Scout Law Rules
Of all of the underrated, overlooked and generally undervalued cars out there, there’s one that really sticks in my craw. I’m talking to you Bronco fanatics, FJ followers and especially the Jeep freaks. It’s this:
Top and lower photo courtesy of International Harvester.
And no, that’s not an early ‘90s Bronco, a highly modified new FJ or a F150 kit. It’s the International Scout and based on what I’m seeing on the streets of Los Angeles, this groundbreaking vehicle is finally starting to get its due.
Originally designed in the late 1950s to compete with the Jeep CJ 4x4 (the civilian version of the Willys), the International Scout was released in 1960. At the time, International Harvester had been in the truck/pickup game since 1907. So they knew a thing or two about making indestructible vehicles. And although civilian Jeep sales weren’t exactly soaring, some smartypants at International observed that soldiers were now home with newly acquired off-roading skills and were driving Jeeps over rough terrain for fun. Perhaps more Americans would grow to appreciate this trend and want to drive off road too!
So they told their designers to “draw something to replace the horse.” Not exactly our modern motivation for 4 wheeling, but hey, this was 65 years ago and they had no Netflix. Anyway, by the end of 1958, they had some beautiful drawings and a design that was based on this new modern thing called plastic tooling. But, when production quotes finally came back on the plastic Souct, International Harvester went with their Plan B—they made it out of steel.
But the original plastic idea explains a bit of the rounded corners, subtle edges and bubble-like awesomeness that makes the Scout so unique. There’s something really cool about a rugged, tough vehicle that looks slightly cartoon-like.
The Scout was also innovative under the hood. The first generation Scout 80 had a standard 4 cylinder, gas-powered engine. Then, International Harvest found themselves up a creek because they weren’t exactly ready to produce all of these 4 cylinder engines. So they did what any smart, bold American company would do—they cut their V8s in half, leaving a small, tilted inline engine with lots of torque and plenty of cooling (enough for a V8). Thus the Scouts were fast and got great mileage, a reported 20 mpg/30 mpg highway. In 1976, the Scout broke ground again by providing an available Nissan SD33 diesel engine as an option, a very early adopter to this concept (no VW jokes, please).
These days, I’ve been seeing more and more Scouts getting a bit of love. I see everything from the homegrown convertible alternative...
to the murdered out hipster-mobile...
I even have a friend who has just done a top to bottom resto that’s damn near perfection.
As a Scout enthusiast, however, I feel torn by this trend. While I really love that people are starting to collect and drive them again, I worry that it will drive up the price leaving me Scoutless and saving my pennies for somebody’s undiscovered gem. But this sure is better than watching them rust away. Bring on the Scouts!!
