Dream Machine

By Bill Vossler
Published on June 1, 2008
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Fezzy with his 1914 1/4-ton IHC truck. The headlights originally ran on propylene gas.
Fezzy with his 1914 1/4-ton IHC truck. The headlights originally ran on propylene gas.
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The radiator is behind the engine, which is encased under the hood. The arrangement allowed mechanics to get to the engine very easily and protected the radiator.
The radiator is behind the engine, which is encased under the hood. The arrangement allowed mechanics to get to the engine very easily and protected the radiator.
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Even beside a
Even beside a "newer" IHC truck, the 1914 has a sleek look. Note the crank on the front.
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The truck has solid rubber tires on the front.
The truck has solid rubber tires on the front.
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Wood stakes are driven into the truck's sides to make a wood bed. Fenders were an option on this model.
Wood stakes are driven into the truck's sides to make a wood bed. Fenders were an option on this model.
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This 1922 ad shows a truck very similar to Fezzy’s 1914 model and a Titan tractor on the road.
This 1922 ad shows a truck very similar to Fezzy’s 1914 model and a Titan tractor on the road.
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Undated promotional photo for International Motor Trucks.
Undated promotional photo for International Motor Trucks.

Rare International Auto Truck keeps collector up at night

The night before Bob ‘Fezzy’ Hanauer drove to the central Minnesota town where he would pick up his newly purchased 1914 International Harvester Co. Auto Truck, he couldn’t sleep. ‘It took me 10 years to convince them to sell it,’ the Albany, Minn., man says, ‘so all kinds of things were going through my head.’

Fezzy is the fourth generation of his family to be involved with automobiles. His great-grandfather began the tradition, working first as a wheelwright in Albany in the late 1800s, and then graduating to service and sales. ‘Through the years I’ve taken a liking to all the automotive stuff,’ Fezzy says. ‘The first time I saw that IHC truck was about 10 years ago when my dad and I picked up a 1954 Corvette to do some engine work before the car was restored.’

The owners of the Corvette had the 1914 truck in the same building. ‘I saw the truck and fell in love with it right then,’ he says. ‘It’s so different from the trucks of today and I thought it was so cool. It has the wooden wheels, hard rubber tires and an open cab, just for starters. Because it’s so rare I realized I didn’t have the money they might want for it, but after that I made sure I kept track of it.’

Patience pays off

The truck was purchased from a southern Minnesota implement dealer in the 1950s, restored and taken to a Montana museum in the 1960s. ‘It came back to Minnesota in 1975 in that collection where I first saw it,’ Fezzy says.

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