After the second world war, small off-road vehicles entered the civilian market as rudimentary creepy-crawlers offering all-weather off-road transportation for hunters, park rangers, and other rugged sorts who didn’t mind a kidney-pounding ride and all the creature comforts of an enclosed tractor. By 1971, small off-road vehicles had become well-established in the “just for fun” category, and this 1971 International Harvester Scout 800B Comanche is practically ready for the opera with its gold stripes, V8 engine, automatic transmission, and once-shiny roof rack. Well, lah-di-dah! The somewhat rough-looking four-wheeler in Rockwall, Texas comes to market here on eBay, where at least two bidders are duking it out for the right to ink the title, venturing over $1000 with about four days to go. To see a nicer looking Comanche, check out this shiny specimen that Barn Finds’ own Bruce Johnson featured in 2020.
The 800B marked the swan song of the 800 series, with the “B” sold only in 1971 as the larger and all new Scout II hit the showrooms as well. My Grandfather had two Scout II units in succession, and they saw many a State Game Lands road and adventures like berry picking on power line paths without ever making us walk home. On one trip the Scout lost its muffler, and I relished its newly acquired stock car rumble.
The Scout’s backstory includes “sat 20 years on the side of a mountain” in New Mexico. It seems almost un-American that nobody shot out the windows during that time. Dual tanks seem a bit ridiculous on a rig with the footprint of a Mini Cooper, but “Walk out of the Wilderness After Running out of Gas” rarely makes someone’s Bucket List. Manual locking hubs will never leave you halfway up an icy driveway before realizing your fancy vacuum or electric thingee didn’t do its job and you’re about to skitter down backwards towards certain peril.
The trusty 304 cid (5.0L) V8 rests millimeters from the footwells, waiting to put its 180 HP and 262 lb-ft of torque to good use over hill and dale. Thanks to Wikipedia and Automobile-Catalog for some details.
Drop the Scout’s tailgate and stack those bloody deer like cordwood. One Fall evening a posse of us kids packed into one of these; blind luck jammed me up against my friend’s sister on the center-facing bench. My mind swirled with innocent pre-teen fancies… Snap out of it; back to the Scout! This one is offered by a Scout restoration shop that offers to “build your dream,” so after the purchase you may find yourself a mere giant check away from your own turn-key 800B. Will you save this long-abandoned Comanche?
Ad says bidding ended with 0 bids.
Jim, when an auction is ended early by the seller the bids are cancelled, that’s why the listing shows zero bids. If you go back to the listing you will see a hyperlink under the dollar amount that says (0 bids), if you click on that you will see the actual bid history showing how many bids were placed and for what amounts.
Steve R
Thanks for the info!
Those were pretty cool but man, did they like to rust out.
I daily drove a ’70 800A with the 304 and 3 speed years ago. Those dual tanks are only about 12 gallons if I remember correctly and at maybe 10 mpg having both comes in handy. I also had a ’71 800B with the “Power Thrift” 6 cylinder and 3 speed that did a little better on gas but one 12 gallon tank still doesn’t get you far.
Junk