The Pinzgauer is one of the most capable all-terrain vehicles ever made.

While not as fast as the HMMWV, it can carry a greater number of troops. Even the smaller 710M can carry 10 people, or two full NATO pallets. Both the 4×4 and 6×6 models can tow 5,000 kg on road, and 1,500 or 1,800 kg off-road, respectively. It has a range of over 400 km on one tank of fuel, or nearly 700 km with the optional 125-litre tank.
The first generation Pinzgauer is available in both four-wheel drive (Model 710) and six-wheel drive (Model 712) versions.

The Pinzgauer was also designed to be reliable and easy to fix, so it was shipped with an air-cooled dual-carbureted engine. Air-cooled carbureted engines are still in use in many small aircraft due to their reliability. This is partly due to the fact that air-cooled engines have been around longer, and partly because they are simpler and have fewer parts. The engine in the Pinzgauer was designed for it; it has more than one oil pump so that the engine will not be starved of oil, no matter how it is oriented. An American automotive magazine once described the sound of the engine as “a vacuum cleaner blowing steel balls one by one into a tin can.”

It also has a very advanced chassis contributing to its high mobility. It has a central tube chassis with a transaxle which distributes the weight more evenly and keeps the center of gravity as low as possible. The differentials are all well sealed units and require minimal additional lubrication. The pinzgauer also has portal axles (like the Unimog and unlike the HMMWV or Hummer H1) to provide extra clearance over obstacles.

The 710 4×4 was the more popular variant, but the Pinzgauer was designed to have a very capable 6×6 configuration from the start. The rear suspension on the back of the 6×6 712 is designed to provide maximum traction in the most demanding circumstances along with increasing its towing, load carrying and offroad abilities.

During production from 1971 until 1985, 18,349 first-generation 710s and 712s were produced and sold to both civilian and government buyers

Both examples belonging to the Society were operated by the Austrian Army from 1976 until the early 2000s., and were imported into Canada directly to us in 2016

Source: Army Guide