Do you want a strong 4x4 but want something different? These may be for you.

Have you been considering purchasing a 4x4 for the winter or for recreation, but don't want the same Toyota pickup, Jeep Wrangler, or Ford pickup that everyone else is driving? There are alternatives out there. Whether you want something that will seat ten people and drive over a mountain, or something that you can park in a compact parking spot, there is something for you. You probably won't be able to buy these vehicles at your local used car lot, and most likely won't be able to find parts at your local auto parts store. Luckily the internet allows almost any part for any of these vehicles to be sitting on you doorstep in only a couple of days. Another plus is that most of these vehicles were designed as military vehicles and are therefore very simple mechanically and can be repaired by even novice hobby mechanics, with very simple tools for the most part.

• Steyr- Puch Pinzgauer 710K and 710M 1971-1979 Country of Origin: Austria

I hold these early Pinzgauers to be some of the most versatile vehicles ever made. A 710K is the hardtop model and the 710M is the soft top model. They are equipped with a four cylinder in line air cooled engine with twin carbs. They are far from being fast, but not undrivable on the road. These have excellent ground clearance due to their portal hubs and independent suspension. The 710M's have seating for ten people, and the rear seats fold into a flat bed for hauling. These vehicles are factory equipped with axle lockers from the factory. Most of them available in the American market were either Swiss or Austrian military surplus. Parts availability is generally pretty good with several businesses on the Internet specializing in them.

• Mercedes Benz Unimog 404 1955-1980 Country of Origin: Germany

The Unimog was originally designed to be an agricultural implement, then adapted to military use. The largest customer for Unimogs was the West German Army. They are really tall, slow, and leave a lot to be desired as far as cab comfort goes. On the plus side they have huge amounts of articulation, ground clearance, and character. The portal axles give great ground clearance. The coil springs and flexible frame allow for massive articulation. The height of the cab gives great visibility. Unfortunately the 404 received gas engines instead of diesel engines, they have either the MB M-180 or MB M-130 in line 6 gas engines. 404's feature 6 speed transmissions with 2 reverse gears. Axle lockers are standard from the factory. Both closed and open cab models are available. Radio Box models would make excellant expedition style campers with some interior modifications.

• Volvo C-303 1974-1984 Country of Origin: Sweden

• Nissan Patrol 1960-1980 Country of Origin: Japan

• Chevrolet/ GMC CUCV 1983-1986 Country of Origin: U.S.A.

• Toyota Land Cruiser FJ55 1967-1980 Country of Origin: Japan

These Land Cruiser used to be pretty common and cheap, but time and rust have taken their toll. this model is a 4 door hard top Land Cruiser that was designed to replace the Hard Top 4 Door FJ45. They use the same running gear as the popular FJ40 Land Cruisers, which means that parts are not unobtainable. Most that you find will be modified to a certain degree, bone stock ones in decent shape are hard to find. Some of the most common modifications is the replacement of the in line 6 cylinder Toyota engine with a small block Chevy engine. These seem to be most plentiful in the western U.S., especially California, which seems to be the case with most of the earlier Japanese imports.

• Land Rover Series 2A-3 1961-1971 Country of Orign: U.K.

• Mercedes Benz G-Wagen Euro Spec 1979-1990 Country of Origin: Germany

The first generation of civilian Galandewagen was a very burly off roader. It came with locking diffs and a center diff lock as well. This generation was never officially imported into the U.S. and is therefore somewhat rare here. They may look a lot like the G-Wagens that were eventually imported to the U.S., they are much plainer and more utilitarian. A short wheel base and a long wheel base were offered. The short was available either as a hardtop wagon or a soft top, while the long was only offered as a wagon. The main advantages of these early G-Wagens were the available soft top, the available 3.0L Diesel Engine, and the manual transmission, none of which were ever offered on any officially imported G-Wagens. These cars are considered enthusiast vehicles and have a nearly cult like following.

• M151 Ford, Kaiser, AM General 1959-1982 Country of Origin: U.S.A.

These little trucks are kind of hard to find because they were not widely distributed on the surplus market after they were phased out of the military. The main problem with these were the rear suspension, they used a swing axle design similar to early VW Beetles or Chevrolet Corvairs. At high speeds the rear suspension would float and had the possibility of causing a rollover during turns. If you really want one of these, make sure to get an A2 variant which has a much improved semi-trailing arm rear suspension. The M151 is roomier that the M38 Jeeps they replaced due to revised chassis designs, the M151 used an integrated frame rather than a body on frame design. Performance was also greatly improved from the M38. Ebay seems to be the best place to track these down as well.

• Kaiser Jeep M-715 1967-1969 Country of Origin: U.S.A.

There weren't too many of these trucks built, but they are still around. Usually there are two or three on Ebay at any given time. Most of these were of the pickup body style, but Ambulance models pop up sometimes. While they are based on civilian Jeep Gladiator pickups, they were beefed up massively for military service. They are officially listed as 1 and 1/4 ton trucks, which means massively strong drive train components. Dana 60 front axles and full float Dana 70 rear axles were stuffed with 5.87:1 gears. Kaiser used their 230CI Overhead Cam "Tornado" engine and WarnerT-98 transmissions in the M715, which means parts mechanical parts aren't too hard to track down. Most of the pickup models have convertible tops, a rare occurrence on full size pickup trucks.