(First Posted July 11, 2014) The precise evolution of the SUV, like all car genres is debatable, but there’s no question that the International Scout is the critical link between the military Jeep and the modern SUV. It was the first vehicle of the genre to be designed from scratch to meet the anticipated growth in the off-road capable civilian market, and it clearly was the template for its many imitators: Ford Bronco, Range Rover, Chevy Blazer, Dodge Ramcharger, as well as the Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero (and others). True to its name, the Scout led the industry into the land of milk and SUV profits, even if it bowed out early.
International Harvester, which was then still a major manufacturer of pickups and utility wagons, took quite a leap of faith when it began the development of the Scout in the late 1950′s. The civilian Jeep actually sold rather poorly in that decade, in part because surplus military Jeeps were available for peanuts.
But leap they did, although the project almost died along the way. Early designs were too angular, which rightfully didn’t inspire the execs. When a more rounded design similar to the final version emerged from a late night session, it finally created some enthusiasm.
The body design might have been a bit adventurous compared to the Jeep, but the grille material looks like it was bought at the hardware store: expanded aluminum. Kids, this is why they call them grilles, although it would surely make a fine and dandy grill.
Originally planned to be made out of molded plastic body components supplied by Goodyear, when that turned out to be too expensive, the design was adapted to steel. A sturdy frame was not outside of International’s expertise, and Dana transfer cases and axles were readily available.
That left the matter of an engine, since IH only built rather large and heavy sixes and V8s. The solution: cut their 304 CID V8 block in half, resulting in a slant four of 152 cubic inches. Even the V8 distributor was used, with blanks for the missing other four cylinders.
The 2.5 liter Comanche four carried a 93 horsepower rating. Not surprisingly, it was a rather rough running unit, but that was in character with the rest of the Scout, which despite its more modern body was still a pretty primitive vehicle, especially from today’s vantage point. The four had a good torque curve, which was important for off-road work, and it was as tough as the IH V8 that donated half its block to it. In 1965, there was even a turbocharged version of the four offered, probably for those Colorado high altitude off roaders. Wonder if any survived.
The Scout was of course a bit ahead of the SUV boom, and sales were none too brisk. Salesmen would even bring one to your door to check out. Imagine that.
I would.
In 1966, the Scout got all dressed up, in an effort to widen its appeal. I’m not sure she looks all that happy though; I think she’d have preferred to pull up in a T-Bird.
The Scout 80 first appeared in late 1960 and came as a mini-pickup version or the utility, with a removable top. All of the first series (80) Scouts came with a fold down windshield. The Scout 800, which appeared in 1965, did away with that, but brought a number of other improvements in comfort and convenience. The Scout 800A, from 1968 up, even had a grille that looked just a wee bit less hardware-store.
The 800 and 800A (built through 1971), also had more engine options on tap: a larger 196 CID four; AMC-sourced 232 six; and the two smallest of the International’s V8s, the 266 and 304. The Scout II replaced the 80/800/800A in 1971, but we’ll save that for another CC.
There’s a surprising number of Scouts on the road here, many in more regular use than this weekend toy, which got rolled (slowly and gently in soft mud) a few years back, without harm to its driver. There’s even Mr. Scout, a repair and restoration shop. Given their simplicity and rugged construction, don’t expect them to disappear anytime too soon.
Another one of the many cars my dad owned – he purchased a 1967 that someone had replaced the motor with the 196 – 1/2 of the IH 392. It was geared such that the top speed was 65 MPH. I remember that the steering wheel took a lot of turns from left stop to right stop (I was driving by this time.)
In fall, 1975 when I was shopping for my first brand-new vehicle after I got my first real job 2 years after getting out of the air force, the 1968 Jeepster C-101 I owned at the time, and was getting tired of always fixing it, a Scout ll was one of the vehicles on my list, along with a CJ5, Ford Bronco, Camaro, Chevy C-10, a Ford Granada coupe (gasp!), a Chevy Impala sports sedan – the only way I could get a real hardtop, a Nova coupe (with flip-open back windows, of course), a Toyota SR5 Corolla hatchback, a Toyota pickup and even a Chevy LUV.
One of the Scout ll options was a metal doorless model which had the middle of the body blacked-out so all the little details the missing doors covered wouldn’t be so noticeable! Trying to be like a larger Jeep CJ, it even came with fabric/vinyl doors!
