International Harvester began the design of a competitor for the 4x4 Jeep CJ. And the first Scout 80 was the 1961 model. Scout II is the most popular for offroad enthusiasts and one of the legends of the 4x4 Hall of fame. They where manufactured between 1971 and 1980.
A good Scout is getting hard to find as they have long since gone off the market, but they where considered strong and durable SUVs for the period. The design simple with clean lines.
I fabed everything in my dad's shop, bumpers front and rear w/swing out tire carrier, 10 point cage, rock-sliders, Sprung over and rotated for caster, custom tie-rod and draglink w/heim joints, custom air intake to turbo, K&N filters, synthetic lubes, custom exhaust out of turbo. 1/8" thick diamond plate floors, gas tank skid plate, 2" shackle lift, custom driveshafts, Trailmaster shocks w/steering stabilizer 4.88 gears front and rear, Lincoln locked front, Aussie locked rear.
This is a tale of three 1973 Scouts - Recently I was skittering through the Internet looking for some off-road activities when I blundererd into: 4x4OffRoads.com. - This is the start of an article that I just received from a friend in Canada. It was published in Old Autos - a Canadian newspaper.
There is nothing that can top the experiences one can have in the ol Intl Scout trucks and Travelalls. I grew up going camping and on muddy trails with 8-10" of sludge coming up to the door level. Never once did we get stuck in our 79 Intl Scout 2 SUV, plus if its sunny the hardtop is removeable.
