TMCP #384: Sean Barber; Anything Scout and New Legend 4×4 – The Business of Providing Parts and Building Cool (and Niche) Off Road Rigs!

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FEATURE INTERVIEW:

Sean Barber
Anything Scout & New Legend 4×4

New Legend – Scout
Sean Barber – Anything Scout’s “LS Swap” Waiting List

In this episode I had the privilege of doing something rare; an interview with a local shop! I traveled across Ames to do a rare live interview with Sean Barber, owner of Anything Scout and New Legend 4×4. Believe it or not, but in the small college town of Ames, IA lives one of the premier businesses in the world of International Scout parts, supplies, and custom builders. This interview tells their story of specializing in the niche of Scouts – and of going ALL IN on the business of choosing the custom route for them vs factory restorations (which they also like – but no longer do).

Sean has been a car guy since a young age and was swapping engines in and out of cars or trucks before he could drive. Once out of school he moved to California and met the love of his life….and her Jeep! The off road scene of the West coast appealed to him and he started swapping engines into a different off-road vehicle; an International Scout. Scouts’ quickly became his favorite thing.

Anything Scout and New Legend 4×4 – work bays (note the diesel in the red Scout).

Scouts do have a niche and loyal following, and Sean purchased a business in that field that held one of the coveted licenses from International to sell replacement Scout parts (since there were no new dealers to go to any more). His business went from providing replacement parts to doing service work, to (admittedly) anything that would keep income coming in the door.

Anything Scout: LS Swap Kits

After a visit to Ames, IA to visit from friends the Barbers decided to locate their family – and their business – to the Midwest. While the “walk in” service work from California was something they knew would likely disappear, their hope was to use Internet Marketing (forums, YouTube, etc.) to make their presence known – and it worked! They also took an ALL IN approach to modify Scouts from crude zero-caster poor driving vehicles into something nice and reliable to drive. This led to LS swap kits, modern Jeep chassis swaps, and the desire to create a more luxury brand: New Legend 4×4.

Today they sell parts for the average Scout enthusiast to do their own restorations as well as produce 6-figure custom 4×4 rigs. Listen in for the journey!

You can find out more about Sean and his business online at AnythingScout.com and follow some of the builds at Instagram.com/anythingscout and NewLegend4x4.com. You can also follow on Instagram.com/newlegend4x4 or the tech series coming on YouTube.com/user/anythingscout.

See you around town Sean!

-Rob Kibbe

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This interview sponsored by our pals at National Parts Depot
your premier source for muscle car restoration parts!

National-Parts-Depot

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