However, looking at recent examples of used Scouts, they rusted quicker than other cars in the St. Louis salty winters, so I crossed the Scout ll off my list.
I ordered and bought a 1976 Chevy C-20 pickup, much to my dismay…
To this day, I should have bought the nice, yellow Toyota Corolla SR5 hatch!
The one with the soft doors was the SSII in part done as a competitor to the CJ but also done due to the growing popularity of off road racing and the success that Scouts had in it.
It is surprising how many of the SSII ended up getting converted to steel doors and had a steel top put on them.
Wow, that’s quite a variety of candidates!
Just as an aside, you couldn’t get a Plymouth Scamp/Dodge Dart Swinger? Those were real hardtops.
“Just as an aside, you couldn’t get a Plymouth Scamp/Dodge Dart Swinger? Those were real hardtops.
Woulda, coulda, shoulda, but I was pretty anti-Chrysler in those days after my experience with the awful 1970 Duster I bought two years’ previous, but that was my fault.
In retrospect, I don’t believe I thought of that! Later, when married, my F-I-L had a 1974 Dart hardtop, and I was impressed by it.
I’ve heard these described as “a farm tractor with a truck body” owing to their rugged nature, ample torque, and lack of top speed.
Perhaps this was the father of the modern SUV, the mother being the Willys wagon? That has a place in the history too.
Yes a few of the turbo 152s did survive despite those Corvair people grabbing them when they could. Of course it is probably good that it is the same unit used on the Corvair or there wouldn’t be parts availability for them now. Quite a few also got converted to NA operation and every once in a while someone will find a box with all the junk in a barn or back corner of a garage and it will pop up on Craigslist or E-bay. Originally they were designed with the CO market in mind but they were available for anyone to order. It is important to note that the 93hp was net, not gross like other mfgs used at the time.
The 800a was the 1970 model the a suffix was done when IH finally broke down and started having official model years since the new regulations were tied to model year. 1971 was the 800b which was a short year as the Scout II came on-line late in the model year.
The Scout was not intended to be a direct competitor to the Jeep Universal instead it was intended to be more of a competitor to the other compact cars on the market. See the first two paragraphs of the “hookey” ad. IH figured that maybe 25% or so would be sold with 4wd. When the dust settled from the first year only 25% or so had been sold with 2wd.
Those “we will bring one to you ads” continued on to the Scout II days. Some of that was due to the fact that in many cases they were sold at full line IH dealers who were not on auto row. Originally they had sold franchises to dealers that had other new car franchises as an add on and they more or less considered the Scout a stand alone brand, after all there were 6 “body styles” available. However as time wore on many of those car dealers gave up their Scout franchise. IH was also an early adopter of the new fangled mall and often displayed Scouts inside and even had salesmen stationed there with one to test drive outside. It the buyer wasn’t going to go the the gritty industrial area to take a test drive IH was willing to go where the customer was.
So with these mall displays and bringing them to your doorstep for a test drive, was IH selling the Scout directly as Tesla is doing today, or was it all handled through franchised dealers?
They were doing it through franchised dealers and International branches. So technically a little of both since branches were IH owned dealers. Note the last paragraph of the “hookey” ad where it states you can test drive one at your local International Dealer or Branch. Note they also say to look in your Yellow Pages to find one since they usually weren’t represented on auto row.
Interestingly many of the dealers that had other new car franchises who were awarded Scout franchises were Chrysler Plymouth dealers. The town I grew up in had a CP-International dealer. NW and world wide legend Ernie Bisio the “Last Scout dealer” picked up his Scout franchise from the CP dealer down the street. He has told me how the owner came to him and told him that he wasn’t doing very well with them and that his salesmen all dressed up in their suits and ties didn’t know how to sell them.
Even more interesting is that International tried pretty hard to sell the Scout Business unit to Chrysler before shutting it down. Some of it makes sense since the plan to meet CAFE and emissions standards involved the slant 6 and a “yet to be determined” “automotive” V8. It seems as though the 318 would have made the most sense since if they were going to use the 225 and keep using the 727 as they had for a number of years.
