Engine Punk

I'm curiously tempted Or it could be a UAZ-3303, a UAZ-3741, a UAZ-4909 Farmer, a UAZ-39094 or a UAZ-39265. It could even be an SBA-2M-1S with armoured protection. I’ll try to explain. The UAZ-2206 is a sexed up version of the venerable UAZ-452, Russia's interpretation of a four-wheel-drive Ford Transit. The most noticeable difference is the revised front-end styling and the addition of a “kengurin.” I can't be sure but I'm fairly certain that a “kengurin” is the Russian equivalent of a roo bar. Roo bars were originally an Australian invention designed to keep kangaroos from spoiling the paintwork of your and yer mate’s utes down under, kangaroos have notoriously poor traffic sense. Obviously kangaroos are not much of a problem in Outer Mongolia but there's probably plenty of other big wild things that could damage the front of your UAZ. Peter Tuthill has sent me a copy of the UAZ-2206 brochure and although I don't speak or read Russian, I found it ext...

Not such a welcome sight as an ambulance for any refusenik, this police van has made it to Blighty (Photo: Sam Glover) I've just heard from Sam Glover of Practical Classic magazine. Not only did he used to own two UAZ-452s, but he has personal experience of them in Mongolia. He had this ambulance and the brown pickup. Both of them are RHD and he says the conversion from LHD was done over here and was somewhat crudely executed. They were imported around 1979-1980, which corresponds with the time I was doing my Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme expedition and wondering why Russian 4x4s were suddenly everywhere. (What did you do in the Cold War, Daddy? I went camping.) "Off-hand, I can't really remember the story of the UK importer," said Sam. "I seem to remember our archivist - one-man library Tony Turner - spinning me the full yarn in a pub, but unfortunately it was towards the end of a salubrious evening. I keep intending to button-hole him on the subject agai...