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

Hello to all from Camas, Washington.

I’ve been researching Pinzgauers for a while and since finding the Portal, reading the Forum logs…priceless source of info. This stuff should be hard copied and kept in a vault, it’s irreplaceable. On behalf of all us newbies, thanks to all who’ve contributed. A special thanks to “edzz” for your post last December providing a link to the archives at http://madscientisthut.com/sdp-pin/html/site_map.html Great info, and again, this should be hard-copied…just sayin’.

During my read thru the Forum I began watching the Classifieds but just missed NEWFISHER’s Pinz, I grieved over that one for a while, that was a sweet ride. Not all bad though, that miss led me to Scott at Expedition Imports and finally to the 712K that he’s prepping for delivery in the near future. I can’t say enough good things about Scott and EI…he takes customer service to a whole new level…GREAT experience!

Next step will be registering with WA state…any advice from WA Pinz owners that have completed that trek would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance for any pointers in the licensing process.

Pete

Hi Pete,

I didn't have any problems registering in Wa. The only "tricky bit" was establishing value (which was required by DMV). Scott at EI has done it dozens of times because he had a form ready when I called he wrote up a letter on letterhead establishing the value.. I took that in along with rest of purchase info (copy of title, bill of sale) and that was it. I had a plate in hand and was out the door in no time.

If you ever make it north and want to meet up at some point I have a 710M I've customized for Search & Rescue use and at some point will pick up a 712K or see if I can find a 718K to restore and keep as close to stock as possible.

I found this group to be a great resource for learning. Definitely throw a PayPal donation their way from time to time to help keep the lights on.

Congrats on the new rig, post pics when you get it.
Ben

Hi Pete,

Welcome to the group.

Obviously, Washington laws differ from those in other states. But some states have occasionally resisted registering ex-military and/or what they consider a grey-market vehicle.

So I'd strongly advise against saying anything to DMV about it being ex-military. It's a green truck, a motor vehicle. Period. Furthermore, it was imported as a motor vehicle with approval of the U.S. Customs and U.S. DOT.

As far as grey-market goes, it is true that Pinzgauers were never built to meet U.S. safety standards (FMVSS), nor were they required to be updated to meet FMVSS. This is because federal laws allow importation of any vehicle older than 25 years and exempt them from FMVSS requirements. You should however be expected to meet any state equipment requirements, ie. seat-belts.

If you have problems, more info is available about importation and U.S. laws, etc. Most likely you'll do just fine.

Welcome to the addition
I made sure to call it an SUV as I did not want it registered as a truck.
Here (Ontario) you can't have passengers in the back of a truck (ie pickup)
Not sure if some US states have similar laws?

Good point Dan. Here in Wisconsin, seats are allowed in the back of a "truck", however you can only haul a passenger there if they have a seat belt.

The biggest difference here comes in licensing. A vehicle may be considered a "truck" or an "auto" depending on the percentage of floor space taken up by seating. A van with no rear seats should be licensed as a "truck", while the same vehicle with seats throughout gets licensed as an "auto".

I like the idea of calling it an SUV. I'm sure they'll correct you if they differ on that.

Thanks all for the advice guys. Clearly, a quiet, business as usual approach to get the “SUV” licensed should get the job done. Regarding seats and seat belts, the truck has forward facing seats front and back and seat belts for all. Really looking forward to getting back into 4 wheeling. I had a '71 Landcruiser and a '63 Unimog DOKA back in the day and I still regret selling them…something to do with kids going to college as I recall… Thanks again. Pete

Per the operators manual page 11 the 712K is “All metal body station wagon, 5 doors”

I know it's no longer "manly" to drive a station wagon so call it an SUV if you must.

Welcome aboard

73

edzz wrote:Per the operators manual page 11 the 712K is “All metal body station wagon, 5 doors”

I know it's no longer "manly" to drive a station wagon so call it an SUV if you must.

Welcome aboard

73

I think Idaho called mine a "carryall."