In the end of course Chrysler didn’t buy the Scout Business Unit but they did hire away many of the engineers and designers including those that had worked on International’s Mini-van concept that would have went on the Scout Chassis. The front suspension of the new generation Dodge trucks was designed by a former IH chassis engineer.
The town where I grew up had an IH equipment dealer which usually had a Scout and Travelall on the floor along with the loaders and backhoes. And there was also an Oldsmobile dealer who also carried IH and MG at the other end of town. Even with two dealers in a small town (pop 25.000) you still didn’t see a lot of Scouts on the road.
We had a battered & rusty ’63 on the Farm in New Hampshire , I remember the day Scully opened the passenger side door and it fell off…..
The ‘ Farm Fix ‘ was simple : remove the handles and re – install it so we had to climb over the door to get in….. =8-) .
I also remember tack welding the broken off shocks once a year then wheezing it into town on the shoulder of the highway @ 10 MPH or so , as soon as we had the inspection sticker we’d go roaring (relatively) on back and the shocks would be broken off again by the time we got back to the barn .
Good , _TOUGH_ trucklets ! .
-Nate
In the mid 70’s, my grandfather, who ran a local moving and storage business near Los Angeles, decided to buy a 4×4 vehicle for hunting and vacation trips. Based on his small fleet of late 40’s to early 60’s vintage med. duty trucks, and his detailed record keeping, he new IH’s had a lower overall cost of ownership per mile than the other brands in his fleet (Dodge, Ford & GMC). This helped lead him to the pictured ’66 800, which as far as I can make out was originally a US Navy vehicle, that was eventually DRMO’d, before being bought by Grandpa. Coincidentally, I am a 66 model as well, and my very first experience driving was behind her wheel. With the rear axle only, in low range, and turned loose in he supermarket parking lot across the street, it was the ideal learning environment. I eventually spent hundreds of miles driving her on lonely desert roads with Grandpa before I ever turned 16
Eventually, after retirement, because no one else in the family felt my attachment for her, She was passed on to me. In the past 25 years, I may have towed her more than I’ve driven her, and she has gone through extensive bouts of dormancy, but the whole family knows she will not be sold. Currently down due to attempted self-immolation of the wiring harness, she will run again, when I get to it. In the meantime, much newer vehicles languish in the elements, while Irmatrude sits safely ensconced in the garage.
Great story, good luck with your family friend, hopefully your grandchildren can drive it one day too.
I had a 64 that I beat the living crap out of. When my son was 16 he out in the woods one day with it cutting a tree down for fire wood. He didn’t pay attention to where he was dropping it and it landed on the Scout. There was a lot of body damage. I took the top, hood, doors and windshield off and drove it on the farm another 3 years before the engine finally gave out.
Growing up in Fort Wayne, Indiana (where all (I believe) of the Scouts were built) I saw quite a lot of these running around. A funeral home I worked at for a stretch used one to plow parking lots. I got to drive it across the city one time, and I have decided that it was essentially a 1960s version of a Model A, only not as refined.
These were really rough, crude and slow. Hit a pothole and everything would rattle. I remember the slow steering and the really low gearing. But it was an absolute blast.
These were indeed ferocious rusters. All that said, I find these really attractive to this day. I have no real use for one, but would love one just the same.
All the ones sold in the US were made in Ft Wayne. However the Chatham plant in Canada made the Scout 80 for a couple of years. 61-3 IIRC.
Love these!
Pretty much an American Landrover but with rust problems.
Land Rover was a British Jeep but with less power.
My best friend in high school had two of these (his first, and second, vehicles). I, being the more mechanically-minded one, got the pleasure to work on it (had the 152 4-cyl). After tuning it up, I vividly remember the first time I ever drove it; my experience at one intersection near my house went like this:
[sitting stopped in left-turn lane on a divided street]
1. Light turns green.
2. Engage first gear while starting to furiously crank the oversized steering wheel (30:1 ratio manual steering, for real). Slowly start moving forward.
4. “OH CRATZ, I’M GOING TO RUN INTO THE CENTER MEDIAN! (as I keep frantically cranking steering wheel)
5. Run out of first gear midway through the intersection, attempt to grab second gear while continuing to crank steering wheel with left hand (really need that necker knob).
