Pinzgauer Buying advice

I have recently being doing a lot of research into the older Pinzgauer soft top petrol models, the 710M 4x4 and the 712M 6x6, with a view to buying one. I have has fairly detailed discussions with both owners and the mechanics who maintain them. I have also test driven three  vehicles, two 710's and one 712.  

I would say that a good  well maintained 710M is around the £8k mark and a similar standard of 712M is quite a bit more expensive at around £12k. There are cheaper ones out there but they are generally in a poor state of repair with mechanical or bodywork issues. It is worth pointing out that the later turbo diesel models, the 716 and 718, are more than twice this price with virtually the same off road capabilities as the 710 and 712.

The air cooled 2.5 litre in-line 4 cylinder petrol engine was specifically designed by Steyr for the Pinzgauer and is designed for extreme off roading. It provides maximum torque from very low speeds and has twin oil pumps capable of supplying oil no matter what angle the vehicle is in.

The drive train has triple locking diffs (four on the 712) with a two ratio transfer box all are selectable on the move. They have a five speed manual gearbox, there was no auto option on the petrol models. The portal axles give a ground clearance of 2 1/2 feet and the can carry 1-1.5 tons and tow 5 tons.

The engines appear to be very robust the main problem is with the balance of the twin Zenith carbs and obviously due to the age of the engine you are dealing with a points based ignition system rather than electronic. They are also a bit puny by modern standards with only 87bhp.

The bodies can rust quite badly in places if they have not been looked after and being ex military some of them are pretty badly beaten up. The best examples seem to have come from the Austrian and Swiss armies and they are usually supplied with a fairly comprehesive history and service record which most owners should still have.

The first thing you notice when driving one is that they are very noisy, I have to say it would not be my ideal choice on the road if I had to travel for more than 30 miles in one on a regular basis. The ride is fairly bouncy, more on the 710 than the 712, and the steering is quite vague and it tends to wander about, although the off road tyres contribute to this. I was told to expect a max of 15mpg and a lot less off road.

Whatever its failings on the tarmac it makes up for it when you go off road. The ground clearance lets you climb over some very rough terrain and it has excellent traction and feels almost unbreakable. I thought my G was superb off road but the Pinz is definetly  a superior vehicle for the more extreme locations. 

Some nice kit on here 

http://www.shropshiregunbus.co.uk/

But some nice prices as well 

Hi Jason,

I have a TD pinz, but like big block did a bit of research before buying it (for both td and petrol ones) . Basically, unless abused, you shouldn't have mechanical troubles. The engineering is very very robust. Like big block said, the petrols need to be set up properly - the carbs - but otherwise, the engine/gearbox/drivetrain is very reliable. Spares, except some odd body panels, are more plentiful for the petrols than the diesels, in any case.

In a petrol in terms of noise, road feel, etc, think of a series 2(ish) landy and you won't be far off. The first thing I did with mine was take out everything and spend three weekends noise-matting it. It is now good enough to have a conversation at 65mph - with the person in the front.....and with a microphone for the ones in the rear. This is where there is a BIG difference between the diesels and the petrols. They have air suspension and are actually very comfortable to drive.

The driving position is good. A little upright, but no annoying windows to get in the way of your elbows.

The heaters on my pinz is fantastic! I imagine this is the same for the petrols: the swiss and the austrians have a thing about heating......some even come with the extra ebersbacher heaters (and if not, they are easy to buy).

Offroad, they are great fun. If anything, some people say that the petrols - having an engine specifically designed for them - are possibly a bit better than the diesels (which suffer a little at low rpms from turbo lag). In a different league than the non-portal axled alternatives, bar none. Can be a little more tippy (side-to-side), but this is a matter of getting used to and driving accordingly.

Definitely, try to go for the best one you can afford. The swiss ones are usually very well maintained and there are plenty of them to choose from. There are the sources here, but also try mobile.de which always has a few for sale.

One last thing, if you're that way inclined, they are easy to work on and to customise to your yearnings.

Hope that helps,

Ph

Actually the diesel 4x4 Pinzgauers (716) have coil spring suspension all round with air activated self-levelling at the rear. On earlier models (P90) this had an over-ride switch on the dash so the driver had some control over the system. Later models (P93) were fully automatic with a levelling switch being integral with the rear suspension. It also interacted with the brake hydraulics - to control brake force to the rear wheels and thus prevent lock-up when unladen - and there is a timing device to prevent the air system over-reacting to intermittent changes of terrain etc. Annoyingly, touching the brake resets the timer. A consequence of this is that if you heavily load a stationary vehicle and then drive off, it can be some time before the system kicks in; it may not do so until you get out on the open road. Frankly it was a typical Austrian solution in that it got more and more complicated and was also pretty unreliable. You may well notice MoD UK 4x4 Pinzgauers driving around with their back ends far too low, usually because they have given up trying to fix them.

The standard 718 (6x6), of course, has no air component to the rear suspension, just a "rocking" leaf spring on each side, with coils at the front. Some heavier models were equipped with the 4x4's airbag dampers, but utilising a sealed system at a pre-set pressure. This was mainly for models fitted out with heavy, permanent on-board equipment such as fire-control systems, communications and the like.