Boy Scouts do good deeds — like helping old ladies across the street. Today, has a Scout that'll get you across, whether there's a street or not. And it doesn't matter how old you are.

Ever since the late 1960s, there has been a superfluity of vehicles sold in the U.S. that have had pretensions of off-roadability. Some have walked the walk- Trail-Rated Jeeps, etc. Others have only talked the talk- insert the name of any one of a number of jacked-up wagons wrapped in dark gray plastic cladding here. But back in the day – before SUVs became something for suburban housewives to accessorize with – there were some seriously capable contenders that, were they available at the time, would have let the Donner Party stay Vegan. One of those hailed from the great state of Illinois, and from a company that was famous not only for building stout passenger vehicles, but more so for the machinery that formed the second half of its name- Harvester. The other part of the name - International - derived from the 1902 merger of five smaller farm machinery manufacturers into an American industrial giant.

The resultant built all breed of farm equipment, as well as the rugged trucks and wagons that farmers needed to slog their goods to town, and for farmer's daughters to flash their corn-fed good looks from the windows of. One such truck was the Scout, which evolved over its nineteen-year lifespan, but, like a true eagle scout, never compromised on its intended mission.

This is representative of the breed: two doors, removable ass-heavy steel cap and 4WD. Several engines were made available in the Scout - including a Nissan Diesel in both naturally aspirated and turbo guises at one point. But clamped under the hood of this metallic blue wagon is International's 304-cid V8 (not to be confused with AMC's V8 of the same displacement) which put out about 182 horsepower. Behind that is most likely the 727 3-speed tranny, and below, Dana 33 axles in front and 44 in back to keep it from scraping the pavement.

The seller claims that this 80K-mile Scout has been a project that he and his dad have been working on, and that the state of the economy is forcing the sale. That may have also forced him to lower the price several times, making the litany of work already undertaken on the IHC all the more of a value. New paint, chrome, tires, brake master (drums all the way around, by the way) headliner and more. That work alone would be worth the $8,500 asking price, if you had to do it yourself. But is the sum of its parts worth the sum of the asking?

And therein lies the conundrum, do you think the seller is being a good scout by asking $8,500? Or, does that price make this a bitter harvest?

You decide!

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