VW's International Harvester Scout will reportedly be a true off-roader

Volkswagen's born-again International Harvester Scout is beginning to take shape. While official details remain few and far between, an unverified report claims that the model is being developed as a true off-roader and that it won't arrive as the product of badge engineering.

Jeff Bade, a prominent member of the vintage Scout community, wrote on Facebook that he spent time talking to some of the engineers and designers tasked with bringing the project to fruition and got the chance to check out early prototypes. While he didn't share photos of what he saw, he reported that community and history are "very important" to the folks in charge of resurrecting the Scout and they want to stay as true to the original as possible. That doesn't mean putting AMC's 258-cubic-inch straight-six back into production; instead, the SUV and pickup variants of the Scout will land as true off-roaders designed to venture far off the pavement. They won't be city-friendly crossovers.

We know that the models in the rebooted Scout range will exclusively be offered with an electric powertrain, but Bade learned that they won't ride on an existing platform like the MEB architecture that underpins the ID. Buzz, among other models. This suggests — but certainly doesn't confirm — that they'll use a platform developed specifically for the project. He added that the aftermarket is "very important" to the Scout team, and that owners will have the option of customizing and working on their truck. "This is not going to follow a Tesla philosophy."