There’s something funny about rare cars. It’s always wonderful to see one in great condition, looking as shiny as it was the day it left the showroom. But it’s often more intriguing to see one that was left forgotten, having spent many forlorn decades being battered by the elements. This rare “Spirit of 76” International Harvester Scout fits that bill nicely.
This rare find was brought to our attention by Joe Ligo. You’ve probably heard that name before. He’s the man behind The Last Independent Automaker, a sprawling documentary series on the rise and full of American Motors Corporation. Joe has a great eye for classic American steel, and particularly for products outside of the Big Three.
The Spirit of 76 is one of those top-tier trim packs that became iconic as soon as it was released. They were manufactured in quite limited numbers, and remain prized on the classic market today. Let’s examine what made the Spirit of 76 special while taking a closer look at this beleaguered junkyard example.
Can You Ski?
As covered in the International Scout Encyclopedia, the Spirit of 76 came about when the company decided to build Scouts for the US ski team headed to the Winter Olympics, in Innsbruck, Austria. It started with 17 Scouts built for the team. The mix of Travelers and Scout II Traveltops wore red and blue stripes over Winter White paint, as well as special US Ski Team decals. All examples were four-wheel-drive, with V8 engines paired with automatic transmissions.
An example of the livery used by the US Ski Team Scouts in 1976. Note the team decal on the front fender.
The handsome vehicles caught plenty of attention. They effectively ended up spawning an option package for regular customers, whether they could ski or not. 1976 was the bicentennial of the United States, and the Styling team at International was looking to build a special edition to celebrate the milestone. The red, white, and blue scheme from the ski team trucks were perfect, merely requiring the deletion of the US Ski Team decal for civilian use.
Customers could order the Spirit applique option on Scout IIs in Winter White, but only on 100-inch wheelbase models with the Traveltop delete. Customers got the decals, a blue interior, and a color-matched roll bar. The trucks also featured blue soft tops, and could be had with any of the existing drivetrain combinations.
International would also eventually offer a hardtop version known as the Patriot in both 100- and 118-inch wheelbase versions. Otherwise, it was largely the same. There was also the Sno Star, which was basically a Patriot with a luggage rack and ski holder as standard.
All in all, International built just 369 Spirit of ’76 models. Production records suggest a further 42 Patriots and 6 Sno Stars were built as well. With over 500,000 Scouts produced by International Harvester, the special ’76 models are some of the rarer examples out there.
Worse For Wear
The distinctive nature of the decals made this an easy spot in the junkyard. Joe picked it out from the crowd immediately amidst a broader collection of other rusty International products.
This example has apparently been languishing in Pennsylvania for some time. On the surface of it, it appears to be a genuine Spirit of ’76 build from the factory. The seller claims the Scout II was parked in the woods, Joe says, noting “It looks like it had leaves on it,” and adding “According to the registration sticker, the Spirit of ‘76 Scout was last on the road in 1986.”
The owner claims this has a V8 engine with air conditioning, along with the factory AM/FM radio and alloy wheels. They state that the body needs “extensive sheet metal work” but that “the frame appears to be good.” You’d be best advised to use your own judgement.
It’s obvious that there is little to no structural integrity left in the body. Just about every panel is full of rust holes and generally falling apart. Save for the front and rear bumpers, which appear solid, shiny, and chrome.
Inside, the basics are all there—the dash, the steering wheel, the shifter and all that. Don’t get your hopes up though, as the seats are trashed, and there are real questions about whether there’s enough metal left in the floor to support the weight of a driver or passengers. We’re told that there are only 53,736 miles on the clock, so it seems most of the body damage is down to the ravages of time, rather than excessive use.
Fundamentally, buying this thing is one step above buying a VIN plate off a burnt-out shell. Perhaps you could save a body panel or two, but most of it is probably beyond repair. If it’s legit, you might be buying a real Spirit of ’76 Scout II, but you wouldn’t have much left of it by the time you were done restoring it.
If you want to snatch this up, it’s currently being sold for $4,900 on Facebook Marketplace. That’s a fair chunk of change for a vehicle in this state of decay. However, if you’re so patriotic that only a factory-spec Spirit of ’76 will do, you might not have any other choice. Just plan to rebuild pretty much the entire body, given that rust has claimed so much of what was once there.
