Quick, what’s your favorite brand of mechanic’s tool? If you said whatever your neighbor has in his toolbox and it’s his fault for leaving his garage door unlocked then shame on you. If you instead said Snap-on then we have much to discuss. In fact, should you have said MAC Tools, or even King Dick (for you Whitworth fanatics) then you will likely appreciate the retro-coolness of this 1951 International Harvester Metro Step-Van decked out as a Snap-on Tools vender van.
Snap-on has always been a somewhat mythical beast for the home mechanic as the products are generally priced for the professional and their “stores” have always been Howl’s Moving Castle. That’s because they are independent franchise trucks with routes that include commercial shops but not typically suburban garages. When I was a kid, seeing a Snap-on truck was kind of an exciting experience and I always wanted to purchase something off of one, until I saw the price tags that is.
This beautifully restored and kitted Metro harkens back to an age before the Internet when Snap-on offered tools you probably couldn’t get at Sears or the local Mom & Pop hardware store. Snap-on’s catalog has long been extensive and professionals, needing something special, could always count on the company to come through. You can make the jump, and see more of this Snappy truck and all its cool tools and pretend it’s pulling up to your garage.
Images: ©2017 Hooniverse/Robert Emslie, All Rights Reserved
Because its Monday: Let's All Appreciate This Painstakingly Restored IH Metro Snap-on Van
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5 responses to “Because its Monday: Let's All Appreciate This Painstakingly Restored IH Metro Snap-on Van”
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Pittsburgh – for when you may only use it once.
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Or when it’s actually cheaper than renting the item in question from Home Depot.
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I dig the logos-through-the-years on the floor. My local plumber has two Metros, one is an advertising vehicle he leaves parked around town, the other has been under restoration for longer than I can remember.
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My go to mechanic’s tools are Craftsman, from the 80s when they were still made in the USA. Also as a counterpoint to the fancy mobile palaces of tools, I used to work at a place with a Snap-On industrial account and our Snap-On rep drove a Chevy Astro with just some repair parts and catalogues in the back. Our tools came via UPS, and were usually black oxide instead of chrome.
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From the days when Snap-On tools were all made in the US.
I remember about 20 years ago, looking through a catalog that a friend of mine got from a Snap-On rep. I looked for the most expensive item – it was a torque wrench calibration machine, $208,000.
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