The Last International Scout Built!

A new year means more classic cars! Grab a seat as we shine a light on our clients, their classic vehicles, and the incredible stories behind their collections in our continuous Story of a Classic series. This month we meet the “Last Scout Built”! When Michael from Iowa bought a Tahitian Red Metallic Scout in 2003, he never knew his love of classic vehicles would allow him to own such a rare piece of history. The Scout has a sincere following due to its early efforts with diesel power in passenger vehicles, and this particular one is a showpiece. Read on to learn how Bolton nabbed the last Scout off the 1980 production line.

Q: What drew you to this specific make and model?

Bolton: I owned, and still own, a similar model, and found it to be a user-friendly, easily maintained, and unique vehicle.

Q: Tell us about other collector vehicles you own or have owned.

Bolton: I bought my first Diesel-Powered Scout in Arizona in 1987. I've gone a lot of places with it, and it's provided good service. I enjoy spending the time to take special care of it. I purposefully keep it off the salt and choose to not drive it in the Iowa winters.

Q: What is the story behind how you obtained and restored the vehicle being featured?

Bolton: After owning a Scout Diesel since 1987, I became aware of another historical vehicle in a nearby town in 1996 (the one featured in today’s interview).

It was owned by a local businessman whose wife had been on the Board of Directors of International Harvester, a large Farm Equipment and Truck Manufacturer. Through this role as Director, she was given this Scout to use as a company vehicle since her role in management allowed the fringe benefit of a company car. Her husband enjoyed the Scout much more than she did, and used it recreationally for hunting and fishing, as well as for farm and ranch duties on their cattle ranch.

I was able to purchase the Scout in 2003 from this original owner.

After taking it to various shows around the country, a restoration was started in late 2015, and was completed in 2020, just in time for the COVID pandemic.

With the restoration done, it’s been to quite a few shows in 2020, 2021, and 2023.

The interesting thing that is happening now is that VW’s truck group, Traton, has purchased International Truck, or Navistar, and became owner of the "Scout" marque.

Since this acquisition, they are planning to develop a new electric vehicle, and leverage the history of the Scout name to promote the new Electric Scout SUV/ Light Electric Scout Truck.

They plan to use our "Last International Scout" to leverage the hype to promote the rollout of their New Scout in 2026 or so.

You can read all about their progress at ScoutMotors.com.

They recently took a newly restored early Scout, the "First Scout Built" and the "Last Scout Built" to California to a high-profile photographic studio shoot.

This has been interesting so far, and it seems that there'll be more to come.

Q: Did anything surprise you when you purchased or restored the vehicle being featured? Did anything surprise you when you started in the hobby in general?

Bolton: I was surprised that various factory workers signed or made a mark of one type or another on the Scout. Someone’s initials were inscribed on the underside of the cowl that wasn't visible until after insulation was stripped away. The scribbling said: "J.L.S. 12:10 10-20-80", meaning Initials, Time, and Date.

The factory workers also painted the clutch housing 2150 Farmall Red (a very bright red) and wrote on it "THE END 10-20-80" (pictured above). There was another line, but the magic marker was faded over the years and the single word was illegible. In the restoration, we cleaned the legible letters and numbers, and darkened them to make them stand out, then masked that area before painting the remainder of the clutch housing in the original 2150 IH Red, and then clear-coated it all for eventual display.

On the front cross member, a fellow wrote his nickname, that being "COOKIEMAN.” (pictured below)

We actually recreated the signature in the restoration, as part of the quest for "Originality.”

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