Bombardier Iltis opinion

Parts are still pretty good, cheaper than Toyota! Fair bit left in Alberta from the semis full of parts that were sold off. I’ve got a fair pile of hubs and bits and pieces, should be good - biggest thing is to stay ahead of lubing all the bits. Trunions need to be modded for zerxs if they are not already. Pull and pump the cv’s full of grease once in a while. They all seem to have personalities, bombardier and all, kinda like high maintenance w***n, take some sorting. I’d love an old willys, but if I’m out and about the independent suspension is the cats meow, with gelander gear and locked diff they can impress. Bit of Canadian history that saw action, we will never see that again for Civi purchase. The gwagons are in for crushing, the deuces are gone...
Chinese contract mkII, LB. cheers stencollector!
 
And as an aside, I’d wager parts are easier to come by now than when they were in service! If anything looses a battle it’s the supply chain. And CF supply chain is spectacular...
 
awesome vehicle. there no daily driver and they cant get out of there own way, but for an off road / hunting vehicle, you cant go wrong. I've herd tough to find parts for. however I would love to have one.
 
Grizzly Adams said:
Question here. Are these things amphibious ? They look like they're built to be.

Grizz
Click to expand...
nope .... but they had a heater and the vehicle it replaced did not... also the softop and sides were a significant improvement .... which isnt saying too much :) At the time they were an advancement - for a few weeks anyway. By the time they were ready to retire - no sane person really missed them.

For some odd reason the CF is in love with German and North American rolling stock. And thankfully have lost their love of ’British therefore best’ crap. Pity they didn't just buy a few thousand Toyota Hilux 4wd Crew cabs .... they would have been a lot better off!

Unless you have ‘been there and done that’ it is hard to imagine the shxt kicking most military vehicles take from numerous drivers - who pretty much dont care ... despite the ‘first parades’ ... most vehicles are ‘rode hard - put away wet’!
 
Last edited:
They were supposed to be. We never tried. Make sure the plugs are in the floor and the doors are not torn and giver a go. I have jumped an Iltis, it survived.
 
not amphibious but in theory can be waded through water about 1 metre deep. Personally I would not try this and only drive mine on dry sunny days....
 
Grizzly Adams said:
Question here. Are these things amphibious ? They look like they're built to be.

Grizz
Click to expand...

As I recall the design of the Iltis was going to be amphibious. It was going to be a vehicle that would be common to all the NATO European nations. But the project costs escalated, and in the end Volkswagon salvaged the Iltis from the original program.

I suspect that those who loved the Iltis did not have to repair on them. And others are right....when military vehicles go to the field, and sometimes when they are driven on pavement, the vehicles are driven to the limits of their endurance.
 
stencollector said:
As I recall the design of the Iltis was going to be amphibious. It was going to be a vehicle that would be common to all the NATO European nations. But the project costs escalated, and in the end Volkswagon salvaged the Iltis from the original program.

I suspect that those who loved the Iltis did not have to repair on them. And others are right....when military vehicles go to the field, and sometimes when they are driven on pavement, the vehicles are driven to the limits of their endurance.
Click to expand...

You are correct, I remember the article in the Sentinal Mag.
 
stencollector said:
As I recall the design of the Iltis was going to be amphibious. It was going to be a vehicle that would be common to all the NATO European nations. But the project costs escalated, and in the end Volkswagon salvaged the Iltis from the original program.

I suspect that those who loved the Iltis did not have to repair on them. And others are right....when military vehicles go to the field, and sometimes when they are driven on pavement, the vehicles are driven to the limits of their endurance.
Click to expand...

Bahh.....outside of a small run of 11 cars post war, the Germans have not made a decent "swimming car" since Sept 1944.
 
I don’t recall the Iltis were ever meant to be amphibious. Is that article still around? I understood them to be a later development of the Auto Union DKW Munga.
For anyone thinking about an M-38, consider instead an early CJ-5. Same thing except 12v instead of 24v.
 
Last edited:
beltfed said:
I don’t recall the Iltis were ever meant to be amphibious. Is that article still around? I understood them to be a later development of the Auto Union DKW Munga.
For anyone thinking about an M-38, consider instead an early CJ-5. Same thing except 12v instead of 24v.
Click to expand...

Look up the Europa Jeep. There is a wikopedia article along with a couple photos of it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom