1980 International Scout II Traveler Turbodiesel: A Rare Survivor, Still With Its Original Nissan-Sourced Turbodiesel

I’d never been to this Cars and Coffee car gathering in Lafayette, barely ten minutes from home, partly because I didn’t know it existed and partly because it’s usually at 8 a.m. Sunday start. But a chance exchange of online comments with a fellow USS Hornet volunteer finally gave me the nudge I needed to go. Upon arrival in my ’91 Mazda, I spotted several classics in the terraced parking lot. Then, I noticed something even more intriguing: a 1980 International Scout II Traveler with its original Nissan-sourced turbodiesel engine. The turbodiesel was offered for just one model year, making this an especially interesting find—and a good excuse to dig into how rare these diesel Scout IIs really are.

If you’re not familiar with these turbodiesels, there’s a good reason: they were offered only in 1980, the final year of the Scout II, and not in huge numbers even then. Still, the Nissan-sourced engine has acquired a certain following among Scout enthusiasts. Even Paul has mused about them and even desired one back in the day. So finding a turbodiesel still in its original home is quite a treat.

First, perhaps we should talk about what we’re looking at. The Traveler was the long-wheelbase version of the Scout II, introduced in 1976. It was 184.2 inches long on a longer 118-inch wheelbase, versus 100 inches for the Scout II, with a removable full-length fiberglass top and a rear liftgate. It was sort of a replacement for the earlier four-door Travelall, and could be fitted with three-row seating.

International Harvester (IH) was the first domestic truck manufacturer to offer a diesel in this class, beginning in 1976. IH originally referred to the engine as the CN6-33, the designation used under a joint distribution venture between Nissan and Chrysler which dated back to 1969. These CN6-33 engines were painted yellow and carried “Chrysler Nissan” lettering on their valve covers. The collaboration ended in 1978, however, and the diesel remained available afterward, just no longer under the “Chrysler Nissan” designation.

rsz traveler 1980 010 — The SD33T, up close

Nissan called it the SD33, and it was also used in the Nissan Patrol and in forklift and marine applications. It was a 198 cid (3,245 cc) six, and the normally aspirated IH version originally had 92 hp and 137.5 lb-ft of torque. It was a very expensive option (Popular Science said over $2,200, and Kiplinger’s Changing Times had the 1977 price at $2,643), so it wasn’t sold in large numbers. Over four years, IH built 4,222 Scouts with the normally aspirated diesel.

rsz 516911543 10161708398573719 6942113977801440233 n — IH advertised the turbo engine very heavily. At the time, the only other turbodiesel in a U.S. light vehicle was from Mercedes-Benz.

The turbodiesel, or SD33T, was new for 1980, while the normally aspirated diesel was no longer offered. The turbocharged diesel was a one-year-only offering in the Scout II, again very expensive ($2,496), with an upgraded oil system, larger-diameter crankshaft arms, a bigger oil cooler, and new piston rings. It had 101 hp and 175 lb-ft of torque.

The 1979 non-turbo SD33 had gone down to 81 hp, so the SD33T offered an extra 20 hp. It was available only with a 4-speed manual transmission. Also, for 1980, all Scout IIs were 4×4.

Truck production numbers are usually hard to come by, or just plain iffy, and Scout IIs are no different. J. “Kelly” Flory’s book puts IH’s 1980 total year production at 30,091, which sounds high, while Super Scout Specialists places the figure at 13,106. Some sources claim the turbodiesel was ultra-rare (Hemmings says 390 built), while Glancy/Allen’s Scout Encyclopedia suggests otherwise: a 5,389 unit production figure for the 1980 calendar year, with an additional 571 built in calendar year 1979. So, that would be a 5,960 total out of however many 1980 Scout IIs. I found no breakdown of Traveler production for those years.

IH advertised the turbo engine very heavily, emphasizing the 100,000-mile/5-year engine warranty, and this was in the wake of the Iranian Revolution, causing gas and energy prices to be high. So, it wouldn’t necessarily be a surprise if a fair chunk of 1980 Scout II production had the turbodiesel despite its cost.

14706256038 00e2e96fb3 k — 1980 Traveler advertisement

1980 was the end of the line for the Scout II, as well as International’s light truck operation. IH’s production had been shut down completely for close to six months due to a UAW strike, and after it was over in April 1980, the company decided to step away from the SUV/pickup market, shutting down the factory for good in late October. They’d had some plans for a Scout redesign for better emissions and gas mileage, but after their considerable money losses in 1980, they decided there was no future in it. Automotive News reported in November 1980 that “A deal to sell the Scout to a group of Texas investors fell through” before the factory was shut down in late October.

So, today’s Traveler is one of the end of the line, until the more recent Scout EVs.

While the original production figures are impossible to sort out, we can assume that IH’s 1980 Scout II turbodiesel crop was, at best, in the four-figure territory. Even fewer; Travelers originally so equipped.

Being a rare survivor, I wandered over to check out the Traveler’s interior and take a few pictures of this early active lifestyle vehicle. Around then, I met the owner, Richard, who was wearing a Moto Guzzi T-shirt. Naturally, I asked how long he’d had the Traveler. Six years, he told me, having found it on eBay in Southern California.

rsz 524608482 30382404064736137 5711391363683568899 n — Yes, this is what he claimed he drove back. A 1947 Swiss Post bus.

As we chatted, I learned that he was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 1955, and emigrated to the United States in 1986. The owner then shared a rather memorable bit of his earlier life: he and three friends had driven a 1961 VW Kombi all the way from Northern Ireland to India. It was, apparently, a rather cozy trip, to put it mildly. A year later, he made the return journey from Kathmandu to Ireland, this time as a hired bus driver.

Back to the Traveler. Making my way forward, I noticed the very flat front windshield; another sign this SUV comes from a very different era.

The wheels and tires that put that turbodiesel power, if you will, to the ground.

And one photo outside the Cars and Coffee gathering. As you can see, the Traveler has non-original headlights and top. As for the former, Richard still has the originals, but considered them too dim for nighttime driving, so he replaced them. The original fiberglass hardtop had a less fortunate fate: the previous owner hadn’t secured it properly, and it flew off while the vehicle was being driven, bringing its life to an abrupt end. Richard made his own soft top to replace it, and here it is fully raised. It may not be original, but it still suits the active lifestyle the Scout II Traveler promised from the beginning.

Note: With thanks to Aaron Severson for additional notes for this post.