IH 1968 Scout 800 w/ 49K miles (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Joined
Jul 23, 2008
Threads
39
Messages
470
A friend of mine just bought this and isn't quite sure what she has. I'm a Land Cruiser guy myself and don't know much about Scouts, so I'd love to get feedback from those more familiar with Scouts to better understand what this is, and more importantly, what the best course forward for this is. I don't know if this is an absolute gem that collectors will salivate over or just a cool car to fix up for weekend drives.

Here's what I know for sure:
1968 Scout 800 2WD w/ 49K miles in good working condition. Very little rust, original paint. 3 speed. It's in a remote area of Alaska where A) getting parts and expertise will be difficult, and B) transporting this to a major city like Anchorage or Seattle for re-sale would be at least $4K. This was owned by an older couple for many years - they may even have been original owners. The low mileage is because where they are located has limited roads - you literally can't go more than maybe 30 miles in any direction without having to put the car on a barge to transport elsewhere.

Since I'm not a Scout expert, I can't tell for sure, but it looks like all original engine, dash, etc. The air cleaner doesn't look the same as a couple I've seen in photos, so maybe that's not OE - not sure. It's in perfectly sound mechanical condition for driving around town.

Take a look at these photos and tell me what you see. One Scout guy I bounced this off gave me a short reply of basically "don't repaint, keep everything stock", which reading between the lines says this might be truly collectible and my friend might be best off keeping as is and selling it to somebody that can really maximize it's value. If not, she's planning on just making it a really cool old car to drive around a very small town.

IMG_0213.jpeg

IMG_0215.jpeg

IMG_0221.jpeg


IMG_0217.jpeg

IMG_0224.jpeg
 
@kgrove

Scouts seem to be the bastard childs of the early 4x4 suvs, even though the Bronco was basically a copy cat of the Scout. Broncos are worth 10x as much, I'm not sure why scouts haven't really followed in value until just recently. I'm aware the Broncos were developed into a much more refined rig and had much better parts attached to them as time progressed.

I just bought a 1965 Scout 80 earlier this year for a future patina project so have been following the market a little bit. I you just look at them compared to the FJ40, you can see that the FJ is at least twice as robust - axle & ring and pinion size, dimensions of the frame, leaf springs, drivetrain, etc. The scouts are cool for sure, but just more light duty. I think that truck has value for sure, I think that being 2wd may bring the value down a bit over a 4x4 model, even though something like this will never need 4x4 ( garage queen / ice cream cruiser ). If it is as clean in person as it looks on the screen, with some effort it could probably bring $40k plus on a Bring a Trailer auction. Take a look on this page here:


I do really hate Bring a Trailer for what it has done to prices of these old trucks for enthusiast, but probably the easiest way to move it for your friend if she wants to. Do not do anything to it except get it working properly mechanically. All original sheet metal and paint raises the value over a respray.
 
That thing is a cream puff. It needs to be kept as is, or if there are changes made, keep the old parts. It looks pretty original. With 49k miles on it, some service items have most likely been replaced. It needs to be treated and kept as a classic car. Find and keep all the old paperwork. Its documented history builds value. If your friend decides to keep it, it needs to be serviced correctly. Put new tires on it but keep and store the old ones. For more info on the vehicle you might want to check out the binder planet/bulletin forum. If it had 4wd that would be great and add some value, but in its current condition it probably isnt a big deal.
 
Thanks, guys. This is really helpful information.

Any clue how to establish a value on this as is? Given the vehicle's location, it's going to be very expensive to ship it someplace where a collector could get it. EWheeler suggested maybe $40K. If that's in the ballpark, it might be worth moving. If it's not somewhere in that vicinity, it may be worth more to the owner as a super cool car to drive around town... which is why she bought it in the first place. What she for sure does NOT want to do is spend $5k to transport it to the lower 48 and then sell it for $20K where she would rather have kept the car as an ice cream cruiser.
 
Thanks, guys. This is really helpful information.

Any clue how to establish a value on this as is? Given the vehicle's location, it's going to be very expensive to ship it someplace where a collector could get it. EWheeler suggested maybe $40K. If that's in the ballpark, it might be worth moving. If it's not somewhere in that vicinity, it may be worth more to the owner as a super cool car to drive around town... which is why she bought it in the first place. What she for sure does NOT want to do is spend $5k to transport it to the lower 48 and then sell it for $20K where she would rather have kept the car as an ice cream cruiser.
I say keep the car and enjoy the heck out of it. It could be worth $40k to right buyer, but it could also be worth $20k at that specific moment in time if the right buyer doesn't put eyes on it while its for sale.
 
