 20060329 My Fort Wayne heirloom
 I bought a truck for the space. Not just any truck, but a 1970 International Harvester Scout built in Fort Wayne. The Scout was one of the first civilian American off-road SUVs. It was made with the ability to remove the cab, windows, roof, and the windshield. I've dreamt of owning one since the day I turned 16. The International Harvester plant operated in Fort Wayne for 50 years before closing in 1982 amid a declining agriculture economy (IH earned its reputation for farm equipment). They were a backbone to the city's industrial complex, employing 10,000 workers. When they produced their final scout (pictured above) and closed their doors for good, Fort Wayne was slammed. The slack was eventually picked up 3 years later by GM who built a truck assembly plant on the other side of town, close to the suburb I grew up in. Still, 20 years later, residents talk of 'International' with bitterness, and pride, like the deeds of a deceased family member whose ghost haunts them. Me, well, I'm just excited that my hometown contributed so much to Americana. Yeah yeah yeah, I realize it's a gas-guzzler, but damn it's cool. Labels: Fort Wayne 14
Comments:
said... driving us ever deeper into our dependency on foriegn oil... ;) 12:29 PM said... A friend of mine had a Scout in high school, we had a ton of fun with it. Enjoy. 3:42 PM said... I believe the enclosed Scout was called the first Sport Utility Vehicle. GQ or Esquire once did a profile on the Scout as a cool vehicle. So, very retro cool. Proudly built in Adams Township while it was still a DMZ between New Haven and Fort Wayne. 2:23 PM sarah said... I learned to drive on a 1958 Scout. 7:56 PM said... Very cool. Although I can't believe that something so small has a V8! 4:18 PM said... My dad worked at Harvester until he lost his job when the plant closed in the early 1980s. The old plant's a cool looking building, with the large tower being visible from miles around. Click to view photos of the plant. The area around the plant is pretty dilapidated these days, with a few old run-down union halls and bars surrounding the plant. I suppose these places were packed at shift changes, but not anymore. Bert Ehrmann 4:35 PM holtetboards said... it amazes me how many people in that photo are wearing thick, black-framed glasses. 5:22 PM Lonnie Bruner said... Zach, I desperately wanted an International Scout (diesel) when I was 16, too. My neighbor had one, but the floorboards were rusted through so you could see the street while driving. I got a 1966 GTO instead so I was happy. Congrats on the new purchase. Cheers, Lonnie Bruner 7:16 PM John said... My, you really have it BAD for Fort Wayne, don't you? When are you moving back? International Truck & Engine, www.nav-international.com , is now using some of Harvester's old office space, I believe. 6:59 AM sarah said... And my tractor is an I H 584 3:44 PM Hipster Pit said... My dad had a bright yellow scout when I was growing up -- I have many memories of that truck, the brown leather bench seats, etc. etc. 10:42 AM Hipster Pit said... My dad had a bright yellow scout when I was growing up -- I have many memories of that truck, the brown leather bench seats, etc. etc. 10:44 AM said... Kool, I still want one =). My dad worked there and bought a brand new one, bright orange, was sweet, I still cut the grass with the 1972 cub cadet IH lawn tracker he bought also. Both were built to last, I can stand on the fender of the cub cadet and jump up and down 6'5 225' talk about solid, if I did that on a modern mower I would be in serious trouble along with the soda can metal work or plastic on todays items. To bad the scouts had rust issues, but none the less even rusted up they still are a sweet sexy piece to talk about, modern suv's ( you know who you are, all pimped out with your swanky features ), you got nothing on the Scout baby. IH FW was where it was at, to bad they skipped town. =( Reporting from back in the fort...... WT PS: we still got Powers Hamburgers though !!!! =) I once convinced 3 guys (not from the Fort) during finals week in college to drive 5 hours round trip just to sit at the counter and down some burgers, I think I probably flunked the test but man that lingering onion taste left in my mouth and gut during the test was so worth the scrore. 12:43 PM said... Your "Last One" picture means a lot to me. That Scout is sitting in my garage. It was just through Fort Wayne and stopped at the Scout creator's home. He and I had a very nice visit. dieselscout 6:31 PM Post a Comment |
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 Hi, I'm Zach. I grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana and graduated from Wake Forest. After college, I moved to Manhattan to get serious about a company I ran with friends. We sold it to Barry Diller's InterActiveCorp in 2006. I just wrapped up with a project I co-founded called Vimeo and left CV to focus on being a twenty-five year old. I have another blog called Copy and Taste, where I post about learning to cook. I live in Brooklyn now.  Del.icio.us My Flickr Me on Flickr Last.fm Linked in MySpace Netflix History Vimeo  Amir Blumenfeld Chris Bodenner Mareen Fischinger Fort Wayne Observed Nick Gray Hype Machine Jake and Amir Jakob Lodwick Oh My Rockness Jonathan Marcus Youngna Park Megan Scheminske Eliot Shepard Shorpy Signal vs. Noise Alex Soth Stereogum Ricky Van Veen Khoi Vinh Eugene Wyatt   Postal Skype SMS (via AIM) |
