Are all the surplus Swiss Pinzgauers gone?

[Twin Pinzies]

I was told that there are no more surplus Swiss Pinzgauers being imported any more. The only ones left are a few 712's, but no more 4x4's. If this true than I have a few questions: Will they sell off any of the "new" diesel 716/718 when they become 25+ years old like they did the gas 710/712? What happens to the value of the ones that are already here?...you know, supply and demand? Are parts prices for 710/712 likely to increase or decrease? Does this mean that the Pinzy community will stop growing here in the U.S.?

[David Dunn]

The Swiss never did buy the 716/18 as they did the 710/12s. I only know of 1 718AMB that was sold a couple of years ago by the Swiss.
Up though 1992, only 2000 TDs were made by SDP, and about another 7000 up to '00 when the factory was moved to the UK. Only 1000 have been made in the 5 years that production has been in the UK..... do the math.

Another thing to keep in mind are smog laws. Even if you can bring in a 25+ year old vehicle, states are toughening up the requirements to resgister them locally... you may be able to have them, but won't be able to drive them. Sadly, but true, as goes California, the rest of the nation will follow.

The story is that Steyr has been buying back the surplus stocks for their own inventory, to guarantee that prices won't drop from a glutten of surplus parts hitting the market, as it did with the Unimog 404.

Dave Dunn

[Erik712m]

as goes California, the rest of the nation will follow. not shure what you are talking about I would like to thing the rest of the country will never be a well fair state. illegalizing guns but legalizing dope.

[todds112]

I can tell you with ALL certainty, Wyoming will NEVER go as California goes. If it does, and the entire US ends up like CA, I hope to be on the first settlement on Mars.

On the plus side, it should sure help the value of our trucks as they become more scarce.

[andy]

Gads, can you imagine a whole country of Pelosi's? That's the stuff nightmares are made of. Wyoming...isn't that Broke Back Mountain country? Just kidding. But, seriously Todd, up where you live don't you already have a lot of California transplanted?

I was hoping for a 716/718 too. Now, did the Swiss go with the Duros? What was their replacement for the Steyr's? They look to be about the same size, are they comprable performance wise?

Given the spare parts thing and lack of more trucks, everything will probbly go up in price.

It would seem to me that the Pinz community will have a relatively stable population until the trucks are no longer serviceable. What will happen in the mean time is the numbers will stay about the same but the names will change. I'm guessing.

Later....Andy
Comstock, Texico or Mexas

[David Dunn]

Erik, the comment is quite simple.... already a few New England states have adopted new car smog laws the same as Ca. I don't agree with a lot of the krap, but the writing is on the wall.

6 years ago, the groups were taking about the Duro as the Pinz's replacement, but little has been said since. As world politics have changed since the 70s along with everything else. I understand that the Swiss are downsizing and just not replacing a lot of equipment.

Andy, you shouldn't sub 'Steyr' for Pinzgauer, Steyr makes a whole family of medium and heavy duty trucks similar to the M35 (Duece) and larger (among other things).

Typical maintenance parts will probably remain at a "status quo" except for inflation increases, and major components will keep on the big increase due to lower availability and growing shipping cost.

For truck prices, an unmolested truck will go up in value much more than a highly altered one..... the exception is a seller finding that one buyer that has the same likes ( or there are no more trucks at all).

Dave Dunn

[todds112]

Gads, can you imagine a whole country of Pelosi's? That's the stuff nightmares are made of. Wyoming...isn't that Broke Back Mountain country? Just kidding. But, seriously Todd, up where you live don't you already have a lot of California transplanted?

There are waaaaay too many Commie-fornians here. This one little corner of the state is very different than the rest of WY. We are generally despised by the rest of the state. Kind of ironic this is Cheney's hometown and the only county in the state that didn't vote for him. Alot of Greenie Weenies here. Luckily, it takes the whole state to elect our state leadership, and the hippies here don't have enough votes to affect it much.

[Ultimate4x4]

Yes, for the most part, Swiss Military has liquidated everything they have in the way of good clean trucks.

Nearly 20,000 trucks were built pre 1985. I.E 710 & 712. Swiss had over 7000 of them but liquidated over 1000 each year since 1999.

You guys can do the math, that does't leave much left in inventory.