I say keep the car and enjoy the heck out of it. It could be worth $40k to right buyer, but it could also be worth $20k at that specific moment in time if the right buyer doesn't put eyes on it while its for sale.
That's where I'm leaning on my recommendation as well, unless I can get more confident the current value is inarguably 30K or more with essentially no risk of being less. Her intent when she bought it was just to have a cool car for around town, so she can do that for a couple years until the cool factor is overwhelmed by the pain-in-the-a$$ factor of driving a 50 yr old car, then sell it at that time as long as she doesn't do anything during that period that would reduce it's value to collectors.
 
That's where I'm leaning on my recommendation as well, unless I can get more confident the current value is inarguably 30K or more with essentially no risk of being less. Her intent when she bought it was just to have a cool car for around town, so she can do that for a couple years until the cool factor is overwhelmed by the pain-in-the-a$$ factor of driving a 50 yr old car, then sell it at that time as long as she doesn't do anything during that period that would reduce it's value to collectors.
If she wants to get value out of it, do it now. It's highly unlikely she will add value to the vehicle by using it, and it doesn't sound like she wants to dump any money into it to try and get it closer to perfect (I'm just thinking the mechanicals here) to increase/maximize value. While a very cool and unique old ride, there are cheaper cool and unique old rides, albeit not likely in as great of condition. I think the problem for her selling is she is likely going to have to pay for shipping to the states, like you said, and then pay someone for their troubles for storage while its listed. I've read it has taken over 2 months for some folks from initial contact to time of listing on Bring a Trailer.
 
Have her get it up and running and drive it. Put new tires on it to be safe, & store the old ones. Keep all the old parts and paperwork. Once folks see it, they will probably approach her and ask if she is willing to sell it. She needs to have a number in mind that she is willing to sell it for, and a much higher number to quote as a starting point for negotiating down closer to her #.
 
Absolutely no spray cans to "touch up" corners or anything.

Wash it, vacuum it, drive it to prove operation. Replace the hoses and rubber products. Driving a 50YO truck will require ability to adjust or rebuild a carburetor, replace hoses, brake lines. Since it has such low mileage, if it starts getting driven, the rubber products, brakes, and exhaust will become a problem and will need replaced due to the heat cycling. Keep and/or rebuild original parts. Fuel pump, wheel cylinders, carburetor, master cylinder.

It won't be worth "stupid money" because it is a 2WD. I am shocked that they even sold a 2WD in Alaska.

You could bring t down to the lower 48, but it probably ill not offset the $5K cost of getting it here.

Drive it and enjoy it, but consider placing it on BAT and let the new owner drive up to get it. That way THEY incur the freight cost, not you.

A friend of mine recently sold a 78 Scout II nowhere near this good of condition, (it was 4WD) for $5000.
 
Great comments. Luckily, this one doesn't fit the profile of a "barn find" in that it is currently and has always been fully operational, so no risk of lots of maintenance problems arising from renewed use. An elderly couple owned this and used it routinely. As a DD, it's good as is, but it needs to be cleaned and polished to be a collector car.

I'll have to do some serious digging on the 2WD values as gaining confidence on it's realizable value drives everything.
 
Great comments. Luckily, this one doesn't fit the profile of a "barn find" in that it is currently and has always been fully operational, so no risk of lots of maintenance problems arising from renewed use. An elderly couple owned this and used it routinely. As a DD, it's good as is, but it needs to be cleaned and polished to be a collector car.

I'll have to do some serious digging on the 2WD values as gaining confidence on it's realizable value drives everything.
Where in Alaska? I’m thinking west coast somewhere. How did it get there? You may be able to get a landing craft to haul it out of there.
Can’t be my region of SE, otherwise it would be rusted to hell.
The beast looks great. I had a ‘66 4x4 in Juneau for a couple years during the 80’s. The t also had the lame 4 cylinder. So noisy it reminded me of a small airplane.
Mine wasn’t too bad on the rust but definitely heading in that direction. I sold it for $600 running. That’s the right price for one of these. :)
 
Where in Alaska? I’m thinking west coast somewhere. How did it get there? You may be able to get a landing craft to haul it out of there.
Can’t be my region of SE, otherwise it would be rusted to hell.
The beast looks great. I had a ‘66 4x4 in Juneau for a couple years during the 80’s. The t also had the lame 4 cylinder. So noisy it reminded me of a small airplane.
Mine wasn’t too bad on the rust but definitely heading in that direction. I sold it for $600 running. That’s the right price for one of these. :)
Yes, western Alaska. The locals, fisherman, Fish and Game, etc. ship cars, building materials, heavy equipment, etc in by cargo ship - anything too bulky or heavy for air shipment. Most cars never leave once there because it generally works out in everyone's best interest to sell the car to another local when you leave.

Rust often is a problem, but I think the elderly couple that originally owned it A) may have garaged it all winter, and B) were obviously meticulous with maintenance and care, and C) barely drove it, and when they did it was just running errands in town not out beating the bush.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom