Since this is Friday, the off topic day, I think I should give a little bit of
the background of the Iltis to the list, at least the bit I know. In the end of
the 1970s, the German Army decided it needed new 4x4 scout and multi purpose
vehicles. They called for tenders, and VW and Mercedes Benz were two of the
final competitors. Both of the factories designed and made prototypes of a
small 4x4 car, and VW won because of the lower cost. The Iltis was put into
production, and Mercedes Benz sat on the fence with an expensive prototype.
What else could MB do to recover the loss, than put the car in civilian
production? The result is the Gel�ndewagen, a 4x4 known for it's off road
capabilities, by many claimed as the best 4x4 ever built. Today the
Gel�ndewagen is a pure luxury car, interiors as Rolls, and capabilities to
drive you up the Everest! The Iltis became much unknown for the public, as
AFAIK never offered to the civil market.

Bulley wrote:

> Couple questions who have seen these things up close.
>
> 1) Can you bring them into these Beloved, Blessed United States? If YES,
> continue. If NO, you are done.
>
> 2) Are they basically an A1 Chassis Rabbit on serious drugs? It looks that
> way from the pictures.

AFAIK, the Iltis is built on a special chassis, but much of the technical
aspects saw light on the world market in form of the Audi Quattro.

> I am sort of thinking about whether I could convince Suzanne that we need a
> durable all-terrain runabout for the days after Y2K when the earth will be
> a barren wasteland, and lawless vagabonds will rule the earth in a
> desperate search for gasoline...I think she could be convinced, as long as
> I can repair it...and since it's a VW, I might succeed!

And if you cant get an Iltis, get a Syncro!

PerL
87 Syncro 112i