6. Can’t engage clutch because throttle pedal is stuck down and engine speed is far too high.
7. Use toe of right shoe to pop throttle pedal back into idle position.
8. Finally get into second gear and resume throttle.
9. Narrowly miss hitting traffic light pole right at the end of center median strip (bad 1970s intersection design).
10. Furiously unwind steering wheel in order to continue in new direction of travel while grabbing 3rd gear (remembered the toe-throttle-lift in the mix this time).
It’s a good thing we lived in a small town in eastern WA where one could drive something this slow – in any large metro area, one would get run over/into and/or shot at.
One more hilarious mechanic 2-part story on this vehicle: Part 1: A few days after a carb rebuild (which I did), the engine developed a knock. Couldn’t figure it out but we guessed that somehow, a nut or bolt had gotten dropped down the intake, so the head came off. In one cylinder we found a pancaked blob of brass from an unknown origin. Somehow, I thought to look down the carb throat and noticed that the brass air bleed (looks just like a screw-in fuel jet) was missing – D’op!
Part 2: my friend goes to the local IH dealer and buys a replacement head gasket – they didn’t have one for the 152 but he figured that “hey, it’s half a 304 so the passenger-side one from a 304 will work, right?” So he comes home with that one and installs the head gasket by himself. After everything is back together, he is filling up the radiator with coolant, and filling, and filling, and filling . . . finally after some time he walks around the back of the rig and there is a green waterfall pouring out of the exhaust pipe! Turns out that there IS a difference between a 152 and a 304 head gasket!!! I think it had something to do with the exhaust crossover that is typically on the older V8 intakes, and not having the other head to connect to, it was blocked by the gasket on the 152.
Good times them, back in the day, and you could work on one of these with a crescent wrench, a pair of pliers, and a couple of screwdrivers (which is about all a high school kid could afford).
The 304 and 152 head gasket is the same, it was the intake gasket that was letting the coolant go down the crossover passage.
Now that makes more sense – this all happened back in 1983 so my memory is a bit foggy.
NIce find! Now THATS what a true sports/utility vehicle is supposed to look like! I always liked these first gen Scouts over the later Scout II. These were just that teeny bit bigger than Jeep CJs without being over bloated. The 1st gen bronco and Jeeps own Commando also filled the need for a bare bones down and dirty rig that was just a bit more civilized.
This thing is in amazing shape outside of that nasty crunch behind the drivers door. Ever since Ive been driving, Ive come across tons of these but they usually have terminal rust or the bodies look chewed up and spit out.
My brother-in-law had one of these many years ago, I believe it was a ’68, ran good, had some fun in it, that is, until his soon to be ex-wife opened the hood one day and just yanked or cut every wire she could see, and that was the end of that.
OMG that ad with the overdressed unhappy woman, African-American man carrying suitcases and Googie architecture in the background. So um yesteryear the only thing missing is cigarettes.
Some years ago I was at a Border’s Books in Bel Air MD, as I was heading in a Scout II pulled in, with those white spoke wheels and clean.
After it pulled in a rural man dressed and groomed for a night on the town in 1973 got out, walked over to the passenger side in his squeaky shoes, and opened the door for a female, also dressed way up for town. He held out his hand, helped her down and out, then slammed the door shut with a certain precision.
My first acquaintance with one of these was in the winter of 65/66 in Newfoundland. My boss drove one and when the snow was heavy he went and picked up the Doctors who couldn’t get to work. Pretty impressive.
Then in 72 I went to Panama. I was the guy who held sick call for the Naval Communication Station and had to cover four work sites. I had medicine in a toolbox and a small administrative tray. I drove one of these, a Navy gray 1964 model, for four years. Sub arctic to tropic. The scout handled it all. It sucked gas like a sailor drinking beer but it kept on going.
If you have a legitimate reason not to like one of these it will not be because it isn’t tough. I think it might just be the most over-engineered vehicle I’ve driven. I couldn’t say what vehicle is like that today but the 4Runner I drive now reminds me of it a lot. Slow, steady, strong. The difference would be all the fancy doodads that the Toyota has. Time will tell if it has the staying power.
Ive driven one with the 152ci four and it was very “agricultural” in sound and feel, having also driven a 1930’s IH 4 cylinder gasoline tractor for reference. I cant imagine how rough the 192 would have been.
