The International Harvester Scout is an off-road vehicle produced by International Harvester from 1961 to 1980. A precursor of more sophisticated SUVs to come, it was created as a competitor to the Jeep, and it initially featured a fold-down windshield. The Scout and second-generation Scout II were produced in Fort Wayne, Indiana, as two-door trucks with a removable hard top with options of a full-length roof, half-cab pickup, and/or soft top.
Scout II
Scout IIs were manufactured from April 1971 to 1980. The design was frozen much earlier, with a version nearly identical to the production model shown to management in December 1967.
The Scout II is most identifiable by its different front grilles. The 1971–1972 Scout IIs shared the same grille, three horizontal bars between the headlights and chrome rings around the headlights. The 1973 Scout IIs had 14 vertical bars between the headlights, a split in the middle, seven bars on each side surrounded by chrome trim pieces and an "International" model plate low on the left side. The 1974–75 Scout II grilles were the same as 1973, with the addition of a vertical bar trim overlay. The 1975 had chrome and black, square trim rings around the headlights; 1976 had the same headlight trim rings as 1975, and a chrome center grille of 15 horizontal bars split into three sections was used in this year only. The 1977–79 Scout IIs used the same grille between the same headlight bezels the new chrome grille had two large horizontal bars with three vertical support lines and the "International" nameplate moved up to the center of the grille on the left side.
In 1980, the final year of production for the Scout, the grille was a very distinctive design, available with black or silver, a one-piece grille with square headlights, made of ABS plastic. Both grille color options had imprinted chrome trim around the headlights and an "International" name located on the left side. Starting with late 1974 Scout IIs, disc and power brakes were standard features. Early 1974 models had disc brakes as a rarely selected option. A three-speed A727 automatic made by Chrysler was optional.
Scout II Terra and Traveler
The Terra and Traveler were produced from 1976 to 1980. Terras and Travelers had fiberglass tops; half top for the Terra or full top with hatchback-type liftgate on the Traveler. Most notably different, these models were extended by 18 in (46 cm) in the region between the door and the front of the rear wheel well.
Scout SSII (Softop Safari II)
The SSII (Super Scout II) was a stripped-down, off-road version introduced in February 1977.[6] It was intended to compete directly with the Jeep CJ, and was built until 1979. This model included a soft top with soft doors, Jeep-style mirrors, plastic door inserts, special plastic grille, and a roll bar, among other options. Several SSIIs were champions on the off-road racing circuit during the late 1970s.
Special packages offered on the Scout II
Shawnee Scout
The Shawnee Scout was to be a trim type and special-feature package model produced by Hurst Performance. This model was built by dressing up a black SSII with special tomahawk and feather decals, special seats, a black targa-style top, hard tonneau bed cover, and of course a Hurst shifter. Only three Shawnee Scouts were produced.
CVI: Custom Vehicles Incorporated
CVI: Custom Vehicles Incorporated (also associated with Good Times, Inc.) was a company located around the corner from the Ft. Wayne Scout Assembly Plant (Good Times was located in Arlington, Texas) that produced special models for IH dealers in 1979 and 1980. The special models were dressed-up Scouts with unique exterior decals and trim, center console coolers, and hood scoops. Some editions had plastic window louvers on the rear side glass, fender flares, and two different plastic tailgate inserts. Model names included the Midnitestar, Terrastar, Travelstar, Shadow, Raven, two Classic models, GMS (Green Machine Sport), GMS (Gold Medallion Scout), Hot Stuff, Trailstar, Sportstar, 5.6-Liter, and 3.2-Liter models.
The "Selective Edition" Scout II
This was a special package available from the factory. The 1978–79 package order code on the line ticket was 10992. The package included special gold accent stripes, gold-spoke wheels with Goodyear Tracker A-Ts, SSII black grille insert, and Sport Steering wheel. Other options available: Choice of powertrain, seats, interior, radios, cruise control, tow packages, air conditioning, all available in exterior colors 1032 Dark Brown, 6027 Dark Blue, 001 Black, or 5013 Green. This was available on the Travel Top, Traveler, and Terra models.
"Spirit of 76" and the "Patriot" special editions
For the US Bicentennial in 1976, IH produced the Spirit of 76 and the Patriot models. The Spirit of 76 had a special blue soft top and blue/red side applique, and was only available on the Scout II. The Spirit also had blue interior, racing-type steering wheel, and 15x7-inch chrome rally wheels. IH data only show 384 Spirit models ever being built. Line ticket codes included:
10876 for the side applique 18696 to omit the hard top 16928 deluxe interior 16872 blue interior color 9219 winter white exterior paint 885102 10-15 front tires 925102 10-15 rear tires with spare 29091 7-in chrome wheels
The Patriot had a hard top and the same blue/red side applique, but was available in a Scout II, Terra, or Traveler. Sales figures on the Patriot only show one Terra, seven Travelers, and 50+ Scout IIs were manufactured. However, another undetermined number of Patriots were built without line ticket code designations (the applique was applied at the Truck Sales Processing Center), making how many were actually built difficult to determine. Nevertheless, both models can be considered extremely rare.
The "Midas Edition" Scout II
From 1977 to 1980, IH contracted with Midas Van Conversion Co. of Elkhart, Indiana, to build special luxury models to be offered through its dealers. These vehicles had swivel bucket seats, shag carpet, color-keyed interiors, door panels, headliner, grille guards, dual sunroofs, overhead clocks, third seats, reading lights, tinted windows, fender flares, and special side appliques and paint designs. Models included the Family Cruiser (or just Cruiser), the Street Machine, and Off-Road Vehicle. Another company called Van American (Goshen, Indiana) offered similar options to compete with Midas; however, these vehicles were only offered for a short time, making them very rare today.
Final "Special" Version
Probably one the rarest models ever produced by IH was the 1980 RS: the Special Limited Edition RS Scout. This package was only available on the Traveler in Tahitian Red (metallic). It had special extras inside and out, including polycast wheels with Tahitian Red (metallic) accent, luxurious plush all-velour russet interior including headliner and visors, special pin striping, wood-grain trim instrument panel and shift console, chrome bumpers, tinted glass, and more. Two other special packages offered in 1980 were the 844 and 434 Gold Star models. The 844 offered standard equipment plus a 345 V-8, HD clutch, T428 four-speed manual transmission, 2.72 rear axle ratio, AM radio, rear seat, hub caps, special black side applique and paint on lower body, and black carpet, while the 434 offered standard equipment plus 4-196 engine, T332 three-speed transmission, 3:73 rear axle ratio, black vinyl interior, AM radio, rear seat, hub caps, special black side applique and paint on lower body, and black carpet.
The last International Scout rolled off the assembly line on October 21st 1980.
Source: Wikipedia
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