My Russian Love Affair

[UTFLIWGYA]

Not too long ago, I was deployed to Afghanistan, which aside from having a lot of angry Taliban has a ton of other stuff.....Old Russian Vehicles!! I was able to finaggle my way to working a deal with the Afghan Corps Commander and the National Guard Motorpool guys on not One, not Two, but THREE 1970s UAZ 469s. The pics of mine are below. It is one of the simplest vehicles I have ever seen and by far the toughest of the ones that I have ridden in. Four Cylinder, Two Barrel Carb, two 8 Gallon Tanks (ran on Unleaded), 4 speed manual with 4x4 of course!! I'll swap some more stories and answer questions at Uwharrie. Brian

[blazinchuck]

you get to bring them back???? wow, wonder the gear ratio? thanks for posting Brian...cant wait to hear more

[SC74]

very cool... how do you plan on getting them to the states?

[broncosbybart]

those things look kinda cool. even left hand drive!

gotta wonder how many parts Napa stocks for those

[Bronco Biff]

is that all they have for air filtration, or is that like a last chance kinda strainer?

[chuzie]

Dude, if you get those back to the states, you are the man. Be sure to send us a postcard from Leavenworth!

[UTFLIWGYA]

Guys....they'll have a better chance at winning the Indy 500 than they would of coming back to the States.....I tried. Afghanistan is landlocked, and unless you have a friend who flies a HUGE aircraft (read: Chuzie)...then you won't get them back here....unfortunately. You can find a few here in the States, but they are mostly movie props for sale. No Bueno.

As for the left side drive, yep. Dials in Kilometers, but not too much "Russian" about it.
The UAZ-469 is manufactured by UAZ. It was used by the Red Army and other Warsaw Pact forces, as well as paramilitary units in Eastern Bloc countries. In the Soviet Union, it also saw widespread service in all state organizations that needed a robust off-road vehicle (i.e. - Afghanaistan). The UAZ-469 was introduced in 1973, replacing the earlier GAZ-69. The UAZ-469 presented two great advantages: It was able to drive in virtually any terrain and it was very easy to fix. The UAZ-469 reached legendary status for its reliability and off-road ability. The vehicle was not available for purchase by the public, but many were sold as surplus to private owners.

IN this pic, taken from under the dash you can clearly read where some of the wiring was manufactured.....yep, our good friends the Iranians!!



As for Chuzie's question...that's about as good as it gets. The air cleaners were all removed, probably because they are easy to get to, and are needed to supply air cleaners to the local civilian populace who also uses UAZs or variants thereof. The mechanics from the National Guard worked in a motor pool that was on the Afghan side of the camp, like myslef. They needed a way to get their guys to and from work and I needed a "maintenance package" to support my own UAZ; hence that relationship. These guys could fix and rig up almost anything and had the shop to do it. Their boss, a Chief Warrant Officer was all for the project since it was a way for them to focus on something else besides their primary job: Disassembling and parting out the vehicles that were destroyed by IEDs...not a fun job in the least. All worked out well. More stories around the campfire K?

[broncosbybart]

interesting. i'd never heard of one of those before. what makes them so good for off-road use? just curious.

i am a big fan of simplicity.

oh, and a HUGE thank you for your service for all of us!

[snipes243]

Not gonna lie when I saw the title. I was disapoint by not seeing a hot blonde chick but hey at least its a neat looking truck