Diesel Midas Edition: 1980 International Scout II
Elkhart, Indiana was for years the mecca of RV manufacturers and other conversion companies. Midas Van Conversion Company out of Elkhart was contracted by International-Harvestor to build this diesel-powered 1980 International Scout II Traveler Midas Edition along with just under 300 others so they’re incredibly rare to find today in any condition. The seller has this one listed here on eBay in Beloit, Wisconsin and they’re asking $17,000.
This is a familiar seller who provides mostly detailed photos rather than photos of the entire vehicle, for some reason. We saw a Scout Sportop here on Barn Finds a day or two ago that they also have for sale so they must have discovered a treasure trove of hidden Scouts somewhere in Wisconsin. I should be so lucky, I would love to have both of them. The odometer shows 39,588 miles so this one must have been hidden away for a long time. 25 years, according to the seller.
International contracted with conversion company, Midas Van Conversion out of Elkhart, Indiana, to build these luxurious Midas Edition models. Reportedly, just under 300 of them were made in total and they were made between 1977 and 1980, the final year of Scout production. This example, as with the earlier Scout Sportop, has a bit of rust to deal with and what appears to be coated surface rust underneath. I have been seeing ads recently for companies that “treat” and then “coat” the undersides of vehicles and some of the before and after photos are incredible. Have any of you had that done with a vehicle that had heavy surface rust underneath? I was just wondering what you thought of that process.
I love a “luxury” vehicle that has 4WD and a manual transmission. I know that luxury SUVs are as commonplace as volatile, divisive politics is today, but at one time, this would really have been something impressive to own. The seat covers are, I’m guessing, covering well-used seat fabric but you can see the fun checked pattern fabric on the doors and it’s also on the headliner. The front bucket seats should have armrests and swivel and SOME BETTER PHOTOS sure would have been nice. Sorry for yelling. The back seat appears to be in good condition and the rear cargo space looks tidy with sculptured carpet in place of what would have been similar but non-sculptured shag carpet.
For some reason, this seller doesn’t give a VIN so determining the engine is tough, but it sure looks like a diesel to me. Anyone? The dead giveaway is the “Nissan Diesel” on the valve cover… (crickets) This one should be Nissan’s 3.2-liter SD-33T, a six-cylinder turbocharged diesel that had just over 100 horsepower and 175 lb-ft of torque. There’s no word at all on the mechanical condition but this one sure checks a lot of boxes for me, other than the asking price. Any thoughts on this diesel Scout II Midas Edition?
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Comments
Scotty,
I’ve heard of a new way to clean stuff like this
using dry ice.Not sure how well it works.
It works, and it works well, but it isn’t cheap.
Thanks, angliagt and Mr. Exotherm. That sounds like sort of a vapor blaster method but with dry ice? I keep seeing ads for companies that clean up the underside and then coat them with a sort of smooth bedliner-type of product but I wasn’t sure if that was just covering up the rust issues rather than stopping them in their tracks. It seems like it would be a billion-dollar idea in the upper Midwest or Northeast where road salt takes its toll on vehicles.
Dry ice blasting has been around for decades. As an expert in the field of abrasive blasting, I can tell you it is a niche market for the product. It actually works best in cleaning anilox rolls in the printing industry and cleaning paper processing machinery. It will not work well at removing bedliner from metal surfaces.
Beautiful looking IH Scout. I’ve always loved the 1979-80 Scout. $17,000 is rather steep for me, Assuming the chassis is solid, and it’s driveable, I’d be willing to pay in the neighbourhood of $10,000. I’d still have enough money to have anything done to it to make sure everything works like they should.
I’d love one of these but price of diesel at 5.30PG in my AO. can’t afford to drive my 89 F250 w IDI, I’d rather have a 6. Love these old IH’s though.
For $17K there should be fewer dents and holes in the sheet metal than this, especially with a diesel. I expect someone will yank that right out and SBC this rig. With a Midas Travelers came with a third bench seat in back and sometimes a matching cooler—those are rare on the ground these days. I can testify that upholstery is as itchy as it looks.
I don’t know where the 300 produced number comes from—the Scout Encyclopedia lists the total number produced from 1977-1980 as indeterminate, but I’ve seen enough on the ground to know they’re not exactly “rare”.
I drove a 80 diesel Scout for a bunch of years mostly in the woods. I was told the Nissan engine is most commonly found in fork lifts here in the US. Super slow but had the best turning radius of any truck I drove.
Yea I wanted a diesel, but when I test drove the dealerships parts truck, a 77 TERRA, I was totally dismayed by how slow it was, slower than a 4 cyl Scout II, much slower than the 258 AMC six I had. That’s why I went with the 345! Same mileage as a 304, with more low end grunt.
25 years ago, my Uncle had a Diesel Chevy Luv pickup, and it was so s l o w, If you only needed to go a few blocks, it was faster just to jog to that location.
junk
I’d prefer mine with a Turbo Diesel engine and automatic.
this must be the last of the last (October as well?). I think it hada turbo on it, the yr B4 none (SD3.2). Nota ‘scout’ follower after the 80/800 but this looks long enuff (behind dor, behind axel) to be a traveler.
Love those dash(es) and the “idea” in the ’80s of diesel. Weather Olds, chevette, courier or this – they didnt really pull it off like they can today. B
nice to re-power the bronk w/1 of those 4 cyl brazilian made MB diesels but
I dont see any imported.
Back in the late 70’s I owned a couple SCOUT II’s. One I bought used in 76, that one was a 73 plane as they came with only three options, AM radio, automatic, 258 AMC Straight Six, along with the standard one speed “Silent Drive” transfer case. I beat the heck out of that Scout for 2 years. Ran a couple 24 hr SCCA winter rallies, covering the northern parts of ME, NH and VT, the first year in basically a heavy Nor’easter. The Scout was fine on the road and light off roading, but without low range all it would do in deep sand is bog down like you were holding the brakes on power braking! Where anyone I had with me would have to get out an push sometimes. So I got sick of that! I went to the nearest dealer looking to trade. When I came across a TERRA truck in the showroom that had been ordered for a customer. I loved it an special ordered one for myself. A Select Edition in canyon black with gold stripes and wheels and white removable cab roof! With a 345/4 brl dual exhaust with HD Automatic, HD Two Speed Transfer case, with 3:52 posi rear limited slip front, as at the time as always you could order one however you wanted. That truck was amazing! I could load the entire bed with firewood and drive out of the woods, actually haule 2,200 lbs of prime rib 250 miles north in the dead of winter that kept it nice and cold. Inside the custom made cap I had, that sealed to the cab roof with rain proof car wash proof rubber seal, plus I could remove the cab window and had bean bass in the back on a shag rug covered plywood base. That was fantastic for a 3,500 mile road trip three of my friends and I took. We went to Disney for a few daze, staying with a good friend that worked there as a chef. Then off to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, in 1978, when the police were on strike! Man way a time that trip was! The only downer about that truck was the 12-16 mpg it got, loaded or empty, or 10 mpg towing a 6,000 lbs boat, like it wasn’t there, up the slippery boat ramps! I ended up having to sell when I lost my job due to closing.
Nice graphics on the hood, front fenders, doors etc. NOT!
Auction update: this listing ended with no sale.