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History of Pinzgauer PINZGAUER HISTORY The Pinzgauer vehicle made by Steyr-Daimler-Puch was named after a horse breed in Austria, not the breed of cow that also lives there. Pinzgau is a district in the Salzburg province of Austria where they have bred this ancient Noriker horse for thousands of years. The Pinzgauer-Noriker horse originally came from the Roman province of Noricum located in central Europe. Bishops in Austria bred the horses in the 15th century where they mixed it with Spanish Andalusians. The resulting breed is spotted and resembles the American Appaloosa, but the Pinzgauer is slighter heavier from its draft ancestry. The spotted look is called a tiger horse in Europe. The spotted pure Pinzgauer horses are rare and bring much more money. Many Pinzgauers now have bloodlines diluted so much that they are a solid color. Most farms in Austria use the animal for work horses, but are good for riding because of their good dispositions. Another horse, the Haflinger also has the same ancestry from the Noriker and resembles the Pinzgauer. In 1959 Steyr-Daimler-Puch, the Austrian vehicle manufacturer made a small and very light cross country military vehicle, and named after one of their unique breeds of horses. This vehicle was call the Haflinger. Probably the name meant that the vehicle would be used like the work horse, to haul people or cargo around the forest and farm. This ultra light vehicle could be moved by three men, and was designed for cross country use. In 1971, a new vehicle was introduced that was an improvement of the Haflinger, and was called the Pinzgauer. The name choice was deliberate since the two horses have a lot in common. The Pinzgauer vehicle was unique since it was of very light weight at 4300 lbs, and yet could carry a payload of 2200 lbs (1 metric ton). Its proper title from the user manual is a "Light Cross Country Vehicle". The engine was an air cooled 2499 cc in- line 4 cylinder with the cylinders sitting horizontally. The two Zenith dual carburetors are still used in racing cars since they will operate in odd angles or with high side G forces. The exhaust system looks somewhat like that of a racecar combined with a Volkswagen microbus. Many of the design features seem related to the Volkswagen bus. The exhaust goes through a dual heat exchanger to provide cabin heat and then into a large diameter muffler. The vehicle uses the same idea of gear reduction boxes at the wheels that the Volkswagen bus used. This allows high ground clearance. The axles swing independently out of a central heavy cast steel tube that acts as a frame and protects the front to rear drive shaft. This is very expensive to build, but is very sophisticated. There are no swing arms or braces to the axle as one would expect to find, just the independent axle on each side. The engine internal design seems similar to that of a Porsche according to an auto expert, but the Porsche engine has two cylinders on a side. The Puch company also makes motorcycles, and some of that technology, including the use of lots of aluminum may have come from motorcycle spin-offs. The 4 wheel drive version, the 710M, has coil springs all the way around. The 6 wheel drive version, the 712M, has leaf springs in the rear for added weight capacity. Persons looking at the rear of the 710 always ask if it was made for a PTO takeoff because of the strange central tube. Actually, the tail piece and pintel hitch is removed, and that is where the drive shaft is then extended to the second set of rear drive wheels. Various commercial versions of the vehicle are made. They are the 710K, 712K and other versions. Most of them are hard sided bus like and fully enclosed and make for good motor homes and specialty vehicles like mobile medical facilities. Many are used as tour vehicles in Australia. In 1988, Steyr made a radical change to the Pinzgauer. The previously narrow and tall vehicle was widened and converted to a 4 cylinder turbo charged diesel engine. Tires were made larger and the track width widened for more stability. The engine was converted from air cooled to water cooled These changes may have been made from market pressure from the wide and tip proof Humvee, but that is speculation. The diesel version is still made the same way now, and is the vehicle of choice in many desert and forest nations as well as Switzerland. The Swiss army is now upgrading their older gasoline versions for the newer Diesel versions, and this is what is producing the new market in surplus older Pinzgauers. U.S. import regulations prohibit, or make really expensive, the importation of any surplus vehicle newer than 25 years old, and so the diesel versions are not present in the US. Pinzgauers are now made under licence in the UK by Automotive Technik Ltd. they carry a good selection of parts and spares for all models of Pinzgauer although this primarily to support and service the thousands of vehicles still in the hands of military organisations around the world Pinzgauer 710M and 712M Specifications (1971 to 1987) BODY TYPES 710M 4 wheel soft top 710T 4 wheel flat top carrier 710AMB-Y 4 wheel ambulance with 3 doors 710AMB-S 4 wheel ambulance, with air-portable removable shelter 712M 6 wheel soft top 712T 6 wheel flat top carrier 712FW 6 wheel fire truck 712K 6 wheel 5 door station wagon 712W 6 wheel workshop with air-portable shelter 712DK 6 wheel 4 door crew cab pickup 712AMB-S 6 wheel ambulance, with air-portable removable shelter 710M DIMENSIONS Length 13.6 Ft, width 5.7 ft, height 6.7 ft. Wheel base 2200 mm Wheel track 1440 mm Height of bed 930 mm Length of bed 2250 mm Width of bed 1590 mm Rear bed space between wheels 825 mm Minimum turning radius 16 ft. River fording ability to 27 inches of water. MECHANICAL FEATURES
GEARING AND SPEEDS
SUSPENSION
ENGINE
FUEL
ELECTRICAL
BRAKES
WHEELS
HEATING
Many Thanks to PINZGAUER.com for their assistance in researching the History of Pinzgauer |
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