So in digging through the Scout archives, we unearthed a couple of original hand sketches by Larry Nicklin. The drawings themselves are labeled April 1980 and are presumably the direction International was headed with the Scout II facelift after dialing back a full Scout 3 replacement. None of it came to fruition as International Harvester made the decision to end Scout production.
These are in the Navistar Industrial Design Archives, and the label attached reads as follows:
"1984 Scout proposals: After the failure of the LXL and cancellation of International's light-line, an all-new Scout was envisioned. The program was later scaled back to a major facelift. But by the end of 1980, Scout had also been canceled as a product. "
DESIGN 1:
DESIGN 2:
Clearly International was headed in the quad-headlamp direction which was becoming very popular in the 1980s. According to the International Scout Encyclopedia, International Harvester was looking to take the Scout II upmarket to increase profitability. At that point in time SUVs had not started to gain significant traction in the car market and presumably IH saw moving the vehicle to a more premium segment as a means to profitablity. If only they had stuck with it a little while longer, they may have been well ahead of the curve.
Navistar notes on these mention that the full Scout 3 successor was dialed back and the above drawings were proposed facelifts of the Scout II. New model designations were also planned. The Scout II was going to become the Scout 350 with a letter suffix tacked on to designate the trim level: 350S for sport, 350SC for Sport Custom and 350DS for designer series. Not to far off from the Mercedes naming convention at the time.
Anyway, as Chris and I dig this stuff up, we'll try and take photos and post them up for everyone's enjoyment.
If you are interested in Scout history, the International Scout Encyclopedia by Jim Allen and John Glancy is the definiative book. We highly recommend it. You can find it here:
www.superscoutspecialists.com
These are in the Navistar Industrial Design Archives, and the label attached reads as follows:
"1984 Scout proposals: After the failure of the LXL and cancellation of International's light-line, an all-new Scout was envisioned. The program was later scaled back to a major facelift. But by the end of 1980, Scout had also been canceled as a product. "
DESIGN 1:
DESIGN 2:
Clearly International was headed in the quad-headlamp direction which was becoming very popular in the 1980s. According to the International Scout Encyclopedia, International Harvester was looking to take the Scout II upmarket to increase profitability. At that point in time SUVs had not started to gain significant traction in the car market and presumably IH saw moving the vehicle to a more premium segment as a means to profitablity. If only they had stuck with it a little while longer, they may have been well ahead of the curve.
Navistar notes on these mention that the full Scout 3 successor was dialed back and the above drawings were proposed facelifts of the Scout II. New model designations were also planned. The Scout II was going to become the Scout 350 with a letter suffix tacked on to designate the trim level: 350S for sport, 350SC for Sport Custom and 350DS for designer series. Not to far off from the Mercedes naming convention at the time.
Anyway, as Chris and I dig this stuff up, we'll try and take photos and post them up for everyone's enjoyment.
If you are interested in Scout history, the International Scout Encyclopedia by Jim Allen and John Glancy is the definiative book. We highly recommend it. You can find it here:
International Scout Encyclopedia Book NEW! 2nd edition
International Scout Encyclopedia Book NEW! 2nd edition
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