1964 International Harvester C-900
A small-bore pickup spawned by a trans-Atlantic trade spat
09/23/2018
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You can't get much more when it comes to sheer diversity than International Harvester was producing in 1964. There were the Scout and Traveler, of course. Lots of delivery routes were served by the sliding-door Metro, still using a basic look that dated back to 1938. The heavier commercial rigs encompassed their own catalog, led by the long-haul "Emeryville." International also deserves nostalgic recognition for a very broad line of pickups that year.
When you first look at an International pickup from this era, no matter what its capacity or powertrain, it's clear right off that it comes from a company whose primary business is building trucks. They're tough-looking, utilitarian, with big truck-like windshields and nothing in the cab that doesn't serve a purpose. Going into 1964, International's model nomenclature helped explain the pickup's load capacity, starting with the two-wheel-drive C-1000 and going up to the C-1300, an intense, macho-looking, high-payload 4x4 that the U.S. Air Force particularly found appealing.
Yet in 1964, International took a short-lived, oddball detour that was more inspired by events in Wolfsburg, Germany, than in its home fortress of Fort Wayne, Indiana. The post-war years had seen an explosion in the output of U.S. poultry farms, much of it aimed at recovering Europe, which eventually triggered a trade war. By 1963, France and Germany had slapped a protective tariff on chicken products imported from the U.S. The U.S. then imposed retaliatory tariffs on seemingly unrelated products such as potato starches and other sources of dextrose, brandy, and fully assembled light trucks.
Why is any of this relevant? Because during the so-called Chicken Tax beef--sorry--the pickup or Transporter version of Volkswagen's Kombi wagon was becoming increasingly popular stateside. That prompted the major U.S. builders to create somewhat lighter versions of their full-size (at that point, the only size) pickups, with better fuel economy. The development work was well under way when the transatlantic trade shootout erupted. International got into it, too, creating the C-900, an exceptionally spare package by 1964 standards.
The C-900 took International's wide-open product mix to a new breadth. It's a shortening job on a standard International V-8 pickup, and then some. The standard C-1000 wheelbase of 119 inches (a 131-inch chassis was also produced) got pared down to 107 inches, and a truncated, six-foot stepside box was bolted behind a standard cab. The biggest change was less superficial. International installed the slant-mounted OHV inline-four from the Scout, which displaced 152 cubic inches and produced 93hp with a single carburetor. The standard transmission was a Borg-Warner T-13 synchronized three-speed manual, stirred by a big, S-shaped floor shifter.
While successful as a price leader, the C-900 wasn't perfect. Its standard 4.09:1 rear gearing was necessary to get the truck moving, especially when loaded, but twisted the little Scout engine to disturbingly steep RPM at even moderate highway speeds. International gave its pickups a styling makeover for 1965, and changed the Scout-powered special to the D-900, and then the 900-A. Customer complaints about the truck's roaring, underpowered personality prompted International to replace the Scout engine with a 226-cu.in. V-8 in 1967. As pickups from the biggies got progressively more luxurious, International canned the barracks-like 900 line completely two years later.
Recent
Boosted Powertrain
At the heart of this SVT Lightning is its iron-block 5.4-liter SOHC, 16-valve V8 with a supercharger and an intercooler. The blower helped it deliver 380 horsepower and 450 lb-ft of torque in 2001, up some 20 horsepower and 10 lb-ft from the ’99 and 2000 models. The Eaton supercharged engine delivered peak boost of 8.0 psi and the engine featured an 8.4:1 static compression ratio, down from the standard 5.4 V8’s 9.0:1, which was rated at 260 horsepower and 350 lb-ft.
Power reached the rear 18-inch cast aluminum-alloy wheels via a four-speed automatic, an aluminum driveshaft and a beefy 9.75-inch, limited-slip rear axle with an acceleration-friendly 3.73:1 final-drive ratio, another upgrade for 2001. Car and Driver magazine reported a 0-60 mph time of 5.2 seconds and a quarter-mile in an E.T. of 13.8 seconds at 104 mph—impressive numbers for a 4,600-pound truck. Top speed was a drag-limited 142 mph.
A Truly Sporting Truck
Trucks generally require a suspension that can handle a full load in its bed while also providing competent driving while empty. But if you fancy one designed to a sports-car standard, then something has to give. In the case of the second-gen Lightning, Ford dropped its payload capacity to a mere 800 pounds. A standard 2001 F-150 Styleside carried a 3,180-pound payload rating, while an F-150 Flareside was rated at 2,005 pounds, some two-and-a-half times the Lightning, which featured the short-bed Flareside body. Towing capacity, likewise, was reduced from 8,800 pounds to 5,000 in the Lightning. But the Lightning’s strengths were never its payload or towing capacities, but it’s ability to perform like a sports car.
As a 21st century performance vehicle, however, the second-gen Lightning was also equipped to handle. A half-inch drop at the front was accompanied by SVT-specific coil springs and Bilstein shocks along with an exclusive 31-mm solid anti-roll bar. SVT’s influence continued at the rear with Lightning-specific five-leaf springs and a 23-mm solid anti-roll bar. The Bilstein setup at the rear included the right-rear shock staggered toward the front of the truck to reduce axle hop under heavy acceleration. The four-wheel antilock disc brakes were cribbed from the three-quarter-ton F-250, with 12.1-inch front rotors at the front and 13.1-inch discs at the rear.
As the years go on, fewer and fewer clean, unmolested low-mileage examples are out there, which is why this 2001 Ford SVT F150 Lightning now on Hemmings Auctions caught our attention. Showing just 5,525.5 miles on its odometer at the time of submission, it is said to be in “mint” condition and have an “immaculate” finish in the seller’s words. No modifications are noted to any part of the vehicle. The 18-inch factory alloys don’t appear to have any curb rash, though the Goodyear performance tires may be original. About the only deviations from stock are the tinted windows.
The latest electric-only F-150 Lightning is certainly a quick vehicle in its own right, but this 2001 edition from the engineers at SVT was built for excitement, not range. It was made with an old-school muscle-car vibe along with modern handling and braking. Which Lightning would you look good behind the wheel of?
Take a look at this second-gen Lightning on Hemmings Auctions before the bidding ends.
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