Volkswagen Group is in the process of reviving the Scout nameplate for a new off-road brand offering electric SUVs and pickup trucks.
The first of the modern Scouts will be revealed in 2024 and enter production two years later, at a plant to be constructed near Columbia, South Carolina.
To build up to the reveal, VW Group’s recently established Scout Motors division will back a team racing an original International Harvester Scout, in this case a 1976 Scout Terra, in the 2023 NORRA Mexican 1000.
The pickup truck will be fielded by the Anything Scout Vintage Racing Team, run by Sean Barber, the owner of Anything Scout, a company specializing in Scout restomods.
Anything Scout Vintage Racing Team’s 1976 Scout Terra
The team’s Scout Terra will be entered in the Mexican 1000’s Legends Era 4×4 class, and feature only a few mods needed to survive the rough conditions of Mexico’s Baja peninsula. Among the mods will be Dana 44 axles and General Grabber X3 off-road tires.
VW Group is no stranger to the Mexican 1000. In 2021, it fielded a modified Volkswagen ID.4 with Rhys Millen Racing in the event.
This year’s race starts on April 30 and runs over five days, between Ensenada and San José del Cabo.
The last time a factory-sponsored Scout ran at Baja was in 1982, when Sherman Balch and James Acker took class wins in nearly every event on the peninsula, including the Baja 1000.