Image credits: Joe Ligo, Facebook Marketplace, IH, FILMIX via YouTube screenshot, IHScout.com
Ah, good old M&M. I’m right down the road. I’m not sure what their business model is. They have a ton of truck plows and caps that haven’t moved in seems like forever, and seems like they’ve moved into car sales the past couple years; or maybe they always have, I just never noticed till Marketplace took over CL. High prices for not pretty examples.
Yeah, it’s kind of a weird storefront. Last time I was up there he had five British sports cars of various types, a 70’s Corvette, various imports from the ’90’s and several Suburbans in reasonably good shape. His Scout-related prices were probably 20% over market but I was able to get a good deal on some NOS stuff he’d found at an estate sale.
Get this thing to Coonrods in Grant, Colorado!
Yeah that’s probably toast. Best use case:
1: Sell the vin
2: Hang the passenger side fenders and door skin on the wall of your trendy dive bar.
Totally fixable. If you want to see some truly insane restorations, check out what some of the VW people are doing with Barndoor (early model) buses. The Kempes and Duraclean buses are great examples. That said, I don’t know if this is rare/desirable enough for anyone to spend the time and money fixing it.
1976, that was the year Bruce Jenner won the decathlon in the Montreal Olympics. After seeing the makeover of Jenner, I believe anything is possible, though it’ll take more than just replacing ball joints.
Sounds like something for Derek “Vice Grip Garage” Bieri.
I don’t know if you could call that saving it, to just add it to his vast collection of wrecks in a field.
-But it would make for a bit of good and educating YouTube entertainment 🙂
What a shame that a hoarder didn’t take better care of this interesting rarity.
I see razorblades in it’s future.
I see a hoarder named David in its future.
Since it was parked in 1986 at 10 years old, this is probably the case of it just being worn out. Northeast salt on the roads probably did much of the damage we see. Cars in this era rusted out fast.
This Rare Patriotic International Scout II Is Probably Beyond Saving
Hold my glass of Brunello di Montalcino
https://www.topgear.com/car-news/retro/sold-burnt-out-ferrari-fetches-19m-monterey-auction
Ship of Theseus car.
i came to comment the exact same thing.
Too far gone. Noll can’t even fix it.
I wouldn’t put it past her.
The more I learn about Internationals, the more I understand why other IH people look at my fairly rusty ’70 1200D and say “Wow, that’s hardly any rust at all.”
I dont think it’s worth the current asking price, but it most definitely could be saved. If you think this Scout is bad, you should see some of the 1968-69 Chargers that Junkeroo is saving on YouTube. At least this pile has a decent interior. The interior parts can be some of the toughest to source, especially on a one year vehicle like this. I hope someone gets it and does a wonderful job restoring it.
The only thing that is “one year” are the stripes and blue soft top. The rest of the truck is standard Scout II stuff used for all or at least most of their run.
I’m scouting for a reason to save this thing, but everything’s coming up Milhouse.
Let it die
The next-to-last paragraph is the winner.
1) Do you have 100k or that equivalent in time? Proceed to #2
2) Is the frame ok? I seriously doubt it. If no, buy a frame. If yes, proceed to #3
3) Do you have a source for sheetmetal for every possible piece? If yes, purchase. If no, close this tab immediately
The frames just don’t seem to rust, I’ve seen trucks in even worse shape that the one here with perfectly useable frames.
Junk it.
The vin plate is all that is necessary. I am sure there is some company out there that can do a full rebuild and sell it for $150K+.
It’s cruel of you to bait your colleague, David Tracy, with that headline.
How many new subscribers to get David Tracy to fly out and try to fix this while staying in a barn?
Tracy has gone upmarket. They’d be staying a stable usually inhabited by show horses.
Wait, I thought he already lived in a barn? (Or at least was born in one ha ha)
“Hollywood” Tracy is too busy in Monterey rubbing shoulders with the elite. Prefers his cars German and with batteries and carbon fiber these days.
