Simply the Best!
by Simon Ward-Hastelow

Pinzgauer is one of those makes of off road vehicle that everyone's heard of but very few people have actually had the pleasure of driving one. We spent the day at the Pinzgauer Factory in Guildford, Surrey (yes they are built in the UK!) which included a very memorable afternoon putting a 6x6 model through its paces at a military base in the south of England. And even got to see the latest James Bond movie being filmed too!

INTRODUCTION

Everyone has their favourite 4x4 vehicle but the Pinzgauer is one of those vehicles that will instantly shatter all your dreams and illusions. I have been a self confessed Land Rover nut for as long as I can remember, I was brought up on the things but driving home after a day with this Pinzgauer all I couldthink about was what was wrong with the Land Rover compared to the Ultimate Off Roader I had just fallen in love with!

Let me explain. Pinzgauer has been around for about 30 years and continuous product development with various military and defence organisations during that time have resulted in the most agile, adaptable, reliable vehicle ever built. Coupled with superb performance, thanks to a VolksWagen 5 cyl turbo diesel engine, and a unique centre-tube chassis design (see Technical Specs.) with independent suspension and portal hal axles all round it is truly unstoppable.

The traditional Pinzgauer role. This will become a more familiar sight across the world as more and more defence organisations opt for Pinzgauer trucks

The overall dimmensions of the 6x6 are only a shade over that of a standard Land Rover 110, but it can easily carry 14 fully equipped troops into any defence situation - a payload of 2.4 tonnes!

Pinzgauers are increasingly being used by the UK and USA military who specify an operational life of at least 15 years. Its excellent stability and independent suspension make it an ideal platform for carrying and deploying sensitive electronic and communications equipment. Also the newly designed Box Body makes an ideal field ambulance, large enough to carry a small operating theatre. These are highly desired by Air Forces, when you invest $5 million training each pilot you want to make sure you can keep them alive!

The area in the back of this Pinzgauer is bigger than my office! Room enough for a stretcher, surgeon, nurse and all the medical equipment you could need

However you should not think of Pinzgauer as just another military truck, it has limitless civillian, utility and local authority uses. Not least of which is the Fire Tender model. Pinzgauer have built a number of Fire Tenders using the standard 6x6 configuration. Local Authorities and Fire Brigades throughout the UK are realising that they can transport 1,000 litres of water, equipment and ladders quickly and easily into the most remote areas where the usual Fire Trucks would simply not be able to reach. There are 8 of them on the Isle of Man alone.

Now this brings me to the price, you do not get all of that for the same cash outlay as a standard Military Land Rover. The cost for a Pinzgauer starts at around £70,000, then you just choose which body you need and they build it for you. Simple, how many would you like?

This will carry a small fire team, all their equipment, ladders and 1,000 litres of water into the most remote areas. Only slightly larger than a standard LandRover 110!

There's a slight snag though, even if you can afford the equivallent of 2 very nice Range Rovers you cannot have one! Pinzgauer do not sell to the general public. There are a handful of very fortunate individuals that have had campers built on a Pinzgauer chassis but for this we are talking six figures. If you want the ultimate, go-anywhere, ultra-reliable, never-breaks-down expedition vehicle there is nothing better.

You could wait for one to be de-mobbed and sold on to civvy street but with an operational life of around 20 years you could wait a long time. Your only alternative would be to opt for a de-mobbed Air Cooled version from the 70's, much loved by the Swiss and Austrian armies.

The fully armoured 'Protector' increasingly being used by security and finacial organisations for transporting valuable loads

As I said at the start of this article, once you have driven a modern Pinzgauer everything else is a disappointment. They are not flashy, they don't have nice cury lines or fancy 'teardrop' headlights, you don't get a heated seat option or Sat. Nav. as standard. If that's what you 'need' then go and look at the miriad glossy brochures at dealer showroms up and down the country. If you are looking for the ultimate example of the most perfectly engineered vehicle capable of taking you wherever you want to go there is nothing to rival it.

We would like to thank Automotive Technick Ltd for entertaining us for the day at their Guildford factory and the off road test track. www.automotive-technik.com

History of Pinzgauer
Technical Specifications
Test Drive
Gallery & Pinzgauer Links