I probably shouldn't have tried to write a DOTS post a couple hours after coming home from a crazy weekend of racing, but I did... and totally spaced on the Truck Monday tradition. Not that the Datsun 1200 isn't a great car, but we're supposed to have a truck here to start our week, dammit! To make up for that screwup, I'm going with a truck I've been saving for a special occasion: a rusty, crusty survivor straight from the Alaskan bush!

You don't see a lot of Alaskan plates in Alameda (Hawaiian ones used to be fairly common, with the huge Navy base on the island and many sailors bringing cars from the islands); this truck seems to have become a permanent resident, so we'll probably see boring ol' California plates on it one of these days. I like to imagine this thing grinding down some icy dirt road with a bunch of tools rattling in the back. I'm not sure whether "Scout II Traveler," "Scout Traveler," or just "Traveler" is the preferred nomenclature; you Scout guys can weigh in on this issue.


It's even a diesel (or at least has diesel emblems). The diesel engine for '77 was a six-cylinder, 92-horse Nissan unit.


Looks like the oxidation brigade has been at work here; the Alameda climate will slow the rot to a crawl. I think Jack London himself would have driven this truck, had he lived long enough (102 years) to buy one. In fact, London probably used IHC farm machinery at his Beauty Ranch in Sonoma County.

Send an email to Murilee Martin, the author of this post, at murilee@jalopnik.com.