THE PORTAL HUB - Pinzgauers, Haflingers, Volvo 303s and more!

Hello to all,

I will get right to the point. This is a plea for assistance. I am trying to
locate a copy of the August 1963 issue of Four Wheeler magazine. In said issue
is a road test of the 1963 Haflinger. This would be the earlest "in print"
documentation of the Haflinger's presence in the USA.

Back in the early-to-mid 90's, Four Wheeler magazine offered a service whereby
reprints of prior road tests could be ordered. The list of road tests include
the 1963 Haflinger road test. My recent attempts to contact Four Wheeler have
not gained any positive results to date.

The reason behind the request has to do with having all documentation possible
as we try to keep Haflingers road legal in the state of Oregon. Currently, I
know of five Oregon trucks that currently have full street legal status. A
couple of years ago, the owner of a 1964 SWB polycab tried to register his
recently acquired truck in Oregon. Despite irrefutable documentation of proper
importation from Canada and an air tight paper trail of legal ownership, Oregon
DMV finally declared this truck was never intended for use on pavement and
titled/registered the truck as an off-road only ATV...with the owner at the time
protesting vigorously. A 1963 Haflinger polycab does not fit into a nice box in
the eyes of DMV so, rather than solve the issue in favor of the owner, they
opted to take the lazy route and declare the truck an off orad vehcle and wash
their hands of the whole affair.

We have subsequently taken ownwership of that truck as well as a later model LWB
polycab. When I made a trip to DMV a month ago to move forward with our
registering the vehicles, the previous ATV flag came up and now there are two
Haflinger polycabs registered in Oregon as ATVs. I am obvously quite unhappy
over this situation and plan to fight this. To do so effectively, I need all the
documentation I can manage to collect.

Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

Take care.

Jim Molloy
Waldersee Farm
http://www.northwestmogfest.com

Here's a link that might get you to your goal.
http://forums.fourwheeler.com/70/675112 ... index.html

....and I thought California was strict!

Jim,
Can't you impress upon the folks there that the "North American" version of this same vehicle was sold in the US and used legally on and off road? The polycab is just a different configuration of the same vehicle. I had no difficulty at the DMV here in CA--in fact, the inspector there was fascinated by the vehicles and spent most of the time I was there with "oohs" and "ahs" rather than the meddlesome questions I was expecting. If I can find anything to support your argument, I will forward it to you.

Cheers,
Greg

Jim,
I was searching online for something to help you and I found this on Wikipedia:

"Just like its predecessor, the US Army Jeep, the Haflinger trucks are at home both off and on road. They have been licensed for on-road use throughout Europe, North and South America, Asia, Africa and Australia. During their 16 year production run, the trucks not only saw domestic sales in Austria but were exported to thirty-five other countries. The first trucks to see use in the United States arrived in 1960. In 1983, a gentleman drove his newly purchased used Haflinger from Vermont back to his home in California."

That alone seems to be quite supportive for your argument.

Cheers,
Greg

Jim,
Thanks for the link. I will give the owner of the vintage magazines a try.

Greg,
I appreciate your search efforts. The Wikipedia description certainly does detail the history as well as the Haflinger's multi-purpose capabilities. The references to the trucks in the USA are particularly welcome. It definitely would make things easier if Oregon DMV would take the time to read that listing. Otherwise, I foresee traveling to Salem (only 25 miles but it is the principal of the matter) and toting along articles, books, brochures, DOT compliance and shift plates, etc. to help make my case.

Take care.

Jim Molloy
Waldersee Farm
http://www.northwestmogfest.com