With the reintroduction of the Ford Bronco – good or bad – it would be fun to see what a modern interpretation of the Scout would look like now. They’re both pretty hot sellers right now, at least first-gen Broncos and Scouts like this 1979 International Scout II. The seller has this one listed here on eBay in Berthoud, Colorado and the bid price is just over $7,100 with no reserve.
Some of you may think that it’s pretty lame to ask so many questions, but I think it’s really interesting to see how many Barn Finds readers have owned vehicles that we show here. I know that a lot of you have owned the first-generation Bronco, but how many have owned an I-H Scout? I would guess that it’s not as many as those of you who have owned Broncos and it has absolutely nothing to do with this Scout, I was just curious. I have never owned either but have had a Ramcharger which was bigger than either the Scout or original Bronco. Ok, wow, all that on no coffee today! Sorry, let’s get back to this orange 4×4.
This is one rugged vehicle, and I’m not talking about the rust which is also a bit rugged. Here’s a poll, how many of you have owned a rusty vehicle? Ha, sorry, just kidding. No more polls. The Scout II came out in the spring of 1971 and I-H basically pulled out of the light truck market in 1980 which is a crying shame. The next owner will be testing their welding skills on this Scout. To make things seem a little less daunting, Hagerty is at $14,000 for a #4 fair condition Scout II and $32,900 for a #3 good condition vehicle. That’ll buy a lot of welding supplies.
The seller has loaded a lot of photos of the different areas of this Scout but they don’t show any underside photos. They do peel back the carpet, or flooring, a little bit and it shows some rust-through there which hopefully isn’t that bad to repair. The sills are pretty thin, to say the least, and there will most likely be other rust repairs in areas not shown in the photos. This one would be too much work for me, rust is beyond my threshold of things to do in my relatively old age. The back seat looks good as does the rear cargo area.
A Scout with air-conditioning is pretty fun in my world, although I’m guessing that it hasn’t worked in a while. The engine is International’s 345 cubic-inch V8 which would have had around 168 horsepower – not that much for an air-conditioned 4×4, but this was 1980. They give a pretty long list of things that need work and the most daunting to me would be the possible title issues and the missing key. Check out the photos and let us know if you’d take on this Scout II project.
Though they were great off-road vehicles, Scouts tended to rust out early regardless of which version. That’s why the remainders that you find, like this one, are complete rust buckets.
80 & 800 were Y I bought my ’77 bronk in ’82. Wanted the IH but the current law was: ‘Only gota make replacement prts 7 yr after folding’ & this co had just gone bankrupt (sm/lght vehicles). Chose the ford instead. Today I question the choice but love My engine (ThriftPower – well, all i6).
Today the Scout has yet to catch up (resell value) but they still beckon. Don’t remember the lrg white side treatment. Do remember the 4, 5 door stripes. However, lots of small ‘specialty runs” back then so may have missed this or forgotten it. The top does come off (no windshield drop), good sz motor (5.65), might take a 33 inch tire for off rd…still like 80 & 800 better…
I had a Scout model same color as a kid.
My dad had a ’79 Scout in green with a lot less rust than this; of course that was 25 years ago. His was a 4 banger with a stick that required my brother and I getting up early to push start him when it was cold. I really liked it though.
I’m terrified of what is (or isn’t) under the vinyl and carpet in the back-and the potential buyer should too. I wouldn’t drop a dollar on this until I saw the sheetmetal underneath; all it did was trap moisture.
For Colorado this one is pretty crispy.
I have owned both a ’65 Scout 80 and a ’69 Scout 800A. Both were great utility vehicles that were a blast to drive and both were still mechanically sound but rust compromised when I took them out of service. The ’65 went to a gas station owner for use as a snow plow vehicle and the ’69 became a donor vehicle for a frame-off resto project. IMO the original Bronco was an inferior knock-off of the Scout 80. The Scout II was a good vehicle for the marketplace of its time, but lost many of the utilitarian features of the 80 and 800 vehicles.
I’d like to find another 80 or 800 survivor as a project, but here in Minnesota they tend to be either total rust buckets that would be difficult to bring back to safety/practicality or pristine full restos that are too costly to acquire as a daily driver.
I used to have an IH Scout II.I don’t remember the year but I want to say 1975. It was pretty much the same color and had the same rusted out areas in front of the rear wheels. It had A/C (that didn’t work back then) and it had the 345 V8. Mine had the standard transmission. I sure had a lot of fun with that thing.
This one has had paint and body work already. The Rallye stripes aren’t original or totally correct. Love the wheels and not the worst one I’ve ever seen. Not sagging at the door jamb yet. Be ready to take the body off and bring stuff to cut and weld with. And your wallet. The money seems awfully high for what it’ll need.
My wife & I have owned 5 Scouts. All rust free for the most part. (last one had a little at bottom of rear hatch. One had a 350 Chevy. Regret selling them now.
All California vehicles. Got last one from original owner with all paperwork including build sheet. Was 345 with 727 trans. Sold to local person & haven’t seen it since?
I had a 72 Scout 345 V8, Automatic, A/C, baby blue with a blue interior, full console between the front seats. It was a solid daily driver. Off road it had zero flex. It had auto locking hubs which was interesting.
Auction update: this one sold for $7,350 and then was relisted and then a best offer was accepted, but we don’t know how much it ultimately sold for.