Tuesday, November 23, 2010

International Scout

It has gotten pretty wintery around here the past few days so I decided to fire up my old International Scout. I've been snowed into my neighborhood in past years but I can get around in this here Scout.

It's my redneck side.. Well part of my redneck side anyway...

To turn the heat on you have to turn a valve under the hood that allows coolant into the heater core. You close the valve for summer use or you'll get really hot.

When I was young my Dad had a Scout just like this one. He took my mom and me in it on a trip across Wyoming to South Dakota in the heat of the summer pulling a small travel trailer. I sat in the back of the Scout. My mom wouldn't let us roll the windows down because she didn't want to get her hair messed up.. Gosh it was a hot box in there. Old Scouts are all metal with no insulation. So every morning I'd get up early and ride as far as I could get on my bike. That was the best part of my day. Then they'd catch me up and I'd have to ride in the hot box the rest of the day.
They did let me ride my bike through the center of Yellowstone Park though and that was the highlight of my trip. That and riding along the Gallitan River. I don't know what cycling is like in Yellowstone Park these days. There's probably too much traffic for it now.
If you want to take the slow boat to South Dakota, drive there in an International Scout pulling a travel trailer across Wyoming in the heat of the summer with the windows rolled up... Did I tell you how well you could hear the motor running?.. I liked it so much that when I grew up I bought my own Scout!

4 comments:

Jules said...

It's a really cool looking vehicle, and I'm glad you've got it to weather the storms with and keep you safe!

GrewUpRural said...

My husband has a Scout. When he first bought it, we were able to take it for a few rides. Unfortunately, it is in need of a lot of repairs and we don't have the extra time or money right now to restore it back to its glory.

don said...

It's so nice to hear from you! I miss your blog!

I got to drive my Dad's Scout when I was in highschool. It's what I learned to drive in. I wrecked it by going off an embankment up in the mountains one winter with my Dad in it. We rolled it three times down a hillside but we were ok. Kind of freaky though..

When I found this one I bought it because it's exactly like the one we used to have. It's a Scout 800B. The other one was an 800A but they look exactly the same.

I got this one for $500 It's pretty sound but has a couple of dents. I had to do some work to it and there's more to do but I'm able to drive it. I had to use it to drive to work the other day because my neighborhood got snowed in and my car is too low to the ground. You needed a 4 wheel drive to get out.

It really brings back some memories when I drive around in it. I went on my first date in that first Scout actually :)

I wish you guys good luck with yours!

don said...

Thanks for thinking it's cool Jules,. :)

I meant to say I'm not sure how safe it is Jules,. :) As long as you don't go too fast I guess it's ok, and stay off of the steep snowy mountain roads.