Scout Race Terra to run Mexican 1000

Scout will once again race in Baja California as the manufacturer has partnered with Anything Scout Vintage Racing Team to field a 1976 Scout Terra for team owner Sean Barber at the NORRA Mexican 1000.

Unlike the current Scout Motors Inc., which is a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group founded in 2022 to build electric off-road vehicles, the original Scout was an SUV model produced by International Harvester from 1961 to 1980. The Terra is a variant of the Scout II built in the final five years of the series’ life.

Two years after the line’s discontinuation, Sherman Balch and team-mates James Acker and Byron Rexwinkle piloted an IH Scout 392 to the Class 3S victory at the 1982 Pernod-SCORE International Baja 1000 in what would be its last factory-backed appearance in Baja motorsport. Most Scout racing action took place in Class 3 and its variations for four-wheel-drive short-wheelbase vehicles, with Jimmy Jones being the first to run the legendary Baja 1000 in one and finishing thirteenth overall. IH increased its involvement into full-fledged factory support in 1976 for those like Jones and Balch, as well as Jerry Boone and Frank Howarth.

International Harvester was reformed into Navistar in 1985. Volkswagen inherited the Scout name after its Traton truck offshoot merged with Navistar in 2021, and the German company quickly put it to use for electric pickup trucks and SUVs.

“Off-road racing serves as a proving ground for American automotive die-hards,” Scout Motors CEO and President Scott Keogh stated. “The Baja peninsula, in particular, is the spiritual home for high performance off-road racing. As we build Scout Motors, it’s only fitting we start in Baja in classically proven trucks to capture the essence of Scout. From there, the NORRA Mexican 1000 is a chance for us to draw inspiration from Scout racing heritage and learn how to best inject future products with off-road DNA and rugged capability.”

The Scout Terra that Barber will race, nicknamed the “Race Terra”, began construction in late 2022 as what its owner called “a vintage style dirt-trouncing machine. The idea was to keep it simple, keep it strong, and keep it Scout. This is what Scouts are made to do.”

It features a four-cylinder International Harvester stock engine that is 195 cubic inches (3,195.48 cc) in size, as well as a four-speed manual transmission.

Barber will compete in the Legend 4×4s category. As of this article’s publication, others in the class include a 1969 Chevrolet K5 Blazer driven by Mike Williams and the 1972 Ford Bronco of Chris Greenwood. There are six currently entered entries categorised as Legend Era vehicles for those produced between 1976 and 1982.

The Mexican 1000 will run from 30 April to 4 May.

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