One interesting discovery was that this Scout was sitting in New York City but has California plates. Someone had driven this automotive curiosity 3,000 miles from the West Coast to the East Coast! I can imagine the adventure taking such a vehicle on a roadtrip would be.. Perhaps it is on its way back home as I write this. In an era where vehicles seem disposable, it's exciting to see an old timer still on the roads, reminding other SUVs where they came from. It looks like there's still some use left in this utility vehicle, even if there isn't much sport left to be had!
Modern sport utility vehicles don't interest me very much. I have always been a fan of smaller vehicles, and while I can't deny the usefulness and attraction of large, comfy, powerful SUVs, they're just not me. If we look back to the origins of the class and some of the first closed SUV-type vehicles, I find myself more interested, however... Back then, I'm not even sure what they called vehicles like the International Scout. The term 'Sport Utility Vehicle' or SUV hadn't been invented yet. These early closed 4x4s were certainly more utility than sport, and weren't a popular choice as family vehicles or for city dwellers. Their truck-based 4x4 chassis and barebones interiors meant they weren't particularly comfortable or quiet, and their large size and large turning radius made them unpractical for urban settings. I know nothing about the Scout, or even about the International brand of passenger cars, so I had to look up some information. It was in New York City that I had discovered this rough-and-tumble model.The Scout was built between 1961 and 1980, with several updates alone the way. The model I saw appears to be the Scout 800, produced from 1965 to 1968. 4, 6 and 8 cylinder engines were offered, so it is hard to know which one powered this 'compact' SUV, though I don't think I'd want to drive one powered by a 93 horsepower 4-banger! With such little power, there's not only little sport but also little utility... While the International Scout was certainly rough around the edges, it is one of the vehicles credited with creating the SUV market that would take over the automotive world in the 1980's, 90's and beyond. For the era it was definitely compact in size, and some models even hit 20 mpg. Today's SUVs and crossovers are a far cry from these simple, basic utility vehicles, but the original concept of additional space and practicality can be traced back to legends like the Scout.
One interesting discovery was that this Scout was sitting in New York City but has California plates. Someone had driven this automotive curiosity 3,000 miles from the West Coast to the East Coast! I can imagine the adventure taking such a vehicle on a roadtrip would be.. Perhaps it is on its way back home as I write this. In an era where vehicles seem disposable, it's exciting to see an old timer still on the roads, reminding other SUVs where they came from. It looks like there's still some use left in this utility vehicle, even if there isn't much sport left to be had!
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AuthorWelcome! My name is Paul, and I am an old-fashioned, low-pressure, low-buck car fan with lots of automotive stories to tell! Archives
February 2020
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