Well, who has ever heard of International Harvester’s Sno-Star Edition? Not me, but apparently it was introduced in 1970 and designed to handle snow plowing duties and was built with a beefed up 6 cylinder engine. This example is located in McAlisterville, Pennsylvania. It is listed here on eBay with 4 days remaining in the auction. The current bid is just $1 shy of $10,000 after 32 bids. So apparently, 32 other people know about this rare edition of the Scout. The seller believes that only 472 Sno-Star Editions were produced.
The International Harvester produced over 500,000 units of the Scout from 1960 to 1980. The early Scouts (1960-1965) were equipped with a 152 cubic inch inline four cylinder engine that came from the factory with 93 horsepower. As sales improved and the Scout matured, later models had bigger and more power engines including a larger inline 4 cylinder, an inline 6 cylinder, a 266 cubic inch V8, a 304 cubic inch V8 engine and a 345 cubic inch V8 engine. This Scout 800B has the inline 6 cylinder engine backed by an automatic transmission. The Scout is said to run and drive but it is pulling gas from a plastic milk jug instead of the gas tank. The seller states this is a minor fix!
The interior is spartan but that is how International Harvester wanted it. The front driver seat needs to be reupholstered. International Harvester produced the first generation Scout from 1960 to 1965. It is commonly known as the Scout 80. The next generation of Scout was called the Scout 800 which was produced from 1966 to 1971 and came in two models – 800 A and 800B. The Scout 800A was produced from 1968 to 1970. The Scout 800B (this one) had a short production run from August 1970 to March 1971. It was replaced by the final generation of the Scout called the Scout II which was produced from 1971 to 1980. This Scout is said to have sat in a barn for over 20 years until it was recently pulled out.
From this angle, the Scout 800B looks pretty good. There is some obvious problems with the bubbling body work and no snow plow. Barn Finds covered another Sno-Star that was not in this good of shape back in 2018. The new buyer will need to trailer this beauty home because the brakes are not reliable.
Such graceful lines on these. The design team really were exhibiting their prowess when these rolled out.
IH had been under such a conservative management for so long it took a major upheaval to get it on the right track again. I’m actually surprised that they even had any chrome trim or radios.
Probably a nicer than average old Scout, but I can’t see any sign of hydraulics, controls or mounts for a plow here, am I missing them? Or maybe they were all optional?
Never heard of Sno-Star either, but clearly a jab at the non-existent Commando market, with about the same results. That’s the tried and true AMC in line 6, automatic, none better and read, the “Sno-Star” was only available with the 6. I don’t think the Sno-Star was anything different, except for the snow removal equipment it doesn’t have. Probably what saved it. This is the last “800” as mentioned, so it may have some additional value, but again, it’s not the last Pierce-Arrow and for 5 figures, has to be nicer than this. Apparently, a lot of alleged bidders think it’s worth it. I certainly don’t. The Scout ll that replaced it was a much better vehicle. I’d love to see the new owners face when they finally DO get to drive it.
The Scout II may have been a better vehicle , but they rusted away as fast as any Vega , maybe faster. This one seems to have some Bondo in it, but still pretty solid for its age.
Undercoating was an option on all IH vehicles, and the factory undercoating was a joke. We would take the trucks to the local Zeibart shop for undercoating.
Undercoating,,,the biggest ripoff or so we thought,,,pales in comparison to the ripoffs of today. I worked for a body shop supplier in the 70’s, and saw 1st hand removed damaged panels that had so called, “rustproofing. Rusty Jones was the worst, with sometimes a small strip about an inch wide across the panel. You could always tell a Ziebart job, it was dripping with goo. Rustproofing had it’s day, but better materials won out.
Sure didn’t see this model out west, even in the mountain communities where there was a lot more snow. By this stage in the game most buyers found the V8 and the vast majority ran manual transmissions. Less salt on the roads made for less rust. They’re usually in pretty good shape—if you can find them. AMC sure made some inroads as far as engines went. The 232/258 was lighter and definitely fit in the engine bay easier. I might add that the 264/265 was losing the battle with the EPA. Someone might find this right up his alley but for me, I’d want the V8/manual…
I sold IH trucks at the factory branch in Seattle at that time so I had to go back and check all of the brochures and spec sheets I’d saved because I couldn’t recall a Scout “Sno Star” model. No reference found. Interestingly, aftermarket snow plows were offered as factory optional equipment on the D1200 through D1500 light duty truck line. However, not to say it couldn’t have been a special order because many IH vehicles were heavily customized from the factory. Guess I learned something “new”.
We sold IH industrial until 1964, in 1964 IH told its dealers to get big or go away, We with most of the dealers in our area took advantage of the opportunity to send back the parts and drop the line. So many dealers left that IH had to set up company stores. I learned to drive on a 56 IH truck and that was my personal vehicle when I turned 16 in 1971.
The Plow was optional Mine had a Meyers. I purchased mine in 1973 from a local Municipality that used it for salting and plowing. When I purchased it both back quarters were mostly gone. It continued to lose sheet metal over the next 30 years. by the time we scrapped it the hood was intact the floor was plywood and the roof was held up by 2 x 4’s. Both doors had rotted off and the remaining body rested on the frame. It was only used to plow the farm roads and never let us down.
That’s in great shape and couldn’t have seen much snow. They rusted away in rain…Neat color too.
A bid of $9999 is such an obvious shill, “It ain’t even funny . . . “
If the gas problem is such an easy fix why doesn’t the seller fix it?? just wondering
the dodge had special accents to make one aware. Once U see that U can come in close and see heaver springs, etc (may B even factory applyed frame to plow mounts, more). Here not much. i6 has more tq/ci. May B it was just several local dealers (one geographic region – front range CO, etc). Paint & tires or sompin simple…
Lost in the annals of time…
For anyone who may be interested in restoring an International Scout. There is a guy on youtube that has just started a series on how to restore one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=othXc3lwOxc