The “Why We Drive” series, brought to you by Drive Coffee, exists to celebrate International Scouts and the people that drive them. In this installment we sit down with New Legend 4×4 Founder/Owner, Sean Barber, to ask the age old question, “Why do you drive?” Check out the video to get a little look into Sean’s story!
To learn more about the story of Sean and New Legend 4×4 be sure to check out “Our Story”, “Building a Brand”, and“New Legend 4×4 – Quality Built Machines”!
Again, special thanks to our friends over at Drive Coffee for helping keep us on the road! Check out some of our road trip essentials below:
LE MANS | Medium Roast
MONACO | Light Roast
MOJAVE LATTE | Cold Brew
NITRO | Cold Brew
Interview Transcript:
“I’ve always been captivated by driving I think ever since I was a little it started with bicycles, go carts, and just any motorized thing but what driving meant to me was freedom. I remember early days when I was 14-15 hopping in my moms car and just ripping around the neighborhood. Just the idea and sense of freedom of driving was big to me. As I discovered off-roading as I grew older that was a whole new opportunity and I think about driving getting us to places like this[Big Horn Mountains in Wyoming], sure you can hike but that takes a lot of work. Driving just gets you to amazing places and it does so in a way that allows you to be with your friends and your family in a real special way to build memories.”
“When I first discovered an international scout it was back in the early 90’s. My brother-in-law had bought this 1978 International Scout and I remember the day very clearly that I’ve got to drive that truck and to me it was the perfect blend of this off-road capable vehicle, this kind of classic American made machine. It was just the right size, it just felt right, it drove right, and I knew that day that I had to have one. So I set out, I don’t even remember how you buy on back then like there wasn’t Facebook or Craigslist back then but I found my first scout and that started really what has been a 25 year journey of owning, building, and loving International Scouts and just what they mean.”
“One of the things in particular I love about driving old vehicles, vintage vehicles, is the sense of connectedness that they give you to your environment. From the visibility out the windows, to the kind of clunky gears. To the way that the mechanical nature of opening the doors and closing the doors and everything around the vehicle is very connected and helps you to be in the present moment. I think that’s really special.”
“Particularly with a Scout you become part of a community, really a tribe of people. You gain instant friends not only in the Scout community but just in the world. When you go to a gas station or grocery store or anywhere, you’re constantly being bombarded with people sharing memories about an uncle, grandfather, or a father/mom that had a Scout. I really love that and there’s just so many ways of connection. I think about just connection to nature, connection to the machine, connection to people, and connection and memories with your family. They’re all really powerful in an old rig.”
