The International Scout was an off-road vehicle built by International Harvester from 1961 to 1980. Created as a competitor for the Jeep CJ, it was the forerunner of more sophisticated SUVs such as the Ford Bronco, the Chevrolet Blazer and the later Jeep Cherokee, and 532,674 were made.
International Scout at a glance
| Maker | International Harvester, Fort Wayne, Indiana |
|---|---|
| Production | 1961–1980 |
| Class | off-road vehicle and light utility truck |
| Rival | Jeep CJ |
| Body styles | open two-door, station wagon, half-cab pickup, soft-top |
| Scout 80 | 1960–1965, the original model |
| Scout 800 | 1966–1971, same design with upgrades |
| Scout II | 1971–1980, 100-inch wheelbase |
| Scout II Terra | 1976–1980 pickup, 118-inch wheelbase |
| Scout II Traveler | 1976–1980 wagon, 118-inch wheelbase |
| Super Scout II | 1977–1979, fabric doors and soft top |
| Total built | 532,674 in twenty years |
Written from the English Wikipedia article on the Scout, a single source.
History of the International Scout
International Harvester had been building trucks since 1907 and had sold the truck-based Travelall since 1953, but in the late 1950s it began work on a rival to the two-door Jeep CJ. The task was open-ended. Ted Ornas, the company’s chief designer, later recalled that the engineering manager simply asked the team to “design something to replace the horse”. Early flat-sided sketches did not impress the executive committee and the project nearly died; the design that saved it was a rough sketch with contoured sides, made at Ornas’s kitchen table.
The contoured shape was intended for plastic bodywork, and a programme with Goodyear produced a vacuum-formed scale model that won approval. When Goodyear’s costing in July 1959 came back too high, the plastic plan was cancelled — but the design had by then been approved, and it was converted to steel. A full-size clay model was completed by late July 1959 and approved that November. The whole development took 24 months, a remarkable achievement for a machine with no in-house engine or manufacturing line planned when the project started.
The Scout 80 went on sale for 1961 and was followed by the Scout 800 in 1966, which kept the same overall design but added electric wipers and newer engines. A small number of 1971 vehicles carried Scout 810 badging. The Scout II arrived in 1971 on a 100-inch wheelbase with a removable soft or hard top, and it became the mainstay of the range. In 1976 two long-wheelbase variants joined it: the Scout II Terra, a light pickup, and the Scout II Traveler, a wagon with a removable glassfibre hardtop and an optional third row of seats, both on a 118-inch wheelbase. From 1977 to 1979 the Super Scout II was sold with removable fabric doors, a roll bar and a soft top.
The basic sheet metal of the Scout II stayed unchanged until production stopped on 21 October 1980. In the 1970s the marketing made the most of the vehicle’s character with the line “International Scout: Anything less is just a car.” The Scout was introduced as a commercial utility pickup in 1960, but it set the stage for the four-wheel-drive recreational vehicles of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, and when it went out of production International Harvester’s road vehicles were reduced to medium and heavy commercial trucks.
Design and features
- Jeep rival: designed from the start to take on the Jeep CJ in the small four-wheel-drive market.
- One base, many bodies: open two-door, wagon, half-cab pickup or soft-top.
- Contoured body: the design that survived the cancelled plastic programme.
- Scout II: a 100-inch wheelbase with a removable top.
- Long-wheelbase pair: the Terra pickup and Traveler wagon from 1976.
International Scout versions
- Scout 80 (1960–1965): the original model.
- Scout 800 (1966–1971): same design, electric wipers and newer engines.
- Scout II (1971–1980): the main later model.
- Scout II Terra and Traveler (1976–1980): pickup and wagon on a 118-inch wheelbase.
- Super Scout II (1977–1979): open version with fabric doors and a soft top.
The Scout shared its market with the Travelall, the truck-based wagon that came before it, and its engines and mechanicals later went into the Metro Mite van. More vehicles are in the collection.
Video: 1978 International Harvester Scout II
Video by migerard24 on YouTube.
Sources
- International Scout, English Wikipedia: development, models, production, end of the line
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