This 1976 International Harvester Scout Traveler had one owner from its purchase in late 1975 to 2013. The Scout Traveler is located in Norman, Oklahoma and is for sale here on eBay. There are 5 days remaining in the auction and the top bid is currently at $5,950. International Harvester Scout produced its Scout model from 1960 to 1980. The Scout 80 was the first generation of the Scout and manufactured for five years from 1960 to 1965. The Scout 800 followed and was manufactured until 1971. The Scout II was built from 1971 to 1980 and several improvements and different Scout models were introduced. This is an example of a Scout Traveler that was produced by International Harvester from 1976 to 1980 and came with a fiberglass top.
The interior looks original and still has the faded painted on the inside door panel from someone hanging their arm out the window. This four-wheel-drive example is equipped with an automatic transmission, air conditioning, power steering, power brakes, and a front bench seat. These later editions of the Scout had many more creature comforts than the early Scouts that were very spartan. In its early years, this Scout Traveler was used as a daily driver. The odometer on this Scout Traveler shows 77,927 miles.
For many years, the base engine in the International Scout was a 152 cubic inch inline four-cylinder engine which was rated at 93 horsepower. As the years went on, International Harvester offered more power engines including a larger inline 4 cylinder, an inline 6 cylinder, a 266 cubic inch V8, and a 304 cubic inch V8 engine. This Scout Traveler clearly has a V8 but the seller does not mention if it is original or what the cubic inches are. It is said to run and drive well but needs new tires and might need some freshening up. The master brake cylinder was recently replaced.
The orange paint is faded and the white paint on the fiberglass top is faded through as well. There is rust in the lower quarter panel and around the wheels. It looks like the Scout Traveler backed into something and the quarter has been beaten back out. The seller states that the frame, floorboards, and undercarriage are solid and not rotten. This early SUV would be a good restoration candidate if this is your cup of tea.
This is an OK Traveler but there are a lot of things I’d check before opening my wallet. That rubber floormat hides all kinds of sin—I’d want to see what’s under every available section of it. There need to be some underside pictures of the floors and all four body mounts. See how the driver’s door is sagging? That could be worn hinges, or rotted body mounts. One of those is much more expensive to fix than the other…
How do the inside rear wheel arches look under that carpet? You’re definitely looking at new rear quarters and endcaps, which are available, but you’ve got to factor in replacing them. Both chrome strips on the front fenders are missing, which leads me to believe the bottoms of the quarters have been replaced—but they were good enough to keep the white graphics intact.
The liftgate is fiberglass but has taken a few hits (who has been parking this thing?) and is probably the rarest thing on this truck apart from the dash clock and the windshield frame.
RE the engine: “numbers matching” for a Scout means absolutely nothing. Both a 304 or a 345 will get this moving with plenty of grunt to spare.
For it’s time, this was one high class truck. Toward the end, IH poured everything they had into the Scout, since the pickups and Travelalls were done. The in-line 6 and some 304’s were from AMC. This has to be an IH motor, because of the thermostat housing is the way to tell. While these never shook the “big truck” IH image, they really were nice units. Colossal blunder to ditch the Scout, as cushy SUV’s were just taking off, but IH was enjoying being top of the heap in big trucks, and decided to concentrate on that market. Too bad Volvo took care of that, and IH is nothing more than a shred of it’s former self these days. Great find, and if the present is any indicator of the next 5 figure flash in the pan, this is it. There’s nothing left to exploit. Great find.
The in line 6 was an amc motor but both v8 motors were all IH the 304 only shared cubic inch numbers with amc and nothing else, the 304 and 345 motors shared many parts
No* 304s were from AMC, but IHC casting can be found in some AMC heads from wartime. IHC SV266/304/345/392 was all International.