Outback
Explorer
I had the first civilian model hummer H1. I loved it. It was under powered drove like crap. But was fun as hell! Then I moved to Nevada. I hated driving the H1 off road here. Its simply to wide for this area. The brush always ran down both sides! I drove a Pinzy ambulance and almost bought it but soon discovered that they are expensive to work on and few places in the States have parts. In fact you can count on one hand how many places carry parts here. They are an unusual design that works great but when it doesnt it doesnt period. Still a cool little rig but I dont feel its reliable enough here in the States for a expedition rig. The next in line was the Volvo C304 or TGB 1317 ambulance. You can buy parts for it at NAPA. The stock engine was in a slew of US Volvo imports. The draw backs as with the Pinzy and most Mogs is the top speed or sustainable speed. 55 mph max. The C303 4x4 version can run at 65 mph sustained. Thats getting close to the magical or maybe Mythical speed of 70 mph. (at least for me). The pluses and neagtives are the PORTAL axles! I love portal axles. 17" to 19" of ground clearance at the diff depending on tire size. The taller the tire the closer one can get to that magical top speed. Even the wonderful Hummer suffers from this do to the portal gearing. BUT the Hummer does it better in that aspect than anyone else I know of. No matter what design we choose there will be draw backs. A hummer to me would be about perfect in the Sahara except for the locals. They might decide to use you for target practice. BUT in open desert sand it trully would be hard to beat! In a forested region I would say a 4x4 Pinzy would be great (if you lived in Europe)! For A bit of both then I would say a Vovlo. The Volvo does have more room than the Pizy Ambulance and of course much more than the Hummer Ambulance. Now if we could only realistically figure out a way to have your cake AND eat it too! Then you would beable to have the best of both worlds! I do love those H1s!