I've always wanted a boxy, old truck. There's something about having the ability to drive literally anywhere. I had my first taste of freedom. But it grew and changed over time. When Jurassic Park came out, the Ford Explorer was it. My parents bought one. And they bought a second one, the vehicle I learned to drive on. And while I took that off-road a couple times, it was never an overland vehicle, nor was it impermeable to dinosaurs. When I moved to LA, I started my adult search for one.
Jeep Wrangler CJ Toyota Landcruiser FJ All were capable machines, none were exactly what I needed, especially that early on in my career. I caved and bought a Nissan Pathfinder, with safety and reliability being my foremost concerns. But I got it stuck off road.
I had to be rescued, and to this day I'm not sure exactly how we got it out. As my Pathfinder began to age and was hit over and over and over again in a series of car accidents only LA could provide , it was finally time to get into something reliable, safe, more sturdy and much more badass.
I searched for 5 years. And I found something unexpected. In Beverly Hills at a gas station shop, I saw a little red convertible truck the likes of which I'd never seen before. It was an old G-class. A real off-roader. The more research I did, the more tried and true I realized these things were. And my hunt began.
Meet "Puchy", the Merceds-Benz Gelandewagen. Name partially inspired from the Styhr-Diamler-Puch plant in which its made, partially because, like my one-eyed childhood stuffed bear Pookie, the truck only had one working headlight when I bought it. I'm the third owner. The first owned it in Poland and used it as his vehicle to get between his winter cabin and his hunting and fishing sites.
