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From: Jasper
Date: 4/2/02
Time: 9:03:15 PM
Charlie,
Fuhrman had the 1980 Scout, the last Scout that was ever made. It looked very much like a Bronco except for the absence of wheel lips and the Ford oval in the grill (page 508 of Iago). You're thinking of the earlier models. Those were the ones that looked like the classic Jeep because that's what the Scout evolved from There are lots of them on the road and that's what most people who know anything about the Scout think of when someone says the name.
The Bronco and the Blazer also evolved from the classic Jeep. They were all "Jeep-like" vehicles.
The early Bronco and Blazer pretty much copied the Scout. Then Ford and GM made styling changes in the mid-70s to combine the performance and styling features of a Jeep and a wagon. The '80 Scout was International Harvester's clunky-looking answer to the new styling of the Bronco and Blazer.
American Motors was building the Jeep all this time (throughout the '70s). Jeep followed the same styling trends as the Blazer and the Bronco with the biggest difference being the grill (I know the stylist and modelers who created it). You can tell an '94 Jeep from the Bronco or the Blazer immediately by that distinctive grill. You have to look a little closer to tell the difference between a Blazer and a Bronco from the front. From the side, the '80 Scout looks more like the '94 Bronco.
Most people have either never seen an '80 Scout (as opposed to the earlier models) or wouldn't know one if they saw it. That's what makes Heidstra's testimony so powerful.
When Kathleen Bell saw Fuhrman's Scout at Hennessey's Tavern, it was only six years old - almost brand new by Fuhrman's standards. Scout owners, as a group, tend to be extremely loyal to their vehicles and hang onto them until they fall apart. So, when did Fuhrman get rid of his Scout? How did he get rid of it? And Why? --Jasper