We find the Scout...

In August 2007, my friend Chris called to inform me he had located a vehicle for us to use on our hunting lease. He found an old Scout just outside Austin, Texas, sitting on the side of the road with a "FOR SALE" sign in the window. The Scout was paired up with a off-road-rigged golf cart and together they made for what I felt was an attractive deal. So with a little negotiating and sight unseen, except for these photos, I secured the Scout (and the golf cart). Little did I realize this was a committment to what would ultimately become quite an investment! If I had only known....

It is a testament to his driving prowess or stuborness or maybe something else less glorious but Chris did manage somehow to actually drive the Scout from Austin to the deer lease near Dublin. This is a drive of several hours and with the steering in the poor condition I discovered it was in, it is truly something of a miracle he made it safely. We drove the Scout on the lease for only a few weeks before the engine seized up. The old 196cc 4 banger finally gave up the ghost after 31 years.

Having a dead Scout over a hundred miles from home resulted in my purchasing a flat bed car-hauler trailer. I also figured I would need a way to get the Scout onto the trailer so I purchased as large a come-along as I could locate. With the assistance of a friend using the come along and a long chain we literally man-handled the Scout inch-by-inch up the ramps onto the trailer.

The trip to Dallas was not to be without drama. I really wasn't able to position the Scout far enough forward on the trailer to get the weight right for proper load balancing. With too much weight on the rear of the trailer it became unstable anytime I got up over about 45 to 50 mph. Several times I detected some trailer whip but I settled it down quickly by gently braking to reduce speed. But the trip was long and I became distracted just long enough to let my speed get up to almost 60 mph. I instantly knew I was in trouble when I looked back in the mirrors and saw how bad the trailer and the Scout were swerving. Several vehicles on the highway behind me actually pulled off the highway onto the shoulder. I'm sure they felt they were about to witness some bone-head's disaster. But luck was with us! I pumped the brakes gently and didn't panic and I got us slowed down and back in line somehow.