Look, I’m a huge fan of the Pinzgauer High-Mobility All-Terrain Vehicle. If you know anything at all about them, you probably are too. They have a huge civilian off-road following who refer to these 4×4 and 6×6 vehicles as “Pinzies” but the Astrian-built Pingauer is affectionately known as the “Gauer” by their military users. When I found out that some of my former military friends in West Virginia were turning a hobby into a business, of course they had to call it the Gauer Garage.
In addition to offering fully customized Pinzgauers, upgrades, parts, and maintenance, Gauer Garage also offers driving instruction. If I had to name the number one attribute of the Gauer, it would be ‘Mobility.’ You aren’t doing that with many vehicles out there.
You’ll notice several different variants of these Gen I vehicles built in the 70s and 80s. Thanks to rolling 25 year DOT and 21 year EPA moratoriums on the importation of out-of-spec vehicles these can be brought into the country once the reach the proper age. Gauer Garage finds them and customizes them for civilian use. Because there are so many variants of these 4 and 6 wheeled trucks, as of late, several have become self-contained prepper bug-out vehicles like the 712 you see here. It features a hard sided cabin at the rear and 360 degree cameras for enhanced security.
Tags: Gauer Garage
Those look awesome, would love to have one, but … I suspect gas mileage is around, what? Three or four miles per gallon?
Depends on the situation. 10-15, about the same as a jeep. They’ve got a smaller engine with very low gearing.
my 4wd, when properly tuned and driven ~ 55mph on the highway can get ~ 14mpg. That’s with a 90hp 2.5l slant 4 cylinder with twin Zenith carbs. YMMV.
The small business articles on things I would not likely come across otherwise is my favorite part of SSD.
A local mountain resort has a couple of these for transporting guests to some out of the way locations. I fell in love with them after getting to ride in one. My wife is nervous that she’ll come home and find I’ve traded my Honda for one. They come with his and hers gun racks so I’m not sure what the problem would be.
Fantastic vehicles – spent many hours in one hunting for Scuds in Desert Storm
The Gauer will always have a special place in my heart – never let me down
$14k for a really nice one, same length & width as a Chevy Astro. Taller though, but, with a 90″ wheelbase, 14″ of ground clearance due to portal (gear reducing) hubs. I’ve had mine on a 40 degree side slope. I’ve crossed glaciers with it & hung with modded Jeeps costing more than double while toting 8 friends & my Newfoundland….
Parts are expensive, but there are a lot of U.S. based dealers. VA, AR, CO, CA, etc.
Mine’s currently oxidizing, canvas is shot. This is motivating me to give it some much needed love. Bought it in 2001, it’s a 1972. Seating for 10 in the 4wd version with a curb weight of ~ 4400lbs, and it’s rated as a 1 ton truck. The seats in back fold to a flat deck that fits a queen sized air mattress. Versions came in soft top, 4 door radio truck (rare, $$,$$$ now) and removable box like shown above, in either 4wd or 6wd. (geared lower, same engine) Up through 1985 were Porsche designed air cooled gas powerplants, then switched to various versions of a water cooled VW turbo diesel motor.
Much smaller than a humvee or 2.5. The gas versions were mainly Swiss & Austrian, so designed for narrow mountain roads. The Brits took over production & built diesels at Automotiv Technik for the British Army through the end of production. To get one in the U.S., my recollection is they have to be 25 years old, several companies import them from auction.
SOOOO expensive…
Buy a 5ton m9xx or a 2.5t m35 variant. Way cheaper, more parts,bigger community.
But if you got the $$ and like being different.
A 5-ton or 2.5-ton compared to a gauer…guess you have never drove a gauer…driving a deuce is so enjoyable…not. Hobby vehicles are supposed to be fun…
As big as a 2.5 is, I can’t fit my 6’6″ frame behind the wheel. I find that kind of humorous.
Probably the most powerfull off-road wheel drive vehicle. The climbing abilities are only limited on the tires. This meens 100% rates are the daily business for this cars. Off-road terrain cannot be heavy enough. I have been trained in driving and maintaining them in the Austrian Army and i enjoyed every single day in the army at least of the “Pinsn”. (Honestly the Steyr AUG, Steyr SSGs, MG74 and the Glocks did some work too.) As a “Jäger” we had a lot of fun with the Pinzgauers in the woods, mountains and the plains in the east where we did border patrol. This cars never failed once in my battalion as long i was there. Only in the neighbor battalion an ambulance version got a gear box damage because a “specialist” tried to drive with it on the “Austrian Autobahn (highway)” for a longer time over the maximum rated speed of 65mph. It has to said the ambulance version is much heavier than the infantry version and it was the even heavier 6 wheel version too. So you got about 4 tons powered with a 115hp-engine and an low-set gear box kicked as fast as nobody would want it. So under none-devilish usage they are undestroyable.
The only downsides of the Pinzgauer where first the fact that the exhaust gas sometimes came a little bit threw the tarpaulin into the rear sitting area. So if you got a long transport you maybe felt uncomfortable (not unsafe in any way). Second and more significant for civilians than it was for the military: Its tremendous fuel consumption. I mean, for european standards. If you know the hummer its not that shocking. But around 25L per 100km (9miles per gallon) in the mix (off-road&on-road) is never very good. But hey, after all you got very high performance for your fuel. I looked for one retired exemplar a few years ago, but sadly they are even here in Austria very wanted and therefore expensive. But if you got the money and the usage: Good choice.
I don’t understand why anyone would consider these to be expensive. These are awesome vehicles, and worth more than what they’re asking imo. My H3 cost a hell of a lot more new, and while I do love it, it can’t do near as much of what these bad boys do.