Truck Thursday: UAZ 469B

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So a few weeks ago this olelongrooffan attended yet another car show, this one was the annual AACA show at the Naples Depot. When I left, after getting some cars in the lot images, of course, I decided to head down this small alley on the way home and see what one of funky cars lots (you know the one I’m talking about, every burg has at least one) I check out every so often had around back. Well my fellow Hoons, this olelongrooffan was sure surprised to see what they had out back that day. But a jump will have to be made to discover its identity.

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Upon my return to my pad, an immediate email was dispensed to the tips@hooniverse hot line paging any Soviet military vehicle experts to assist this olelongrooffan in its determination. About 3 seconds later I received a response from our very own Kamil with not just the identity of it but several links to posts published here in the Hooniverse. One them can be found here where Kamil was showcasing one of these he found in Poland while visiting there a whiles back.
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Unlike that decaying one Kamil spotted in his homeland, this one appears to be in great shape. Fresh paint, good canvas and newish wheels round out quite a ride.
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BTW, my fellow Hoons can pick up a similar new aluminum car hauler for around $4,700.00 at a place I know of in Daytona Beach.
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Being just the kind of guy I am, this olelongrooffan popped open the driver’s side door to get an unrestricted view of that data plate affixed to the dashboard.
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I then zoomed out to capture a view of the entire front compartment and noticed this ride possessed a Mercedes steering wheel. That surprised me as nothing I had read about these mentioned any Mercedes/UAZ joint venture.
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I then strolled around the ass end looking at this a little closer and saw the badging shown in the above image. I’m wondering if these guys cobbled together a Mercedes chassis (of which there were several around) and this UAZ body. I personally think that would pretty sweet.
And our friend Rusty has a little bit more about this vehicle produced between 1972 and 2013. Check that out here.
Images Copyright Hooniverse/2015 longrooffan

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  1. Kamil K Avatar

    Mercedes engine swaps are common on these things, hence the steering wheel.
    They originally came with a rather inadequate 2.5l 4-cyl which had about a 100hp going down hill, with tail winds.

    1. Manic_King Avatar
      Manic_King

      Those instruction plates on the dashboard are both transmission related, left one has speed numbers in kph, left column without “de-multiplicator” i.e. without slow gear, russians thought 100 kph (70 mph) is max possible speed with original power train.

  2. Sjalabais Avatar
    Sjalabais

    So out of place it looks with the massive American pickups in the background. These sell for next-to-nothing in Russia, particularly after the Rouble crashed:
    http://www.autonavigator.ru/cars/all/UAZ/469/

  3. Facel Vega Avatar
    Facel Vega

    Does anyone else remember the scheme in the 90s to sell these at John Deere dealers for outrageously cheap prices? It kept popping up in the various car magazines back then, and I remember thinking that I would definitely grab a used one some day.

    1. Sjalabais Avatar
      Sjalabais

      There was a video here not long ago – Motor Trend, maybe? – about the same thing. It never really happened, did it?

      1. Facel Vega Avatar
        Facel Vega

        Nah, never happened, or I would have a $900 beater UAZ for plowing my driveway. Instead I’m looking at importing a Defender 110 pickup from Turkey. Or maybe I’ll just get one of those Mahindra pickups that were going to be imported in the late 2000s…

    2. Tamerlane's Thoughts Avatar
      Tamerlane’s Thoughts

      Wasn’t there a Romanian-Brazilian pickup truck that was supposed to be sold here too?

      1. Sjalabais Avatar
        Sjalabais

        ARO?

        1. Tamerlane's Thoughts Avatar
          Tamerlane’s Thoughts

          Yes!

      2. mzszsm Avatar
        mzszsm

        That ended-up being a money-laundering/gun-running scheme that was nipped in the bud before it got the US involved much, people got arrested in Romania and Poland at least though.

        1. Tamerlane's Thoughts Avatar
          Tamerlane’s Thoughts

          D’oh!

        2. Sjalabais Avatar
          Sjalabais

          I’d read a history lesson post about that with great interest!
          (Unless this was a joke fuelled by stereotypes – I bought it)

          1. mzszsm Avatar
            mzszsm

            You can try an online translation of this article, but it does not go into the details of what was really going on under the sheets, just that it was an odd case where the Polish police bought some AROs from one dealer in Poland with the contract created so that would be the case at really suspicious big price. The cars then had trouble and during investigation into this when a gov came into power on fighting corruption later it got really odd, so they ended-up getting about two dozen people on corruption charges, but there are people that said the extra money was about selling arms through shady people who got a cut. That all went untouched by the justice system though.
            http://www.tvn24.pl/wiadomosci-z-kraju,3/wyroki-w-procesie-ws-zakupu-rumunskich-aut-dla-policji,319316.html

  4. karonetwentyc Avatar
    karonetwentyc

    I’ve always had an inexplicable soft spot for these, despite having never driven one. That said, there are two things that have always struck me as interesting about them:
    In the 1995 film Strange Days, rapper Jeriko One drives a UAZ 3151 (close enough to the UAZ 469 as doesn’t matter) around L.A. before being shot by the LAPD. It doesn’t get a ton of screen time, but is definitely identifiable as to what it is.
    Later variants were apparently available in very limited numbers with a Chevrolet 4.3 V6. In that body, with those brakes, that could be interesting.

  5. Jaap Avatar
    Jaap

    I’ve been told by a Finish nephew that the Finn army had to buy these. He drove a few in his millitary service. There was no way to refresh motoroil. This made us wonder: were these cars so strong you didn’t need to refresh oil, or were they so crap, they wouldn’t make ’till the first refreshing moment….

    1. marmer Avatar
      marmer

      That would explain the common engine swaps, I’ll bet.

    2. Sjalabais Avatar
      Sjalabais

      Some of these were delivered from the factory as non-running…or so the legend goes.