Posing in the Harvester High-Wheeler

The names of car marques are often acronyms. Sometimes they reference the place or region from which they originate, and sometimes they are as simple as being the name of the founder. There are just a few, though, which are named after what they actually are meant to be. The Volkswagen is the best-known example here, but let’s not forget the International Harvester.

The fantastic product of the International Harvester Corporation seen here was officially known as the Auto Wagon or Auto Buggy and later as the Motor Truck, but it is most widely known as the High-Wheeler, and the reason for that nickname is obvious. Unlike the majority of IHC’s vehicles, this one wasn’t specifically meant for agricultural work. With its impressive ground clearance thanks to those huge wooden wheels, it was well-suited for driving over fields, but it could also transport a farming family to church on Sundays with its air cooled two-cylinder engine mounted beneath the body. It was classed as a car, too.

By 1917, production had stopped after 10 successful years. Thanks to the number plate clearly visible on this one, we can see that the picture was probably taken in 1924.

Words: Jeroen Booij; picture: archive

Published:

Thursday August 24th, 2023

Graham Clayton

20 January 2024, 04:57

High-wheelers were manufactured in the decade prior to the start of the Great War. As asphalt roads became more prevalent, their use quickly declined. Some of the major high-wheeler manufacturers in the United States apart from IH were ABC, De Schaum, Holsman, Kiblinger, McIntyre and Schacht.

Jürgen Klein

27 August 2023, 17:25

This is my brochure of a car similar to the International High-Wheeler, built in 1921 in Kiel, Germany. We don`t know if there was more than one car produced or maybe a handful, and maybe with an engine built by themselves.

Steve Diggins

27 August 2023, 01:51

Here is a photo of three air-cooled IHC high-wheelers taken around 1912 in the small town of Merritt, BC. I think the car to the right could be a Napier, but I'm not too sure.

Les Six Troenes

26 August 2023, 13:15

The foot on the firewall/dashboard looks like its wearing a Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars. These have stayed the same since 1922. Cars have evolved quite a bit since then…

Steve Diggins

26 August 2023, 04:41

When the rural dirt roads tuned to mud in the rainy season the high-wheelers were pretty good at cutting through it. They were also good in the snow, cutting through it to grab some traction on something below. Swollen creeks crossing the roads were less of a problem. They could handle the deep stuff which most cars could not.

Edwin Hayslip

24 August 2023, 16:17

IH made air-cooled and water-cooled high-wheelers at the same time. I suggest this is a water-cooled example, not an air-cooled example as suggested above.

Larry Lewis

24 August 2023, 05:23

I would think that after having fun with this old truck, these three blokes would be relaxing with a cold beer. Or two.

Peter Fitzgerald

24 August 2023, 03:58

What a fantastic photograph.
Unfortunately, probably not long before it was crashed in a field!

Posing in the Harvester High-Wheeler

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