Richard Sjolie is the current owner of a very interesting set of wheels, namely a 1938 IHC D-300 cabover delivery truck that started life hauling beer for the Calgary Brewing Company.
Richard’s IHC was built for use in an urban environment where its snub-nosed cabover design was ideal for tight turns and confined spaces to deliver products to customers.
The product was beer in the case of Richard’s vintage delivery truck, and it was used in this capacity before it was retired from the road and given an uncertain future in a wrecking yard.
Jim Sutherland
The truck was banished to the bush in the boneyard, and it appears the auto wreckers lost interest in the old Cornbinder delivery truck and eventually forgot about it. Fortunately, the owner before Richard discovered the ‘38 IHC and rescued it from the boondocks.
According to Richard, the former owner did the heavy lifting and resurrected the IHC with a unique game plan. The big truck’s original engine was taken out and replaced with a 350 small block from a 1980 Chevy 4×4 donor truck, along with its Turbo 400 automatic transmission.
In fact, the ‘80 Chevy pickup donated just about every usable piece to the IHC and now the old beer delivery truck has a brand-new lease on life because of the previous owner’s effort and vision.
It goes without saying the unusual prewar delivery truck attracts plenty of attention, but Richard told MyStarCollectorCar the former owner was talented but shied away from the public spotlight, so his resto modded IHC was not seen at car shows because the previous owner chose not to attend them.
However, Richard is an outgoing guy, so the 1938 IHC D-300 will be shown to a curious public at various car shows under his watch. Even better, Richard is willing to hit the road and travel to out-of-town car shows behind the wheel of his vintage delivery truck. He attended a car show this past June in a community about two hours away and the truck “ran straight as an arrow down the highway”, in Richard’s words.
The truck was hauling two empty kegs to honor its work history when MyStarCollectorCar interviewed Richard at the car show. It also had an antique steamer trunk on its bed for extra storage because of the limited room in the cabover’s passenger area.
Richard said his resto mod truck is more than capable on modern highways and could hit 75 mph with ease along the way.
The IHC cabover’s appearance is unusual to say the least and its unconventional design includes the vintage truck’s two doors because the driver’s side opens like a regular door while the truck’s passenger door opens backwards and is commonly called a suicide door in car guy slang.
Suicide doors were somewhat common on vehicles from a bygone automotive era before they were deemed a serious safety issue, but few vehicles had one conventional door and one suicide door on the same vehicle.
The different doors are one of many questions fielded by Richard whenever he takes his 1938 IHC D-300 to a car show.
Good thing he enjoys answering them.
Jim Sutherland
BY: Jim Sutherland
Jim Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer whose work has been published by many major print and online publications. The list includes Calgary Herald, The Truth About Cars, Red Deer Advocate, RPM Magazine, Edmonton Journal, Montreal Gazette, Windsor Star, Vancouver Province, and Post Media Wheels Section.
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