International Harvester Model A Runabout Highwheeler
You still see them in old western movies, these ‘runabouts’ or ‘buggies’, or at least the horse-drawn variety.
The lightweight carriages with their tall wheels were ideally suited to the dusty prairies of North America.
Farming equipment manufacturer International Harvester from Illinois started fitting air-cooled, horizontally opposed twin-cylinder engines in these wagons in 1907. That first year they produced 73 of these vehicles, known as ‘highwheelers’, but two years later production was up to about 2,500.
This runabout is from 1908 and is in stunning preserved condition.
International Harvester was established in 1902 when a number of manufacturers of farm machinery joined forces. Later they went on to manufacture passenger cars, light vans and trucks, and also household appliances. In 1986 the company was renamed Navistar International. In the 1950s and ‘60s the fire brigade in The Hague had a number of Internationals.