ID.4

Make
Volkswagen
Segment
SUV

Scout Motors, the revived off-road brand now owned by Volkswagen, is coming back to the world in a big way by returning to some very familiar but old territory: the Baja 1000. Scout has announced its return to the grueling off-road endurance race by entering a vintage Terra to race at the NORRA Mexican 1000, more widely known as the Baja 1000. So why is Scout returning to the famed Mexican peninsula?

"Off-road racing serves as a proving ground for American automotive die-hards," said Scout Motors CEO and President Scott Keogh. "The Baja peninsula, in particular, is the spiritual home for high-performance off-road racing. As we build Scout Motors, it's only fitting we start in Baja in classically proven trucks to capture the essence of Scout. From there, the NORRA Mexican 1000 is a chance for us to draw inspiration from Scout racing heritage and learn how to best inject future products with off-road DNA and rugged capability."

Scout has embarked on this adventure with the Anything Scout Vintage Racing Team. Anything Scout is a retro-mod shop that's all about - you guessed it - vintage Scouts.

This time, their chariot of choice is a vintage 1976 Scout Terra. Old? Yes, but it's set to race for five days beginning on April 30. The goal is to cross the finish line at San Jose del Cabo on May 4. The last time Scout took part in Baja was way back in 1982 and its return will be led by Sean Barber, owner of Anything Scout Vintage Racing.

"When I get behind the wheel of a Scout, I feel a strong emotional connection with the past, the community, and the outdoors," said Barber. "We started building the Race Terra in late 2022 and quickly turned around a vintage-style dirt-trouncing machine. The idea was to keep it simple, keep it strong, and keep it Scout. This is what Scouts are made to do."

This return to Baja is intended to help bring additional attention to the revived Scout Motors. Long-time enthusiasts will obviously follow the latest happenings but this is also an opportunity to introduce Scout to a new and younger generation.

That '76 Terra is not a retro mod or anything of the sort; it has nothing in common with any current Volkswagen vehicle, like the ID. 4. This thing is purely combustion-powered with an International Harvester stock 195 ci, 4-cylinder engine under the hood paired to a close-ratio four-speed manual gearbox. Additional features include Dana 44 with alloy shafts and General Grabber X3 tires. Meanwhile, the revived Scout Motors is already making significant progress.

Last month, it announced it will begin construction of a new factory in South Carolina that's scheduled to begin operations by the end of 2026. A new Scout SUV and truck will both be produced there and neither will ride on any other VW Group platform but rather their own all-new EV architectures.

We'd love to see Scout enter the Baja 1000 with a heavily modified EV one day in the future. Something tells us they're thinking exactly the same.