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

Hello all, I've been a follower of the forum for some time now and with my latest acquisition decided to join as now I have something to contribute. I'm a full time fabricator and certified welder that that specializes in off-road vehicle prep/building. Ive Been focusing the last couple years on Toyotas, land cruisers mostly. But I have always had my eye on pinz's. The 6x6 in particular, ever since I went on a rally over 12 years ago and got to drive one on the trails I've been hooked...
I've recently imported a 1988 718M LHD and she is in fantastic condition! with only 30k miles. I bought the truck with the intention to outfit and sell as an adventure ready rig capable of global travel. This is not a for sale add but will be my build thread. To share what I do and exchange ideas in the building and design process of setting this vehicle up. I'm very excited to get started on her but I do have a Unimog build going on simultaneously as well as keeping up with land cruiser parts orders and local work. So right now I'm in the design phase while sorting through the truck to get to baseline mechanically.
Here the truck is as she sat when removed from the container after her long journey. My face still hurts from the smile I had on the whole ride home.. She drives awesome. The 710's and 712's are tractors by comparison (and I love those too). These diesel variants are incredible. she cruised right along with traffic and the power steering with disc brakes makes driving a pleasure. Not to mention how quiet it is in the cabin compared to all the petrol versions I've been in. I love it!
At the present moment I'm thinking about building a two section removable insulated hard top with real windows ( large side and alpine windows). Well two tops that form one. But is modular maybe so you can run full length hard top or half length with it being behind the cab and leaving a short pickup style bed at the rear. Or you can run the factory soft top as well. So the end user can really dial in the truck depending on the journey at hand. I really like the Aussie style tray backs! Perhaps a setup like that in the way back with all the slide outs and storage and then the midsection hard top living/sleeping area??? just thinking out loud....that might be the setup....
Anyways hope you enjoy the thread as it develops. And you can check out some of my other work on Instagram if you want to see some examples https://www.instagram.com/costafabrications/

Cheers,
Rich

just moving this over to here from the general area.

Thanks.

I've been bush for weeks so I only just saw your post and instagram link....really nice bar work and impressive fabrication skills, I can't wait to see what you do with your 718M.

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your 718M, it looks to be a really nice example. I'll be following your build with interest once you get started.

Warren

one2many wrote:I've been bush for weeks so I only just saw your post and instagram link....really nice bar work and impressive fabrication skills, I can't wait to see what you do with your 718M.

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your 718M, it looks to be a really nice example. I'll be following your build with interest once you get started.

Warren

Thanks Warren, With too many current projects the truck is for sale currently. I have begun some work on it and will continue to pick at it while its in my possession. ill post some pics soon.
Thanks for the kind words.

Cheers
Rich

Just joined the forum

Very nice I am too looking at a 718 to get imported for the UK in in early 2020 ( after the wife's kitchen is re-done ). fingers crossed

Bill

how much are you selling the truck for?

A LHD from the U.K ......never seen one so i guess it is coming from Graz. Austria

pinzi wrote: ↑Mon Aug 27, 2018 1:19 am A LHD from the U.K ......never seen one so i guess it is coming from Graz. Austria

I don't know about the P93 or the 716 numbers, but
7 718s were made by ATL in the UK , LHD and with the TDI. 4 Ms and 3 Ks.

ATL's total soft skin Pinz production in the UK was just over 1030.

BTW, the first year a UK made Pinz is importable to the US is 2025

Oh i didn't know.....but this one is made in 1988 so i guess it was build in Graz.
Mine is a 1989 716k.....and i know it was a testvehicle for 4 years in Graz so il a bit confused
But stil it is a verry Nice pinz.

FYI
All Pinzes were made in Graz before 2000. Production of all TDs made in Austria was less than 6000 made. All Austrian TD have a VIN that starts with "VAG".
Total of all UK made Pinzes was around 1210 ( soft skin and armored). UK VINs have "SFF" prefix.

Something to note about SDP and ATL brochures and newsletters ( and videos for that matter), they didn't always show the latest items they made. They both 'recycled' photos from pass years. They used pics of P80s, and that of 716kurz (shorty) that was built on P90 chassis.

Another old European practice is to label the model year based on the year the factory first "sold" the vehicle. At the Thun auction one year, they listed a '92 718Amb,, the photo showed that it was obviously a P80, and when I got a chassis # for it, it was lower than my 716K that was built in 1988. The only place on any TD of manufactured date is on components tags, which may not have a date either. Chassis # s are the best way to estimate actual manufacture date on a TD.
As a pure guess, I would say your truck' chassis # would be somewhere in the 1400 to 1800 range for a '89. But if held by the factory for 4 years as you say, the VIN could be in the 200 to 400 area. I'd be curious to know where your chassis # fell.

I think its the other way around.....mine is probebly a older truck an then used for 4 years as a demonstration vehicle by them....when the Kompany finaly sold it in 89 it tot its frist registration .
The vin number on mine is : VAG 716 232 1 0000009

pinzi wrote: ↑Tue Aug 28, 2018 1:27 am The vin number on mine is : VAG 716 232 1 0000009

Your truck may have been built before 1985. The first 10 digits are basic info on the truck, which with a few pics can be backward extracted. The last 7 digits are the actual chassis # , and since less than 7000 were made in total (Austrian & UK) only the last 4 are relevant . Your #9 is the 3rd oldest TD that I'm aware of. (iirc) #2 and #3 were imported to the USA for EPA testing ( both 716Ks, 1 manual, 1 auto). The 5 speed was exported to the UK in the '90s, and the auto to Japan around '02

Selling a new vehicle as the current year was outlawed in the US back in the early '60s because dealers would sell old inventory as current models and a customer was thinking they were buying the latest model and upgrades. In your case, SDP did 3 modifications in the cooling system by 1989. I wouldn't know if they had updated yours. (?)

Strange the number 2 td pinz is for sale in austria.....and its a 716m with Manuel gearbox.....first registrated in '84.
Its black with beige soft top and beige front bumpers

Obviously I didn't remember correct . I have 3 computers I really need to try to salvage their hard drives from. They contain info, pics and emails back to 2000.