I have a fascination with four-wheel drive vehicles since early childhood. The freedom to drive where there are no roads is appealing. From a very early age, I have been aware of the advantages of owning a 4 wheel X 4 powered truck. You can get out of snow and icy spots during the winter. Two wheel drive pickup trucks are notoriously light in the rear end and spin even on dry pavement. There is a backlash now with gas prices being high. Sport Utility vehicles seem to be a status symbol of the upper middle class and conspicuous consumption.
Dodge Power Wagon Town Wagon
My dad parted with his precious 1964 Pontiac GTO in 1967 to buy a slightly used 1966 Dodge Power Wagon Town Wagon. This was our family’s only vehicle from 1967-1972. Privately owned four-wheel drive vehicles were a rarity in the early 1970’s, even in Minnesota. Most were Jeep vehicles that had special purposes as farm or plowing trucks. The Town wagon was a special looking truck. It rode high. It had snow tires on all four wheels. It did not have hubcaps. The front windshield was a wrap-around style on a hood and fenders carried over from the late 50’s Dodge pickup trucks. The regular pickups were the flat "Sweptline" series. Also the Town Wagon looked different from the WM300 military style Power wagon sometimes seen as a plow or wrecker truck. The Town wagon did not have many amenities, being a basic heater with keys vehicle. The transmission was a 3 speed on the floor, with locking hubs on the front wheels and an always-on transfer case. It had a heavy truck Orscheln lever-style parking brake. The seat belts were the kind still found on commercial airliners today. The Town Wagon (along with the GMC Suburban carryall) was the predecessor to the more modern SUV.
Ford Camper Special
The Town Wagon eventually gave way to a 1972 Mercury Monterey wagon with air conditioning. But I never forgot how cool it was to ride in that big truck. In the late 1970’s, two family friends had Ford Camper Special pickup trucks equipped with the 7.5 liter 460 ci V8 engine. One of them was a Super Camper Special, with a long wheelbase and a special fender side compartment for the spare tire. The Ford Camper Special was cool both because of its power, but also because of the notion that the truck was specifically meant to haul a pickup camper to remote areas that a regular RV could not go. I had a chance to drive these trucks, and the power was unbelievable. The modern Ford Super-Duty camper package is still available with the stronger springs, heavier alternator, and rear stabilizer bar. New pickup campers are a rarity now, with most people spending the money for a trailer or self-propelled recreational vehicle.
Mercedes Unimog
One vehicle rarely seen in North America is the Unimog. Many might know the blue Unimog “mud puddle truck” Matchbox toy. The Unimog (from the German "UNIversal-MOtor-Gerät", meaning "universal motor appliance") is a truck from Daimler-Benz designed shortly after WWII, originally to be used as a farm tractor for harvesting potatoes and turnips.
The Unimog trucks are tough; there is not really an American equivalent. Unimogs have very high ground clearance made possible by portal gears that allow the axles and transmission to be higher than the tires' centers. Unimogs also feature a flexible frame that allows the tires a wide range of vertical movement to allow the truck to comfortably drive over extremely uneven terrain.
Unimogs are equipped with front and rear tool mounting brackets and hydraulic connections to allow bucket loaders and hydraulic arms to be used. They have a power takeoff (PTO) connection to operate rotary equipment such as snow brooms, snow blowers, brush mowers, or stationary conveyor belts.
The Unimog is very expensive. Many of the same duties are performed by Caterpillar or John Deere machinery in the United States in a comparatively priced traditional tractor configuration.
While in Germany and Austria, I had a chance to see these trucks in action. They make sense, because quite often the workers have to bring their equipment from the storage garage. In this way they are not left at a job site. I did not see many in use in farms. In the Burgenland area of Austria, for example, the farmers live in town. But they drive their tractors like passenger cars out to the fields and in town. Most districts have Unimog snow plows and ditch mowers.
Jeep
The original Jeep, produced as a general-purpose vehicle during World War Two, is interesting in its own way. It has a distinctive design, still carried on today. I have always liked the original civilian jeeps. I have driven the Wrangler. It feels modern, yet tough. But it does not feel nostalgic.
My 4x4 today
I currently own a 2001 GMC Sierra 4x4. It has the nicer riding Z85 package, which was the final deciding factor. I really do not get the hype with the Z71, as most four-wheel drive trucks in the 21st Century never leave the blacktop. The Ford Super Duty rides hard, as does the Dodge. The Ford 1-50 had not yet been redesigned, and I was not thrilled with the rounded 1997 total re-tooling. The latest F-150, which mimics the Super Duty, is more to my liking. But the Super Duty F-250/F-350 is a cooler shape. The Sierra is so much more luxurious than the Town Wagon. Over 35 years many improvements have been made for four-wheel drive trucks. Here are some of the big ones:
