Sunday, July 14, 2013
New Indian Sport Scout 45
A uniquely colorful example of Indian’s time-honored war-era workhorse, this two-tone Yellow and White Sport Scout hails from the personal collection of Indian restorer and collector John Rank. The original color scheme is laid over original sheetmetal in traditional fashion for one hundred percent accuracy and correctness.
The Sport Scout helped Indian’s fortunes and quickly earned a reputation for superior performance and agility, enhanced by great racing success. At the 1936 gathering of the Los Angeles 45 Club at Muroc Dry Lake, Fred Ludlow achieved a remarkable 128.57 mph on a Sport Scout, and in 1937 Ed “Iron Man” Kretz won the Daytona 200 on one. Despite being the last in a long line of side-valve Indians stretching back to 1916, it became a mainstay of Class C racing. The side-valve would be surpassed by new technology, but the Sport Scout was never truly eclipsed, for as historian Richard Renstrom once wrote, it was “designed and raced by men who were unconcerned about anything not produced in America the Sport Scout.a monument to an engineering ideal.
Literally, the new sport Scout 45 does have knee action. A new front fork design with coil spring suspension permits the fork complete with wheel, guard and headlight to ride over road obstacles independent of the rest of the machine. The stability of the front wheel within the assembly permits a trim and close fitting front fender which adds much to the stream lining of the whole job.
