TEXT BY: CHRISTIAN GLAZAR PHOTOS: IAN MCGEE
hether or not you believe in the concept of destiny, it might help explain how 20-year-old Colton Stevens — born in Modesto, California, 24 years to the day after the last Scout SUV rolled off the line in South Bend, Indiana — became known to his high school friends and acquaintances as The Scout Guy. “I bleed Scout blood … people get annoyed with how much I talk about Scouts,” Colton admits with a laugh.
Modesto is the hometown of George Lucas, and it’s where he set his seminal car-culture coming-of-age film, American Graffiti. In Modesto, people know their cars and trucks. “All my friends had their cars, and I felt like I needed to one-up them,” says Colton. “That’s why I really gravitated to the Scout [brand].”
Destiny seemed to play a role in the way the first Scout truck came into Colton’s life. His dad, Jason, stumbled upon a Scout II™ model about 10 years ago on Google Street View when checking a client’s address for a meeting. He didn’t know how old that image was, whether the truck was still parked in front of the client’s house, or if it was, what kind of shape it was in.
But it was there. Jason went inside, did his sales pitch — he owns an HVAC installation business — and asked the owner if his Scout II was for sale. “Yeah, I’ll sell it,” he said, taking him outside for a closer look. It turned out to be a pretty complete car.
“He hadn’t driven it in probably six to eight months,” says Jason. “It literally fired up on the first crank.” They struck a deal, Jason brought the Scout II home, and 10-year-old Colton was turned loose, completely detailing the entire car inside and out. The father and son duo tinkered around with it, drove it around on the weekends for a few years, and when Colton earned his driver’s license, he began to drive it to school every chance he got.
That’s when the second Scout truck joined the Stevens family’s burgeoning collection — also sourced from a client. “I told Colton this guy’s got a Scout 80 just sitting on his dairy farm, and I don’t know what the deal with it is,” Jason recalls. “And he goes, ‘Reach out to him, call him right now!’ So, I shot him a text and he explained that one of his workers parked it there 35 years ago, and it has been sitting ever since.”
He also revealed a bit of a complication: the ’64 Scout 80™ model had been sold to a neighbor five years before; the neighbor had then moved to Southern California and never picked up the truck. Fortunately, they were able to track him down, and he told them he didn’t want it after all. This time, Colton was the buyer. “I took out an advance loan from my dad because obviously, being a 15- or 16-year-old kid … not much money,” he says. “But I did pay him back.”
The Scout 80 was parked all those years ago due to an engine fire. “The hood is kind of warped, but other than that, it’s super clean,” says Colton. “Weirdly clean, with very little rust on it.” That’s not something you often hear about old Scout trucks that have spent decades sitting in a field, but Colton and Jason agree that it should be an easy restoration — eventually. “It’s really easy to strip them down real fast, you know, but the rebuild process … that’s a lot longer of a timeframe,” Colton says. And a lot more expensive.
That’s a lesson he’s learned a couple of times; the Scout II Colton drove through high school was also torn down with the intention of being completely restored before he and Jason came to the realization that they just didn’t have the bandwidth to complete the job. It has since been packed off to Riptide 4×4 in Delaware for a full restoration, and they are eagerly anticipating its return this summer.
Meanwhile, two other vintage Scout vehicles compete for their limited attention. “Facebook Marketplace is our best friend,” laughs Colton, recounting how they turned up a rare Scout Aristocrat, one of only 2,500 examples of what Jason describes as the “dolled up” version of the Scout 800A, produced in 1969. It’s a pretty complete car with matching numbers but is missing its engine, making it a candidate for an eventual LS swap.
More recently, Marketplace led them to a 1971 Scout Comanche in Colorado, which they purchased and had shipped to Modesto. That one is in driving condition and a reminder of what they can look forward to when the other three are brought back to life. “We’re probably going to keep it just the way it is,” Jason says. “It’s got dents and dings and it’s got some patina, but it’s just a cool car. Every time we take it out, people ask about it.’”
With four old Scout SUVs from four distinct generations—what Colton calls the “quad-fecta”—you might be wondering how the father and son feel about the rebirth of the brand.
“When they announced that they’re relaunching the Scout [brand], I was in from Day One,” Colton says. “I was a part of the forums and on all social media platforms, just being super passionate about it because in my mind, for Scout to carry on, it really needs to be this new generation coming in, seeing these older vehicles and getting excited for the newer vehicles.”
October 24, 2024 — the day the Scout Traveler™ SUV and Terra™ pickup were revealed to the public for the first time — was practically a holiday in the Stevens household. “Colton leaves work early, comes over to my office, and we put it up on the TV,” recounts Jason. “We’re streaming it, and the whole time he’s on pins and needles, and he’s looking at me like, ‘What do you think?’ And I go, ‘It’s pretty badass.’
“Honestly I’d be a big critic if they didn’t do it correctly,” Jason continues. “Just everything we’ve seen on it, like that body line on the Traveler that resembles the 80 and the 800, it just turned out great.” So, in addition to the four old Scout vehicles, they have orders in for four more — a Traveler model and a Terra model apiece.
As brightly as the passion burns, finding the time and money to resurrect vintage Scout vehicles can be a challenge, especially with the onset of adulthood and the responsibilities that come with it. Since graduating from high school, Colton has gone to trade school to become an HVAC technician, after working summers as an installer for Jason’s company. Today he’s in charge of supply chain logistics for the family business. He’s saving up for a house and for starting a family of his own, and he keeps all that in perspective.
“Colton is very driven and very methodical,” Jason says. “He has a plan for his entire life and he’s got the bank accounts that he puts his money in every single month: his wedding account, his house account, his ‘do not spend’ account, and he literally divides it up every single month. He doesn’t have a Scout account because the other things, in his opinion — which I agree with — are a lot more important.”
But the Scout brand plays a role in those more important things, as well. Of his Scout 80 project, Colton has a specific deadline in mind. “You know, I’d love to drive the Scout 80 out on my wedding day. Right now, I’m focused on building out its frame, getting a rolling chassis on it, and then just tinkering with it through these coming years. When I get it done, that will be a very rewarding moment.”
Whether it’s destiny or not, you can bet that Colton’s going to make every effort to fulfill that dream.
