It would be hard to drive away angry in this cheerful little vehicle! A veritable troop of Scouts and other International-Harvester vehicles in Barneveld, Wisconsin seeks new owners with a listing here on craigslist.org. Though not identified individually, most resemble this body style, developed by I-H as trustworthy personal utility vehicles. The market for compact obedient off-road companions grew from soldiers’ experience with military Jeeps of World War II. Priced between $1000 to $2200, this collection should please even thrifty-minded shoppers. Thanks to our reader leiniedude for spotting this collection.
This clean-looking 1962 International Travelall could provide the kind of utility popular in today’s Sport Utility Vehicles. Selling those hideous wheels may generate enough cash to partially offset the $2000 purchase and fit wheels and tires more reverent to this stylish servant’s heritage. Sadly no title accompanies the vehicle so it comes with additional effort and risk.
The Pegasus and Mobil livery marks this specimen as a service station plow, no doubt helpful in Wisconsin. Such vehicles also serve as low-cost advertising, an additional “sign” that can attract customers without running astray of local zoning regulations.
Contact the the friendly and courteous-sounding seller if you’re brave enough to pop in during a Wisconsin winter. Be sure to pledge that you’re not an unwelcome tire-kicker! This right-hand-drive unit may have loyally helped a rural postal carrier complete their appointed rounds despite snow, rain, or gloom of night. Which Scout can help you cross the street?
While I like Scouts, any IH, really, with the exception of the Travelall, anything like these Scouts coming from the Badger, I wouldn’t trust a one for the road. These were used for one thing, an alternative to the CJ, and plowing snow and getting around IN the snow ( and salt) is what they were used for, and I’ve seen fields of these, all with bodies, what’s left, hanging and frames shot. Great for parts here, but if you want one to use, I’d get one from down south, if any even exist down there.
A good friend of mine went on a crazy Scout tear for a while. He had like 5 or 6 of them if I recall.
Worst bodies possible for the northeast. But because of that i saw alot of scout chassis. They seemed ridiculously over engineered for the poorly thought out (I must assume, since they literally melted away) rotting hulks that sat upon them…
But there must have been some magic in those piles of rust that day… because he still regrets getting rid of them.
METAL MUNCHING. FYI all the vintage 4 x 4s had major rust issues. The factory delivered the vehicles with nothing underneath other than a coat of body color. Althese vehicles were capable of moving through some pretty rough terrain, getting from a paved road to the off road or rock crawling adventure usually meant several miles of stone roads which were spraying the undercarraige with rocks the entire trip. Once the paint got scratched the metal works had a feast on the exposed sheetmetal. As an original owner of a Jeepster Commando, during it’s restoration I had to have 29 pieces of sheet metal replaced for just this reason, oh and an occasional angry rock would bite my Jeepster as I squeezed by a bit too close. Another example of genius engineering, ( read built in obsolescence ), was that there was a cowl vent that rerouted the rain water it collected through a tube into the passenger side rocker panel. Guess which side rocker I needed to have totally fabricated? Brilliant!
Ever notice the neat diamond plate aluminum aftermarket panels on vitage Jeeps and FJ 40’s? Nice to look at but they were added to cover up the rusted through original sheet metal.
RIP SHEETMETAL FYI all of those vintage 4×4 rotted away. Most came from the factory with nothing more on the undercarriage then the body color paint. If the highway salt didn’t kill them off the stone roads which usually proceeded any serious off roading or rock crawling sprayed stone up under the body, which once the paint got stone scratches, the rust worms had a place to eat. My fully restored Jeepster Commando had 29 pieces of steel replaced for these reasons. And a couple of rocks that angrily bit my Jeepster and the way by. If you ever saw a vnitage Jeeps and FJ 40s wearing aluminum diamond plate? Those are easy add on used to cover the rusted parts.
Another engineering genius move was to route the rain water collected from the cowl vent through a hose in the dash directly into the passenger’s side rocker. Guess which side I needed to have a rocker totally fabricated to replace the un-salvageable rocker?
HA! Well done, sir! I wonder if anyone caught the 11 Scout Law Attributes embedded in the write-up? That is a lot of creativity and work, well done, Todd! I’m assuming that most folks aren’t reading every word which is usually the case in 2019 as everyone is busy as heck. I, for one, appreciate that stuff. Go ahead and take the rest of the day off… there are bagels in the lunchroom but I think Josh may have already taken the blueberry one…
Thank you Sir Scotty! The virtual bagel is appreciated as well.
I guess I’ll share some personal connections with this generation Scout and other models. My wife learned to drive on one like the yellow one, in the companion color of “Robin’s Egg Blue” as she calls it. A friend of mine’s Dad had one as well, with oversized tires and a CB antennae and I remember riding in the center-facing jump seats in the back, thinking it was about the coolest thing ever. My Grandfather had two of the “Scout II” models and some of my earliest memories are of his 1967 4×4 Travelall we called “The Green Monster.” My Grandpa was a skilled driver and we made many trips in all kinds of weather in those IH vehicles at a healthy clip with his steady hand at the wheel.
I bought the red RHD off of this guy, sent him the money, then he pulled out of the deal as I was arranging transport. It appears someone turned up to take them all including the one I bought from him the day before plus various parts as part of the deal of taking them all… and all of a sudden I’m told the car is gone. Super bad car karma to him. I don’t have my money back yet and am 10,000 miles away from Wisconsin. Not worried about it yet but when you make a deal on a car and you pay for it, it should stick in my rule book.
If anyone knows of any solid early RHD Scout 80’s out there for sale please let me know… I used to own one for a day… baldmale@hotmail.com
So sorry to hear your story. Old school established that a man is only as good as their word. Unfortunately in today’s world that characteristic of integrity seem’s to have slipped away. Many people forget that they made an agreement when the agreement does not totally work out, or they get a better offer. And too many who make an agreement change their commitment once things don’t go exactly how they anticipated. I think the old school word was welched-out. A person’s word is only good if things work out to their advantage when they don’t too many people back out.