1980 was the final year for the Scout. The rapid run up in gas prices and the economic recession were the coffin nails in its twenty-year life. Not bad, considering how relatively modest the changes were, mainly in its major 1971 refresh that added the “II” to its name.
This shot has a decidedly 1980’s vibe to it, as the owners are proto Yuppies. The odds of them living in a nice house like that in 1980 and having bought a Scout seems a bit remote, but then this is what ads and PR shots are all about. The Scout was always trying to enhance its image, from the rough riding and gnarly off-roader it started out to be, and never really stopped being.
But then I was just starting out on Yuppiehood in about 1979 or so when I really craved one of these with the Nissan diesel six. It was during my diesel crush era, which was never consummated. But then it wouldn’t really have been ideal for Stephanie to haul the kids around in on the freeways of Los Angeles. The Jeep Cherokee we bought in 1984 was much more suitable. But a guy can dream…
Here’s a couple of more 1980 Scout ads:
The Traveler was an extended wheelbase Scout that arrived in 1976. It was obviously a reaction to the huge popularity of the full-size Chevrolet Blazer. It was not a very common sight.
The Terra was a pickup version of the extended wheelbase Traveler. These were really quite rare. It’s an interesting package for the right situation, but the popularity of full size pickups and mini-pickups didn’t leave a lot of viable room in between. If I had lived on a ranch back then, it would have appealed to me. A handy in-between size and a tough truck.
I can’t find a 1980 brochure just now, but engines during these later years were the 196 IH Four, 232 and 258 AMC sixes, and 304 and 345 IH V8s. The 1980’s might have had a more restricted availability of choices. And the Nissan diesel, which also came in a turbo version late in 1979 and in 1980. That was the one to have, but not cheap, as I remember.
My CC on the original Scout 800 is here
We don’t have a full CC on the Scout II, but here’s on on the Terra by JPC
I wonder if the “brick” drive was installed just for the ad.
The perm and muscles do not say East Coast Yuppie to me.
It was the IH ad execs’ idea of what an East Coast yuppie looked like, but they were headquartered in Chicago and came from all over the Midwest.
I’ve always been a fan of the Scout. Never saw one with the rectangular headlights. I actually didn’t even know there was a pickup version, or that there was an extended Traveler version, despite there being a decent number of Scouts around CO in the 80’s and 90’s…so thanks for the education!
A few months ago I passed what I assumed at the time was a “real” International pickup in traffic. Looking back now I wonder if it was actually a Scout Terra, since I didn’t know Scout pickups existed until now either.
The Scout and the 1970s had been made for each other. The Scout and the 1980s were definitely not. Actually, it might have done OK had it been able to make it through the terrible years of 1980-83, but there was no way that was happening, for all kinds of reasons.
The Terra and Traveler were also half-assed attempts to replace the “real” International pickup and the Travelall that went away after 1975.
They made a Cherokee diesel…
I recall these were starting to feel quite dated by 1980, despite the new square headlamps. IH did have a Scout III prototype, but the money wasn’t there to develop it or maybe they just didn’t have confidence in it. In 1980 the economy was hurting and nearly everyone was predicting gasoline would be expensive. Hard to blame International for thinking the future for SUVs and pickups was bleak (whoops!). But in actuality, the future for this type of SUV really was bleak. Less trucklike four door family SUVs were where the market was about to go, as presaged by the Jeep Cherokee in 1984.
It’s probably for the best the Scout III prototype didn’t get far; in my opinion it was a horrid-looking mash of old Scout II cues and terrible 1980’s ideas.
There were no Scout III prototypes only a styling clay. Those prototypes that made the rounds, one of which is in the Auburn Cord Museum was the Scout SSV. Below is the SIII clay.
And the front view.
And the SSV that is in the Auburn-Cord Museum.
A You Tube channel ‘Vice Grip garage’ has a recent video series where a ’79 or ’80 Scout with the diesel and manual transmission is purchased and dragged out of the weeds after sitting unused for 15 or20 years,then driven 600 miles back to the purchaser’s home.
