Saturday I arrived home from the Prescott Photo Walk to find this lovely parked at my house. The Sson's new back country toy had arrived from Iowa. A Pinzgauer, a military vehicle of choice in Mittel Europe and many other countries, originally made in Austria.
As yet, Sson had not driven said vehicle and it was time to give it a whirl. See all those controls? It's apparently a good enough off-roadster for the Swiss army to take almost anywhere in the Alps, for example.
And so, after he was comfortable enough, he invited me for a spin up the Thumb Butte Road. I have to say that we got plenty of respect on the road (below), though this is a much smaller, lighter vehicle than either the German Unimog or the American Hummer.
Before parking off the road, to give me a proper photo op, the Sson did suddenly pull off, circling over stumps and some pretty rough territory. Vehicle did fine, especially considering that its clearance is much higher than our civilian 4-wheelers, not to mention other serious features.
And, oh, what glorious shooting I could do through that high, wide and handsome flat front windshield. Assuming, of course, that it had been cleaned and no new splats had occurred.
Cool lacings!
According to Sson, there are fewer than a thousand of these neat trucks in the US, all made in the 70s and 80s. Though the machine is still made, now in the UK, the newer trucks don't meet our current American safety & other standards, though they're good enough for the picky folk in the European Community. Besides, they cost upwards of $100Gs+. The older vehicles basically qualify as collectibles; the Governator, for example, owns several.
I suspect the Sson has been lusting for a Pinz ever since he was stationed in Germany during the 70s. Though we have a nationally known Pinzgauer/Unimog dealer out Iron Springs Road, he was fortunate enough to find this particular vehicle on an eBay auction at a much better price.Photo Walk Blogs: Several local bloggers have posted their pictures and reports of Saturday's big picture-taking extravaganza, including Rich, Sadira, Tombo and Dagny. Worth a visit to each!
Posts
14 comments:
The Pinz would make a great addition to the front yard car display.
Hermano
As usual, a whole bunch of really interesting posts!
That's a nice vehicle. I'm envious.
Total Pinzgauer envy here. I would love to have one of these things for the backroad romping and camping trips.
One day.... one day...
Oh, oh, GJ, there are so many who are lusting after the Pinz, you may have to hire an armed guard and station him at the front of your house! LOL
Does Sson have to lift you up into the passenger seat? It sure looks like a very long step up.
~Anon in AV.
So this is basically, an antique.
And he's an antique collector.
And it doesn't make a bit of difference to him, how it runs or how hot it looks.
-grinnnnnnnnnn-
You asked about my 'Reflections' entry in my photo blog. Asked if this store front was special or an all the time thing? It's an all the time thing.
'Geewillakers' store owner has that reflective material in back of all her store front windows. And everything she puts in there, looks spectacular. We love the effect, all year long!
Miss Mari-Nanci
Smilnsigh
Photos-City-Mine
the ultimate rowdy camping machine... dripping with testosterone
ah, bro -- you are such a southerner at heart
meggie -- hope you enjoyed them all
steve -- at least you don't have to worry about all those import regs where you are
tombo -- aren't they great vehicles?
anon av -- got up smartly by meself; there's a well placed hook that hangs down.
SnS -- you might say that. As for the carousel, I take it that it is a miniature?
arty -- Sson is way past the rowdy stage but he does dig the back country.
I saw a green one of these today at ERAU. I'd never seen one up close and now I want one...
mike -- welcome to my blog -- and to the long list of folk who'd love to have a Pinzgauer all their own!
I would like to extend an invitation to join the South West Pinzgauer Association on an outing. There you can meet other Pinz owners in the state as well as learn some very interesting things about the truck. The SWPA has an outing the 3rd weekend of each month and a membership meeting the 1st Tuesday evening of each month. www.swpinzgauer.org
mike #2 -- welcome & thanks for the info. I've passed it along to the Sson, who's the owner.
Great vehicles these Pinzgauers. Many years ago I worked for the motorcycle division of Steyr-Puch and their two wheelers were sturdy beasts too - a proper 4x4, not one of the "nancy-boy" things that never see the mud!
Welcome back, Avus -- I'm sure this beastie will see more than it's share of mud. I'm sure Sson will appreciate your evaluation of the manufacturer of the Pinz.
Post a Comment