The International Harvester Company, founded in the United States in 1902 when J.P. Morgan merged four small agricultural equipment firms into one, manufactured both the International Harvester pickup trucks and the off-road utility vehicles. The company produced the Scout itself from 1960 to 1980, a precursor to the boom in sport utility vehicles (SUVs) that would follow.
The public got their first glimpse of the Scout line on January 18, 1961. The first one to roll off the production line was available in both two-wheel-drive and four-wheel-drive (2WD and 4WD) versions. It featured a 93-hp 4-cylinder engine, with three-speed, floor-mounted transmission.
The first Scout V-8 was built in 1967, and it was powered by a 266-cubic-inch engine.
The Scout 80 was the model designation for the early model Scouts, produced from 1961 to mid-1965. They had sliding windows, a 152-hp 4-cylinder engine, a fold-down windshield, vacuum windshield wipers at the top of the windshield, and an IH logo in the center of the grill (their logo is an abstract of a farmer on a tractor).
The later, more car-like ’70s models reflected the growing trend towards family and leisure use that rapidly gained traction in North America during the 1970s.
They finally ended production in 1980. The vehicle’s demise is attributed to a variety of factors, including the United Auto Workers’ 1979-80 strike, and a general inability to compete with Detroit’s Big Three auto manufacturers (General Motors, Ford, and Fiat Chrysler, the latter of which makes Jeep).
All told, 532,674 IH Scouts were produced in the period of 1961-1980
In the early 1970s, Steiger secured a monumental deal that cemented its position in tractor history. The company agreed to manufacture the 4366 four-wheel-drive tractors for International Harvester, a decision that would have a lasting impact on the industry.
