44 years after the last Scout II rolled off the production line, it’s about to make its comeback.
While some automakers tease every little aspect and shout their upcoming reveals to every corner of social media, Scout Motor’s kept a fairly low profile over the past six months. In fact, we checked out the groundbreaking of the automaker’s Blythewood, South Carolina facility where it will revive the iconic SUV as a next-generation electric vehicle. We haven’t heard much since…until now, that is. The wait to see what Scout has up its sleeve will officially come to an end, and we’ll see the brand’s pair of vehicles — a new SUV and truck — are all about.
As it happens, the reveal date is 44 years to the week that the last International Harvester Scout II rolled off the Fort Wayne, Indiana assembly line. If you want to take a stroll through some history, I visited that plant as part of a classic Scout rally back in February (part 1 here and part 2 here).
“While you won’t see a lot of teasers or taillights from us between now and October 24,” the company said in its announcement email, “here’s what I can tell you. Like the originals, you’ll know a Scout vehicle when you see one. A bold, iconic design featuring multifunctional spaces for gathering and connection. Build for work play, our new Scout SUV and truck will be rugged, capable and versatile. They have to be in order to credibly don the Scout badge. And with real tactile controls and real feel, they’ll meet the needs of Americans on the road and way off.” And at least when you do go off-road, you’ll have an old-school high-mounted compass to help guide the way.
Granted, there’s not much tangible information conveyed in that statement apart from the tactile controls. Volkswagen Group, under which Scout Motors is situated, learned the hard way that haptic controls aren’t necessarily the best way forward (but still insists on using them in some vehicles like the ID.Buzz, at least for now). That said, we obviously won’t see the ’70s-style gauges, long-throw shifters or massive steering wheels that the old models had as far as “real feel” goes. Nevertheless, we’re excited to see the debut on October 24.
If you’re wondering exactly when you’ll be able to actually buy a new Scout, that’s still a mystery for the time being. Scout Motors may announce the launch timing at the reveal, but don’t expect to see production units roaming the streets and trails until at least next year, if not early 2026.