Nah this Scout is too well preserved for David to be interested.
Scout owner here, who has actually bought some parts from this seller in the past. This truck is worth about 1/8 the asking price. The wheels aren’t original, but there are probably some good parts left here and there on the shell. The tub is the hardest thing to come by, and this one is toast. Years of PA salt on the sheet metal followed by years sitting in a field mean it’s worse than you can imagine underneath. You could Frankenstein another truck together from the remains of this one but you’d be so far underwater with time and materials it wouldn’t be worth it.
It’s a shame; this was a very highly optioned Scout.
I don’t agree. Most of the interior apart from the seats seems in decent shape. If it’s true that the frame is good, you’re some new panels, an engine rebuild, and a bit of interior work away from a pretty nice ride. Given the price trends on ’70s SUVs the last decade, it may be worth the attempt.
How available are the body panels is my question. My thoughts align with yours if you have the money, time and skill.
There are new body panels available for almost everything, as of this year, except for the tub itself. Windshield frames used to be unobtanium, but are now available new. The tub is the key.
I’m not as familiar with Scouts, but I have a lot of experience with 1st gen K5 Blazers, and you can pretty much build a new one from the frame up if you want. I figured it would be much the same here.
Legit, off-topic question: it’s possible to find those needed parts for the pre-’73 K5s? Because either that or the early square bodies without the whole cab are what I’d reallllly like to buy myself as a retirement gift, if they can be recused. Trailduster/Ramcharger would actually be #1, but, yeah. Same as the Scout or worse, I’d imagine.
Yes, 69-72 is the first gen.
Some small stuff is tricky to find or needs to come from an original truck, but all of the exterior and most of the interior stuff needed to rebuild one are available, and if you aren’t a stickler for factory appearance inside, you can get anything.
I mean, for me, yes…but a friend is putting a ’72 pickup on the road. Do you have any links? He claims he can’t find some things he needs. We’ve been looking for a whole bed to replace the dumpster fire he currently has.
This is where I sourced a lot of stuff for mine.
Some parts will carry over from the truck, others are Blazer specific.
https://www.motorcityk5.com/
Thank you, good sir.
This is a $4,900 frame and VIN plate. After you’ve removed the body (a good push should do the trick) you’ll have to media blast the frame to find out how much of it is still there. Even if the frame really is solid, I can’t see how you come out of this project without taking a massive bath on it. How much does a clean Scout II body cost? I don’t see any way to come out with a whole truck without a whole lot of transplanting.
Restoration is easy.
Spin off and lift the oil cap, back out the rusted-out Scout, then slide a better scout underneath, re-install oil cap.
this is the way
I’ve seen worse vehicles in “Will it run?” videos being fixed up and driven. Just look how far gone “Holy Goat” was, but it even had its original engine rebuilt.
Please insert all your David Tracy jokes below:
If it weren’t for the AMC V8 that David loathes, he’d be all over it. At least Detroit David would. Hollywood-exec David, not so much.
What you’re saying is David is about to swap his lesser i3 drivetrain into the Scout?
I’m all for this insanity.
No AMC V8 in a Scout this is a proper Medium Duty truck engine, designed to power that school bus or grain truck flat out all day every day. IH did slip a handful of AMC 401s in 1/2 ton 2wd pickups and Travelalls when demand for the 392 in Loadstars was exceeding supply. Now there are lots of Scouts that did get the AMC 232 or 258 but this being a Scout II it means that if it came with one of those engines the frame is probably toast, not from rust, but from the fact that they bodged side engine mounts onto a frame designed for a front engine mount. Been there, scrapped them and kept the good parts.
Ah, thanks for the info!
“Fundamentally, buying this thing is one step above buying a VIN plate off a burnt-out shell.”
Apropos of which, this 1949 Talbot Lago T26 Grand Sport SWB par Saoutchik sold for 1.7 million Euros in 2015:
https://www.artcurial.com/ventes/vente-fr-2832-retromobile-2015-by-artcurial-motorcars/lots/46
Hard to decide which is worse, the Scout or the Talbot Lago, even though the Scout has a lot more paint still intact.
One of those vehicles is worth restoring.