The early Scout checks all the boxes: weird 4-cylinder, check; cool, cheap-looking but appropriate grille?, check; simple, spartan looks, check; fun advertising?, check. If you can find one that hasn’t returned to the earth, how can you go wrong?
Well buying one does go wrong for many of us. They are a very addictive vehicle and many people end up with a lot of them.
The norm is you buy a Scout and it invariably needs something. (for me 73 2wd Cabtop, brother blew up trans)
So you buy a “parts” vehicle. (72 Travel top V8 4wd)
You decide that the parts vehicle is in too good of shape to kill.
Buy a 3rd vehicle that actually ends up being a parts vehicle. (rolled 72 Travel Top v8 4×4)
Here is where it can go a couple of different ways.
You find another Scout that just needs X and since you have X from your parts Scout you buy it.
Or you decide to branch out and end up getting one of the other IHs or one of the other styles of Scouts. (For me Travelall)
Repeat
Next thing you know a guy has 4,5 or more runners/projects and some parts rigs or have parted out some and have a stash of parts. Selling a truck is usually out of the question, but dipping into your parts stash for your fellow addicts is commonly done.
The last Scout dealer in Houston I am aware of was located on Interstate 45 North between Beltway 8 (Sam Houston Tollway) and FM 1960. This was in the late ’70s to early ’80s. The dealership also sold Buicks, which were the majority of its sales I’m sure, and Peugeots.
My father is a car NUT. He always drove GM, primarily Pontiac but with the occasional Buick and once a Cadillac for variety I guess. When the first oil embargo hit he traded my mother’s 1965 Skylark for a Volvo 144. Even so, as was his habit, he was already looking for his “next” automotive purchase. We stopped by the Buick/Scout/Peugeot dealership one day to test drive the new Peugeot 505. Dad was enthralled by the supple ride and comfort of the seats but much less impressed with the car’s acceleration and so-so air conditioning – this was Houston after all.
While he was occupied with the offering from France (and I wondered why he ignored the perfectly acceptable Deuce-and-a-quarter sitting next to it) I spotted a Scout on the veranda. Apparently trucks weren’t allowed in the showroom in those days! The expanded metal grille had given way to a molded plastic piece which looked like the same stuff Samsonite luggage was made from and under the hood was a Nissan 6-cylinder diesel. Flashy graphics on the fenders and doors and sporty cloth bucket seats made the thing seem almost civil. Alas, I certainly could not afford any new car with my part-time minimum wage job (I was a junior in high school at the time).
A few months later though I did find a sweet 1970 K-5 Blazer (cheap, reliable, already beat up enough to have some fun with). It was 2-wheel drive which I learned later was on of only about 900 produced that year. It had a 307 with 3-on-the-tree and was a blast for me and my friends to take to the beach. One doesn’t really need 4-wheel drive on the Texas coastal plain unless you want to undertake the expensive hobby of mudding for which the Scout would have been an excellent vehicle.
My father was an International Harvester guy, so it figured that he would buy a Scout, especially since he’d already worn out a 1964 900 pickup that had the same power train. It was a 1970 model in deep metallic purplish red with a white top, and iirc the option list consisted of the radio. It turned out to be a pretty useful vehicle for him for hauling tools, gas cans, paperwork etc. among the various construction jobs he always had going.
He had a real adventure with it after he retired in the late 1970s; he went prospecting in Alaska, finding a claim that was way off in the boonies and required fording a river to get to. He rented a TD-24 bulldozer (IH of course) and used that to work the claim. It was bear country, and he found that the way to store food was to keep it in a metal garbage can, put the can in a hole, and park the TD-24 on top of it. I think he did lose a bit of weight that summer….
When the time came to return the dozer, he parked the Scout on the garbage can instead, and rigged a trip wire so that the horn would blow if the Scout were pushed around during the night. Yes, the wire did get tripped a couple of times.
The next summer he flew to Alaska to do his prospecting, and I got to use the Scout. I found out that it was a terrible vehicle to drive on the highways but an excellent one for dirt roads, brush roads, or no roads. On the highway it seemed that everything in or on the Scout buzzed, shook, or rattled. If I drove with the window open the wind would try to tear my left ear off at any speed over about 30 mph. I have no idea how Pop could stand driving that thing clear to Fairbanks and back the summer before. I suspect that his being quite hard of hearing helped.
