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leaf springs, were used front and rear. The engine was simply a four-cylinder version of IH’s 304-cubic inch industrial V8. Named “Comanche,” the 152-cubic inch four produced 93 horsepower and 137 foot-pounds of torque, which was substantially more than the CJ-2A’s “Go Devil” alternative. A three-speed manual was the only transmission offered.
Early Scouts were hardly plush in their accommodations. A bench seat (buckets were later made optional) faced a basic instrument panel with a speedometer plus temperature and fuel gauges. A heater was optional. Rubber mats covered the floors. There was a solid bulkhead behind the seats, which was later modified to offer a pass through to an optional rear bench seat. What nudged the Scout a nose ahead of the contemporary CJ, at least as far as flexibility was concerned, were its multiple configurations. At the bottom was the most Spartan version, with no top or doors. It became a “sporty roadster” with the doors added but could be quickly made more or less weathertight with a metal top in place over the cab and sliding side windows. The next step was a full- length “Travel Top” to make it into a kind of station wagon, with a windowless alternative that created an inexpensive panel van. Soft tops were offered too.
International’s advertising promoted the Scout as a dual-purpose vehicle that doubled as a daily driver or a weekend vehicle that “can take you to so many fishing or hunting places beyond the end of the roads.” If you wanted to spend a few days beyond the ends of those roads, there was a novel “Camper” derivative developed by a division of Winner Boats in Dickson, Tennessee, makers of the first fiberglass boats in the US. Years before Winnebago commercialized motorhomes, the Camper unit sat inside the Scout’s bed and extended three feet beyond it to provide a small stand-up space. Tented sleeping compartments folded out on either side of the central section, into which designers crammed a sink, fridge, stove and even a chemical toilet. The space immediately behind the front seats provided a cramped dinette area. Structural weaknesses in the camper body combined with tepid demand limited Camper production to somewhat less than 100 units built between 1962 and 1963, with only a handful of these nascent remaining RVs roadworthy today.
210Wayne CariniAffordable Classics
TOP: Scout prototype being put through its paces at IH’s Arizona proving ground.
MIDDLE: Scout Camper presaged the recreational vehicle concept with fold-out sleeping quarters, a kitchen, a refrigerator and even a chemical toilet. Its innovative design was undone by its fragility. ABOVE: Amazingly, later slide-in Scout camper from Dreamer boasted room for four.