cazalea
[Seiko Moderator]
17049
International Harvester and VW?
from AutoNews:
Volkswagen Group's proposed $3.7 billion bid to acquire the assets of Navistar International could eventually have interesting implications for SUV and pickup fans — as well as dealers.
The International brand didn't always just make semitrucks, school buses other large industrial work vehicles. It was an SUV pioneer that had the misfortune of exiting the consumer market just before utility vehicle sales exploded in the early 1980s.
The International Harvester Scout, manufactured from 1961 to 1980, was a two-door, soft-top SUV that rivaled the Jeep Wrangler and its spiritual ancestors, the Land Rover Series I and Series II, (precursor to the Defender) and the original soft-top, two-door 1966-75 Ford Bronco. The International Harvester Travelall, built from 1953 to 1975, was a big, beefy, high-riding, four-door, V-8, four-wheel-drive SUV designed for off-road family excursions long before that was a cool pursuit...
International Harvester-branded vehicles designed specifically for off-road adventures could fill a Grand Canyon-sized chasm in Volkswagen's lineup. Though International has been out of the SUV market for 40 years, it isn't dead — at least to some consumers. Just like the Broncos and Defenders of days past, International has a rabid following among classic SUV fans. While it seems unlikely that any VW-branded SUV could ever really compete in sales volume or prestige with Jaguar Land Rover's Range Rover and other megabuck, off-road luxury utility vehicles, a reimagined upmarket International Travelall, loaded with VW's technology, just might.
I know one guy in San Diego who will be very interested (I think)!
Funny how they seem to cluster around a single man's house (and I do mean SINGLE MAN because what wife would tolerate this?)
Cheers,
Cazalea
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