- Scout is reviving one of my favorite features from old American trucks: Bench seats.
- Unlike in current full-size trucks, Scout says the three-person bench option will be available on higher trims, too.
- It's a simple choice, but one that shows Scout understands American truck buyers, and the romantic vision of the all-purpose truck.
The Scout Terra and Traveler EVs will offer all of the features we've come to expect from a modern, off-road truck. They'll have tons of clearance, room for 35-inch tires, disconnecting sway bars and the ability to climb 100% grades. They also have a few throwback touches, like solid rear axles and, most importantly, a bench seat.
That means you'll be able to seat three people in the front row. It's a useful boon to practicality. But it's more than that. It's the return of an option that used to be everywhere, that's gone nearly extinct. An option deeply interconnected with the American love affair with the automobile. Bench seats aren't just another configuration. They're drive-in movies. They're cozying up next to your partner during a monotonous drive. They're seats for sunset overlooking the water, for your kid's first ride up front or for your dog. They're a reminder that cars aren't just about comfort, they're about going places together.
Forgive me for getting misty-eyed. But my love of the bench seat isn't new. About 20 years ago, my dad was heading out on business trip. On our three-sibling rotating schedule, it was my turn to tag along, and string a one-on-one adventure onto the back end of his trip. I made one request plain: There would be a pickup truck and a bench seat. Other details didn't matter.
Too young for the front passenger seat, I convinced my dad that the middle of the bench seat was open to kids. At the time, I believed it. These days, I don't know if that's true. It certainly isn't the safest seat. But when I see a three-across bench, I picture me and my dad out on the highway in a Dodge Ram, cruising through Florida, with me ducking if we saw a cop car.
I picture the first car I bought with my own money, a 2006 Lincoln Town Car I purchased in 2017, as a college junior. Me and two of my best friends—both broad-shouldered rugby players—squeezing into the front bench together, for no reason other than the experience alone. The tippy Town Car rolled heavily in every corner, with all of us squished up against each other, blasting music and grinning. I picture all the camping trips I've taken in my 2001 Tahoe, and how I've wished in my bones that I could have my partner occasionally slide up next to me, rather than sitting at the end of my reach.
I picture, too, all the old Tacomas and T100s, all the 20-year old Silverados and all the beat-up commercial trucks I see lumbering around San Diego, with three workers sitting in a row. All of them sacrificing a bit of comfort for practicality. All using the cheapest tool that'll get the job done. All elbow-to-elbow.
I'm romanticizing something simple here, I know that. I know they're usually less comfortable, less practical for how most private buyers really use their cars. I know that if I got a Scout I'd probably keep the middle seat folded down most of the time.
But I also know that romanticizing something simple is the whole spirit of the truck market. A good truck is an honest truck, one that prioritizes practical matters above all else. After years of testing $80,000, loaded-up luxury trucks, nothing catches my eye like a stripper-spec single-cab truck on steelies. I pine not for a Chevy Colorado ZR2, but a Work Truck Colorado in white or tan, with steel wheels, rubber floors, rubber bumpers and a simple cabin. The only thing that makes me want a Silverado more is that I can get a Silverado—or F-150, or Ram 1500—with a front bench, while all the mid-sizers are bucket-seat only.
I thought that was a sign of the times. I wasn't surprised that Ford declined to offer a bench seat in the electric F-150 Lightning, despite offering it on the nearly-identical-inside gas version. I thought those future-focused EV truck buyers would scorn the archaic bench seat. I thought solid axles were going away, too, and hard buttons.
But Scout will carry that torch. Neither the SUV or truck will be a simple machine on its face. They'll offer big touch screens, 800-volt architectures, on-board power stations and a bunch of off-road gadgets. But they'll have fewer moving parts and less complexity than any gas truck on sale. They'll offer real, mechanical lockers and a solid rear axle. They'll offer winches, and range extenders, and all the stuff you might need if you do grueling work or adventures far off the pavement. And when you reach that ultimate destination, on the overlook of the canyon or on the opposite coast, you'll be able to slide next to your partner, and watch the sun go down together.
That's what I love about old American trucks. And Scout has finally convinced me that there's a future for that spirit in the EV era.
Contact the author: Mack.hogan@insideevs.com.
