A story like this does not happen very often. I got the original call about a 1970 International 1300D fire truck for sale in Augusts of this year (2016). It was a super cool and low miles truck, and I had to take a look. We published an original first drive of this truck on our channel.
Eric Hurst saw the video and the story, and purchased the truck within several days of the video publishing. This truck was a very important part of the Eric’s family history and what is now the Denver South Metro Fire & Rescue Station 35. Eric actually sat inside this very truck when he was just a boy. The truck was part of his dream of becoming a fire fighter, which is precisely what he did. Now, he had a chance to purchase the truck that was part of the inspiration so many years ago!
I am very happy that TFLtruck was a part of this great story. It was special to meet Eric in person and see the old International truck again. Turns out the truck’s name was “Red Leader”, and Eric cleaned up this pristine truck with just over 7,600 miles to look just like it did all those years ago.
The truck is powered by a 345 cu-in V8 motor that was rated at precisely 196.7 hp and 309 lb-ft of torque, which is a lot of power for 1970. The “All Wheel Drive” label simply meant that you can lock the hubs and make it so all wheels on this truck are driving it when 4×4 is selected.
Check out Part.1 of this story here as I get a first look at the Red Leader, before I knew it was the Red Leader truck from Denver South Metro Station 35.
Get all the details in the video below.
