Scout II
Truck · Scout
International Scout II: The Original Scout's Last Chapter
The International Scout II is an off-road vehicle International Harvester built from April 1971 to 1980, the final version of the Scout that started with the Scout 80 in 1961. Its Traveler and Terra names now live on in the new trucks from Volkswagen's Scout Motors.
International Harvester designed the original Scout as a competitor to the two-door Jeep CJ, and the 1961 Scout 80 went on sale in late 1960. Chief designer Ted Ornas later said the program was close to dying until he sketched a version with contoured sides one night at his kitchen table. The Scout 800 followed in the mid-1960s, and the Scout II arrived in 1971, built like the others in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The standard Scout II rode on a 100-inch wheelbase with a removable soft top or hardtop.
For 1976 International added two long-wheelbase versions on a 118-inch wheelbase: the Traveler, with a removable fiberglass hardtop and an optional third row of seats, and the Terra, a light pickup. The Super Scout II of 1977 to 1979 had removable fabric doors, a roll bar, and a soft top, and International's marketing called it the "SSII." Power disc brakes became standard late in 1974, and while two-wheel-drive Scouts were offered, very few were ordered that way. You can roughly date a Scout II by its grille, which changed several times, from three horizontal bars in 1971 and 1972 to 14 vertical bars in 1973.
Before the end, International experimented with Scout-based minivans, station wagons, dune buggies, special editions built by Hurst, and even a small motorhome. Production stopped on October 21, 1980, and across the Scout's 20 years International built 532,674 of them. Volkswagen now owns the name, and its Scout Motors brand reused both Traveler and Terra for its new SUV and pickup.