Photo: eBay User: grant235c9
In some trippy parallel universe where International Harvester kept making passenger vehicles, the Scout II is the modern darling of the off-road scene, not the Ford Bronco or Jeep Wrangler. At least, you could claim that if you wanted to sound like a hipster who prefers obscure, forgotten riff-raff over anything recognizable to a modern audience. But even so, the International Harvester Scout and Scout II are admittedly a genuine curiosity. A classic four-wheel drive American SUV from a company that isn't Ford, Chrysler, or GM? How could it not be cool?
But some International Scouts are special in ways other than being the scrappy underdog in the original 4x4 SUV craze of the 60s and 70s. Some left the factory sporting a powertrain that would looked alien to most Americans of the day. Sure, diesel engines in classic 4x4s is nothing new. Sure, the Chevy K5 Blazer famously offered a 6.2-liter Detroit Diesel V8 in its second generation for a time, but that was a big, burly American monster of an engine. But a Japanese diesel engine in an American truck? Now, that must've felt like blasphemy to the sensibilities of the time.
But this is no engine swap. For a period of time during its nine-year production run between April 1971 and October 1980, the International Harvester Scout II could be bought from the dealership with a 198-cubic inch (3.2 L) Nissan SD33 six-cylinder diesel engine. Outside of North America, this engine is most well known for its use in the third-generation 160-series Nissan Patrol 4x4, sold in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Europe during the 1980s. In the model's last years of 1979 and 1980, this Nissan diesel engine was upgraded with a non-intercooled turbocharger.
But this 1978 model for sale out of Corrales, New Mexico, near Albuquerque, has to make do with the SD33 in its naturally aspirated configuration. It was only good for 92 horsepower and 154 lb-ft of torque, not great even by the standards of the day. But what we would call antiquated and sluggish, Nissan and International Harvester called durable. As per the seller's information noted below the listing, this truck's original owner rebuilt the engine in the late 1980s and hasn't had a problem ever since.
With an odometer reading 43,000 miles with only five digits, it's safe to assume the real mileage on this truck has an extra one tacked on at the beginning. Still, being nearly 50 years old and pretty bare bones in features might not make this the most desirable classic SUV on the market. But with a selling price on eBay auctions of 11,600.00, we challenge someone to find an equivalent classic K5 Blazer, Bronco, or Range Rover for the same money.
But this is no engine swap. For a period of time during its nine-year production run between April 1971 and October 1980, the International Harvester Scout II could be bought from the dealership with a 198-cubic inch (3.2 L) Nissan SD33 six-cylinder diesel engine. Outside of North America, this engine is most well known for its use in the third-generation 160-series Nissan Patrol 4x4, sold in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Europe during the 1980s. In the model's last years of 1979 and 1980, this Nissan diesel engine was upgraded with a non-intercooled turbocharger.
But this 1978 model for sale out of Corrales, New Mexico, near Albuquerque, has to make do with the SD33 in its naturally aspirated configuration. It was only good for 92 horsepower and 154 lb-ft of torque, not great even by the standards of the day. But what we would call antiquated and sluggish, Nissan and International Harvester called durable. As per the seller's information noted below the listing, this truck's original owner rebuilt the engine in the late 1980s and hasn't had a problem ever since.
With an odometer reading 43,000 miles with only five digits, it's safe to assume the real mileage on this truck has an extra one tacked on at the beginning. Still, being nearly 50 years old and pretty bare bones in features might not make this the most desirable classic SUV on the market. But with a selling price on eBay auctions of 11,600.00, we challenge someone to find an equivalent classic K5 Blazer, Bronco, or Range Rover for the same money.
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