IH in 1980 was only a couple years away from divestment and dissolution. First to go was Construction Equipment, then the Agricultural Division was sold to Case/Tenneco, and what was left was trucks which had to change its’ name to Navistar because the International name went with the Ag division. Recently Navistar was acquired by VW thru some 3rd party odd arrangement.
No time/money/manpower available for the Scout, or the pickup trucks for that manner. IH in the 70s was in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. 50 years of paying dividends and not investing in the company had finally born fruit.
Part of that divestment was also that IH had to sell its 37.5% shareholding in DAF, back in 1983.
In hindsight, neither of the companies benefited from their 1972-1983 relationship. IH saw DAF as a stepping stone to the European trucking market, whereas DAF saw an entry to the US market. In the end, nothing happened and the relationship has always been quarrelsome.
Fast forward to present times, DAF Trucks becoming part of the Paccar family worked out much better, mildly put.
Yes, I recall that from maybe 1974-75 on, IH always seemed to be on the ropes – this coming from living in Fort Wayne where IH had a plant that built both Scouts and the big trucks. There always seemed to be people on layoff – in fact, we had a family friend who was single and was happy to accept the really high percentage of his paycheck for not working, and would trade with less senior guys with families for the layoffs. He never seemed to work at all after around 1975 or so. I forget when news came out that IH was going to have to choose between Fort Wayne and Springfield, Ohio, but I remember that we lost and that old plant was shut down by 1983.
Scotty Kilmer would tell those car washers to use Nu Finish.
A rare turbodiesel Scout was my concept of an ideal vehicle for quite a long time. The
couple I looked at in person were so completely dissolved that even the blinders of desire
could not make them acceptable.
The only scout I ever had occasion to spend time with up close (never rode in it, but it was always in the driveway) was a 1978 Scout II Automatic in the driveway of a house just as nice as that in Greenwich CT. Besides serving as transportation for my friend’s older sister when she would come out to Connecticut on the weekends from NYC, it also served to get the family to their Nantucket house way out on a point accessed by sand roads.
The sad thing is that the car wash picture is illustrating when rust started forming on these, it was the first time that they got wet. They were notorious for rust. I liked the final restyle with the square headlights.
I thought IH was using galvanized steel on them by 1980. (?)
This looks like the best 1980 catalog in eBay, with many of the pages shown, though photographed pretty casually. But maybe you can see the info you want (there’s also a 1980 Dutch brochure, of all things): https://www.ebay.com/itm/164922725451?hash=item266629144b:g:QvQAAOSwMdpgvjzg
A friend had a 1976 Traveller with all the parts to convert from SUV (nobody used that term then, at least outside the industry) to pickup. That was not an easy job. But it was a practical vehicle, decent highway and power with the 345, I think, and quite capable off-road. I spent quite a bit of time in both the passenger seat and behind the wheel.
I’ve heard rumors that all 1980 Scouts built for stock had the Nissan diesel engine unless a customer special-ordered otherwise since IH had a contracted to buy a certain number and a limited time to use them up before new regulations would’ve required further investment for a 1981 model.
The diesel would have been fine for 1981 and in fact that was one of the proposals to continue production, make it an all diesel line up and possibly add the SD22 (4cyl) to supplement the SD33. Some Perkins diesels were also tested.
I remember hearing the same thing. Apparently a large percentage of the 1980 models were diesel.
I had opportunity to catch a ride back to town after my Datsun pickup broke, in a 1980 Turbodiesel, which was equipped with the same wheels as the one in the top photo, and was a burnt orange color. The guy was just coming down his driveway to the main road as I was setting off on foot on a rather cold afternoon. He looked to be “backwoods affluent”, having a nice home on Foys Canyon Road in Kalispell, MT.
I don’t remember it being too bad of a ride, nor as agricultural as its collection of parts might suggest. Owner was quite attached to it, so no chance of pinching it for my own. I did see this Scout around town on occasion; was the only diesel variant I’ve ever encountered.
I like how the entire driveway is wetted down in the first shot.
Although they didn’t make Scouts here, Hamilton was an IH town and I used to see quite a few.
