1952 International COE L195 Cab-Over-Engine Truck **VERY RARE TILT CAB COE**
1952 International Harvester Truck
Up for sale is this very cool and super rare 1952 International L195 COE "Tiltocab" truck. I purchased this truck from the estate of an avid car/truck collector. The one family member had mentioned his Dad was always really interested in different, hard-to-find, low-production type vehicles and this truck was definitely one of them. He claimed that only four of these trucks received this Tiltocab conversion (2) L195s and (2) L205s done by Hendrickson Motor Truck Company. Below is a copy of a printout from Motor Truck Division, dated September 1953, after the conversion was done (this was in his files on the truck). I thought to myself that seems to be an extremely low number so after hours and hours of research looking for these rare Tiltocab trucks, surprisingly, I did only find three aside from the one that I am selling here. Two of them were 205s that were in restored condition. A picture of one of them (red with black fenders) was shown on a Facebook group called International COE Trucks and one was sold from a place called Just Trucks in Australia (also red with black fenders). A picture of the third one was also found in Facebook group International COE Trucks. It was in rough, unrestored condition and only stated it was a 4-bar grille Tiltocab and did not say what model it was. That leaves this one that I am selling (also shown in this FB group) as being the fourth truck which would coincide with what the previous owner's family believed. So this is not hard facts.... just going off of the information that was given to me and the research that I have done myself. Either way, this is a very unique piece. These Tiltocabs are easily recognized for their 4-bar grilles and overall height. All other International COEs of this era had only 3 bars across the front.
This truck has all it's original drive train including a Red Diamond 406 cubic inch, 6-cylinder gas engine mated to a 5-speed manual transmission with a 2-speed rear axle. The previous owner found this Tiltocab in a Truck Round Up advertisement in March of 1991 in Severn, Maryland, advertised as being 80% restored. From looking at the stack of files and receipts, he began purchasing parts and evaluating what all he needed to complete the restoration. It appears that by 1993-94 he had the truck up and going. It appeared in a write up the April/May1994 edition of "This Old Truck" magazine, which was also in the files. Apparently, he drove the truck to several different shows including a major event in Toledo, Ohio, held by The American Truck Historical Society. This event included photo shots of the trucks that were there and then they published the collection of photos in a book form titled "Third Collectors Special Issue", which is also part of the files saved. He continued to drive and show the truck quite often up until around the year 2000 and at that point it was driven to and parked in storage until 2023. The long-term storage did have some minor cosmetic effects on it's appearance. A more serious effect that the long storage had was that the engine is stuck and will not turn over. This could be an easy fix or could require some serious time and effort to get freed up and running again. It is all there, just like it was when it was driven into storage. There were no locked up brakes or stuck steering components. As you can see from the photos, it is still in very presentable condition. BUT AGAIN, THE ENGINE IS NOT RUNNING AND IS STUCK. I have posted as many photos as Ebay Motors has allowed me to. The only photo that is not a current picture is the one where it is parked beside another newer International at a dealership.
If there are any more photos that you would like me to take or any questions at all that you want to ask about the truck, please ask me. You can call me at 419-496-9675 or message through Ebay. This truck is located in Perrysville, Ohio, for pickup or shipping arrangements can be made to your location at buyer's expense.
- Make: International Harvester
- Model: Truck
- Type: Cab Over Engine (COE)
- Doors: 2
- Year: 1952
- Mileage: 71606
- VIN: L19522701
- Color: Burgundy
- Engine size: Red Diamond 406 Cubic Inch 6-Cylinder
- Number of cylinders: 6
- Fuel: Gasoline
- Transmission: Manual
- Drive type: 2WD
- Interior color: Burgundy
- Drive side: Left-Hand Drive
- Vehicle Title: Clean Want to buy? Contact seller!