In 1907, the International Harvester (IH) Company started making light vehicles at their Chicago works, and continued to make passenger vehicles until 1980. After 1980 IH began to concentrate on making heavy trucks and school buses.

International Auto Buggy, 1907

Chicago, Illinois. 1907 IH Auto Buggy. View the original source document: WHI 7248

IH continued to make heavy trucks through a corporate restructuring in 1986, when the truck division changed its name to Navistar. Navistar continues to make heavy duty trucks today, and IH trucks of all eras are often restored by an active collector community.

International 8300 Truck with Sailing Ship, 1987

1987 International 8300 semi-truck near sailing ship. View the original source document: WHI 90638

Collectors seeking information on their IH truck may find a line setting useful. A line setting ticket was used by the factory to build a truck from start to finish. A typical ticket can include information on the type of engine, transmission, paint codes, and standard and optional equipment for that vehicle. These tickets can be useful in telling if a truck was modified by another owner, or for ordering replacement parts from a Navistar dealer.

[lst01.jpg] [lst02.jpg] Caption: Sample of a line setting ticket

The McCormick-International Harvester Collection has line setting tickets for most trucks built by IH between 1957 and 1983. There also is the chance of a ticket being available for a truck built a few years prior to 1957 or a few years after 1983, but those records are much less complete.

If you are interested in a copy of a line ticket for a vehicle, or to find out more information, please email askmccormick@wisconsinhistory.org.