Tell us your memories of your old Scouts

[73 Scout II]

I was 5 years old when my dad rolled up in a brand new 73 Scout II with a straight 6 and 4 speed manual transmission. The memories we made with that vehicle. From road trips from So Cal all the way up the coast into Canada, trips to Colorado and down into Mexico. I got the keys to drive it in high school and it taught me how to off road (and wrench on it). Two of my brothers built their own Scouts, stripped them down to the frame and made it their own. Looking forward to making some new memories in the Terra and Traveler!

 

[Probity]

I'm old-ish. Around 1971 (I forget exactly when) I lived in CA at the time and bought a very used early-60's IH Scout 80 with Travel Top (think it was a '63 or '64 but can't remember). It had been ridden hard and put up wet. But I was young, foolish, didn't know much about auto mechanicals in general, and met the description of "at the time it seemed like a good idea". Had it for about a year and sold it after needed repairs (new rear diff ring and pinion, brakes, heater core, carb, plugs/points/etc, "learn by doing!") made it sellable.

My memories are that it was the polar opposite of 'refined'. As bare-bones basic as you can imagine, incredibly noisy. It did have roll-up door windows (vs sliders), I remember that. Vacuum wipers (not a fan). The 4-banger in it (152 in3) was exactly 1/2 of a 304 in3 IH V8, strange.

An Autotrader Classics article says it best:

Make no mistake about it: Early Scouts are primitive. If you’ve never driven one, prepare for a trip back in time. There’s virtually no sound deadening, and sound reverberates through the steel box body and the three-speed-backed four-cylinder engine doesn’t make much power. These vehicles will not cruise happily down the freeway at 75 mph. In fact, they probably won’t hit 75 mph – not with the four-cylinder, anyway. The rudimentary suspension and four-wheel-drum brake systems are archaic, as well.

I did use it offroad a few times, the drive from SF Bay Area to Sierras was deafening and slow (yeah I don't remember ever getting above 70 mph). But at the time cost me under $1000 used so there's that...

 

[Circ]

I miss my Scout!

 

[OleScout]

Work in progress

 

[78 Scout II]

Some of the great scout things were taking the top off and being able to smoke the tires in third gear! Don’t miss the paper thin sheet metal and the expectation to flip over any slight angles or sharp corners.

 

[myscouttraveler]

Never had the pleasure of owning one or growing up around one, but really excited to be a 1st gen owner. I’ve been diving into the history of the brand ever since the EV models were announced. Love reading about the old Scouts.

 

[HughW]

College girlfriend drove a Scout II. Her father was an IH dealer in Iowa. She shifted the 3-speed manual tranny better than I could. Both the girl and her Scout were sweeties.