In the woods it was great. It was narrow enough to fit between trees where half-ton pickups couldn’t go. The ignition system was water-resistant so that I could plow through puddles without the engine cutting out. Yes, there are often puddles in the western Washington woods in the summer. I didn’t do any rock climbing with it, and found that on most woods trails in this area it wasn’t necessary to use 4-wheel-drive. I did get a scare once when the oil pressure gauge reading dropped to zero. There were no unfriendly noises from the 4-banger though, so I stopped, opened the hood, and found that a long twig had come up into the engine compartment and pulled the wire off the sensor.
At the end of the summer I washed the summer’s dust and dirt off the Scout, and detailed the interior in preparation for returning it to my father. In a little box of papers and stuff between the seats I found a half-full container of blasting caps that had been riding with me all summer.
Pop kept the Scout for several years after that, and when he finally sold it some patches of rust were beginning to show – not bad, I thought, for an over ten-year-old vehicle that had never once been parked inside.
I’ve never driven or ridden in a Scout, but I did have some unpleasant, and pleasant memories of one. I was driving West down Tropicana, near the airport in Vegas. I was in my ’77 Power Wagon, and ahead of me was a guy in an old red Scout. He decided to toss his cigarette and somehow, it ended up going right into my left hand that was up grabbing the top of the door frame. It burned the crap out of my hand, and when I jerked my hand away the cig went into my shirt under the collar, burning me on a couple more places. After I finally got the cig out of my shirt, I was pretty pissed off, to put it mildly. I had just returned from going to Pahrump, where the local fire department was selling fireworks as a fund raising effort. I had a couple of gross’ of Cherry Bombs on the seat next to me. I took out a string (6) of them, and decided to make the Scout driver jump as much as I did. As I caught up with the Scout, I pushed the lighter in and got ready. I lit the fuse and dropped the string in the rear of the scout and then dropped back. POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! It was getting dark and the flashes lit the whole Scout up like daylight. The Scout driver twitched every time one went off, but he kept it pretty straight. After they all went off he looked around to see who had done it. I don’t know how he didn’t know it was me, the truck was bright yellow and loud as hell, but he didn’t seem to know at all. If I hadn’t been hurting so bad, I would have cracked up laughing. But it was still very satisfying. Hey, I was like 23 years old.
Just purchased Scout 80 4×4, complete original, with snow plow, minimal rust, built in Chatham plant using slider windows early 62. I love her as much as any of my binders. Probably gonna go get my ’62 C99 home to keep them together. Will try to get the Web site up with some photos. Somewhere around the farm I try to care for 75 Travelall 392 4×4, 55 R185 RD372, 51 L205 RD450, KB2, … also cruise the dirt roads with my 49 REO speedwagon that R Crowe drove in “For The Moment” a WW2 setting, and soon will be challenging land speed records with my new 1943 CMP Chev C60 4×4 142″ wb, with 844cid Buda powered Sicard plow. I plan to use the heavier trucks to move my old IH crawlers around. Got a few farm tractors but always lookin for a good corn binder.
Anyone else want to add to this very interesting topic, old scouts?
I remember as a kid, our family visiting a friend in New Mexico who had an early 60s Scout. He took us for a ride in it off road and it was fun. I think I’ll print out that coupon above and send it to International. The vent windows looks similar to ones on early VW buses.Same with the small rear window.
Back in the mid-1960’s, the Border Patrol had a fleet of these things down south of San Diego, painted a pale powder greenish grey, with the full roof. They were sort of a signature vehicle around here, just like the Plymouth Fury police cars were, a few years later.
I came across what I think is a mid-70’s version a few years back (more in Cohort). I didn’t realize it had such a long history.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/124897762@N02/33713939181/in/dateposted-public/
Dad bought a white Scout as a second car circa 1964. I remember the vacuum wipers and the fold down windshield. It was 2 wheel drive with a 3 on the tree. When Dad needed parts, he had to go to the IH dealer down on the Tacoma tideflats. It was traded in on Mom’s new ’68 Charger in Fall of 1968 and replaced by a ’64 Dodge pickup, which I learned to drive. Part of the Scout lived on in the Dodge pickup: the wiper switch always had the gray “L” knob from the old Scout.
It’s coming back!