~1999–2001
The Pinzgauer is an Austrian military utility vehicle with a backbone chassis, portal axles for serious ground clearance, and an air-cooled engine. It went to Burning Man multiple times. It belongs on a list like this.
The fuel system problem took a while to diagnose. The symptoms looked like flat tires — the engine would stumble and die — but it was actually fuel starvation. The rubber milspec coating on the inside of the gas tank was peeling off and getting stuck in the intake sock and fuel filter, cutting off flow. I worked through this with a mechanic who ran through every analogy he could think of — screws loose, wires crossed, all stuck up, choking. When he finally told me to “go blow myself,” I realized he meant to blow out the fuel line. It worked. I should have gotten there sooner.
Arnold Schwarzenegger was born in Graz, Austria, the same city where Steyr-Daimler-Puch built the Pinzgauer. He owned several. I’ve sat in two of them — one was for sale in Beverly Hills; the other was at Stefan’s Pinzgauer shop in Hemet. Stefan was not actually crazy, just Austrian, with a German/Austrian accent and attitude. His shop in Hemet was apparently the place to go for Pinzgauer work, which I found both reassuring and specific.
I also used Goatwerx in Riverside, which is the right name for a mountain vehicle specialist.
I sold both the Pinzgauer and the Haflinger when I was buying a house and needed a down payment. Both have since approximately doubled in value. The house has also doubled. So the trade worked out, mathematically. I’m at peace with it.