The plant was in Burlington on the eponymous Harvester Road, was it not?
It was in Hamilton, but just off Burlington street at Sherman Ave. My mother worked in the office block in the 50’s and I did some work there during my welder’s helper days in the 80’s, although it was Case by then.
It seems it was the IH parts depot for which Harvester Rd. was named. It appears to have been active until 2014.
I believe there is an annual Scout rendezvous in the Colorado Rockies.
A friend’s 1980 Scout was the first vehicle I piloted at the tender age of 15. Here in Iowa these are still semi-common.
My town has an outfit called Anything Scout and they do parts sales, service and build their own line of Scout restomods that cost well past a new truck. Business is booming.
There is a great book available on the Scout, ‘The International Scout Encyclopedia’ by Jim Allen and John Glancy.
I have fond memories of these as my Scoutmaster had a 73? Scout II. I didn’t often ride in it (my dad was an assistant so he usually drove), but that Scout was the background for some epic trips.
Production shut-down must’ve been less than ideal… there was a lot of new surplus Scout stuff around. Probably ran out of some major component, or time, first.
Funny you post this, Paul; this weekend is actually the IH Nationals meet in Troy, OH. I’m currently waiting for my brake guy to call me and tell me the fronts on my Scout are buttoned up so I can pack it up and head West.
Some shots from the 2019 show: https://www.flickr.com/photos/idiotking/albums/72157710426024126
At first glance on my smaller monitor, I thought both people in the first ad were women. But 1980 would have been too early for that.
I was thrown off by the daisy dukes and perm; however, the muscles confirm it’s a guy on the right.
One thing I find odd about the Scout is that the model was never equipped with 3-point lap-and-shoulder belts: Even the final-year 1980 models had lap belts only in the front seats. And since they had a removable roof without any kind of roll cage from the factory, there’s no way IH could have added lap-and-shoulder belts to the model without a complete redesign of the body. One of many reasons they ended production, no doubt.
I’m not entirely sure exactly when 3-point belts became mandated for light trucks in the US, although the Big 3 had added them to full-size pickups by 1976. Convertible SUVs may have initially had a variance granted, since the Jeep CJ (like the Scout) got away with having only lap belts until 1981 or 1982.
Another odd thing about the final-year Scouts was that they had an extended production run. I’ve seen 1980 models with manufacture dates as late as October 1980…International’s heavier-duty line was well into its 1981 model year by then.
“Another odd thing about the final-year Scouts was that they had an extended production run. I’ve seen 1980 models with manufacture dates as late as October 1980…International’s heavier-duty line was well into its 1981 model year by then.”
There was a surge in orders once it was known it was the final year so yeah they just kept making them until they had filled the last order.
I’m not sure of exact dates on all of it, but I do know that heavier GVWR class vehicles had different seatbelt and other safety standards, as well as different emissions requirements. Like, my 1975 GMC “3/4 ton” has only lap belts, no seatbelt warning light or buzzard, and no catalytic converter. That was applicable to vehicles with a 6000lb or higher GVWR… Typical “1/2 ton” trucks of the same year had shoulder harnesses, the warning system, and cats. I wonder if IH squeezed the Scout through regulations such as this, or if it was exempt due to the type of vehicle it was?
IH used the GVW loophole for the Scout and the “1/2” ton pickups and Travelalls starting in 1975. The Scout became the Scout XLC for Extra Load Capacity and it got 3100lb springs front and rear for a 6200 GVW and the Pickup/Travelall went from being a 100 into a 150 and again the base GVW went up to 6200. The original purpose was to avoid the Cat, but they took full advantage of it.
I miss my uncle’s Scout 800A. 304, 3 speed (I pleaded with him to get the 4 speed). 4 wheel drive. I learned to drive a stick in his. Loved the sound of that engine at idle and cruising.
I remember driving a couple of these as underground mine trucks in the early 80s in the NWT. Tough enough. Had a big choke handle to turn them off. The diesel was incredibly gutless and these were far more primitive than the BJ42 Landcruisers that replaced them, let alone the BJ/PJ/HJ Cruisers that came after.