If you have a Pinz...hang on to it, for it is only going up in value. It is the only used vehicle I have ever owned that has increased in value since I purchased it.

Regards,
Robert Crow

[mjnims]

It is the only used vehicle I have ever owned that has increased in value since I purchased it.

This is one of those other points I use when talking with jeep guys. They spend a fortune building their trucks just to watch the value drop the day they hit the trails. The PInz, as long as not altered in a manner which can not be reveresed easily, will go up in value.

[Profpinz]

Nearly 20,000 trucks were built pre 1985

17,953 to be precise

(according to PUCH AUTOMOBILE 1900-1990 by Friedrich F Ehn)

[todds112]

Nearly 20,000 trucks were built pre 1985

17,953 to be precise

(according to PUCH AUTOMOBILE 1900-1990 by Friedrich F Ehn)

Does anyone know the breakdown of models produced? 710 vs. 712?

[Profpinz]

The above figure of 17,953 relates to the total number of Pinzgauers produced by SDP between 1967 and 1984.
From information in the mentioned book, we can further split that total production figure into the number of 710 and 712 vehicles produced between 1978 and 1985 (for some reason, they don't split version numbers prior to 1978)

1978 - 1984
710's produced = 4178
712's produced = 3587

It's interesting to note that in the early years the production (1978, 79 etc) they made aproximately 2.5 times more 4X4's than 6X6's, but in the final years of the air-cooled range this number was pretty much reversed.
In 1984 they made 185 X 710's and 467 X 712's and in 1985 that number was 90 X 710's and 326 X 712's.

[pinzwheeling]

It's interesting that here in the US, you rarely see 712s compared to 710s. I'm assuming that a large marjority of them are being used by tour companies, therefore there isn't a bunch of them changing hands.

[Profpinz]

Here in Australia pretty much the opposite is true!
Of the small number of Pinzgauers we have, only two of the total are 4X4's (one is a standard 710 and the other my 710/716 Hybrid Prototype)

Barry Jones, the owner of Haflinger Pinzgauer Enterprises in the 1970's (the original Australian importer) once told me that when he calculated the landed cost of a new vehicle (which took into account shipping, importation, duty surcharges etc) there wasn't a great difference in the final price of a 4X4 compared to the 6X6.
As he believed that 712 was far more capable, hence a more viable sales proposition, he opted to import and sell only 712's..... Ergo, nearly all Oz Pinny's are 6X6's

[IA712]

Great Information!
Can we estimate the total each for 710 and 712 models produced prior to 1978 based on the serial numbers? It looks like they ran the last four digits of the serial number as a running total of all such models produced -with different running totals for the 710 (prefix 575) and 712 (prefix 475). I have been collecting the serial numbers and model years from advertised vehicles and this looks to run true. The smallest # for a 1978 710 I have seen is 575.8323. Could we then guess that the total number of 710s produced was somewhere less than 12,501 (less than 8323 pre 1978 + 4178 of 1978 and later)? That may leave around 5500 as the number of 712s produced. If anyone can provide serial #s for 1977 and 1978 710s and 712s this could be refined more. I guess if you could find the serial number for the last 710 and the last 712 produced this "might" indicate the total production for each model. The highest serial number for a 712 I've seen has been 475.368x for a mid-1982 vehicle. That, coupled with the 1983 and 1984 production listed in your post makes a total of 4473 712s produced - not including part of 1982 and all of 1983. Of course, my serial number assumptions may be all wrong and I have just wasted five minutes of your lives.

Related question: Does anyone know when the EXII upgrade was made to the Pinzgauers coming off the assembly line?
Lloyd

The above figure of 17,953 relates to the total number of Pinzgauers produced by SDP between 1967 and 1984.
From information in the mentioned book, we can further split that total production figure into the number of 710 and 712 vehicles produced between 1978 and 1985 (for some reason, they don't split version numbers prior to 1978)

1978 - 1984
710's produced = 4178
712's produced = 3587

It's interesting to note that in the early years the production (1978, 79 etc) they made aproximately 2.5 times more 4X4's than 6X6's, but in the final years of the air-cooled range this number was pretty much reversed.
In 1984 they made 185 X 710's and 467 X 712's and in 1985 that number was 90 X 710's and 326 X 712's.