turned 80 I was doing a few hay runs and going down to a family members farm at Temora carting the wheat – they had an International with a GM in it which was all good fun,” he said.
Since around 2012 Bruce has also been a member of the Western Sydney Truck Club, going on a number of trips to shows each year with the Toyota and now with the International.
With the truck sorted and well equipped to handle the job required of it, it would appear that Bruce will be putting some more miles on the speedo for some time yet.
“It suits us really well and its set up for us nicely. I just love getting out to these smaller town shows, they are bloody terrific, and we always have a top weekend here.”