Share memories of your original old Scouts

73 Scout II · Oct 27, 2024

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 · Oct 28, 2024

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 · Oct 28, 2024

I miss my Scout!

OleScout · Oct 28, 2024

Work in progress

78 Scout II · Oct 29, 2024

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 · Oct 29, 2024

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 · Oct 29, 2024

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.

1966sportop · Oct 31, 2024

I bought my scout my freshman year of college (1994). And have been wheeling and modifying landshark for 30 years.

Callsign_DISCO · Nov 1, 2024

The only pics of either of my Scout II's that I can find, my '77 that ended as an SSII clone with soft top. 345 auto on I think 32's.

Ehninger1212 · Nov 3, 2024

I'v never had the pleasure of owning one either, but I have always been a fan. An old boss of mine, whom I was very close with and passed away a few years ago, got his early mechanic career started at an International Harvester dealer in the north east.

He always had awesome stories regarding his Scout 800 with 196 4 cylinder and how much he loved working on those trucks. He was one of the individuals who would've been out a job when the business was shuttered.

I hope owning one of these new Gen trucks works out for me, I am tempted to take that money and buy one of the classics though

vMikeE · Nov 5, 2024

I don't remember exactly how old I was, maybe 7 or 8, but I vividly remember my first trip to Moab in dad's Scout II. We ran Lion's Back and I recall dad asking his buddy where they turned around and him being shocked at the small space to do that maneuver. It was also over April Fool's and my mom totally punked my dad by pouring some water under the Scout and telling him that something was leaking under the vehicle, scared the hell out of him! I think that was while we were running Elephant Butte.

It was an awesome trip and really instilled a love of off-roading and just being outside. That Scout has a permanent home in my heart! My kids are grown now, but I'm hoping to bring my grandson out in the new Scout and give him the same kind of awesome memories!

Scout3 · Nov 5, 2024

vMikeE said:
It was also over April Fool's and my mom totally punked my dad by pouring some water under the Scout and telling him that something was leaking under the vehicle, scared the hell out of him!

Oh, that is brutal!!

Scout3 · Nov 5, 2024

So we had two Scouts when I as a kid. A 78 that we traded for a 79 with LSD and 345V8. The 79 spent most of its time in the Neches River bottom in Cherokee County Texas, where I grew up. My Dad got me hooked on off-roading in that thing, mostly mudding at the time, because that is what we were dealing with at our hunting lease. That is how I learned to fix things, because mud destroys everything. The 79 became my first vehicle when I turned 16. We put a SOA and 33x12.50s on it. For some reason the D44 could not handle what we put it through, so we put a 9" from a Bronco under there. That axle was bullet proof. I found a couple of pics yesterday...covered in mud of course.

73 Scout II · Nov 8, 2024

1966sportop said:
I bought my scout my freshman year of college (1994). And have been wheeling and modifying landshark for 30 years.

Sweet rig and setup!

73 Scout II · Nov 8, 2024

Scout3 said:
So we had two Scouts when I as a kid. A 78 that we traded for a 79 with LSD and 345V8. The 79 spent most of its time in the Neches River bottom in Cherokee County Texas, where I grew up. My Dad got me hooked on off-roading in that thing, mostly mudding at the time, because that is what we were dealing with at our hunting lease. That is how I learned to fix things, because mud destroys everything. The 79 became my first vehicle when I turned 16. We put a SOA and 33x12.50s on it. For some reason the D44 could not handle what we put it through, so we put a 9" from a Bronco under there. That axle was bullet proof. I found a couple of pics yesterday...covered in mud of course.

Mudding is fun and all but as you know it comes with a price! Mostly rock and dry dirt wheeling out here in So Cal.

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