+ Click to Enlarge NO RIVER TOO WIDE: Real men don't stand on the riverbank, they take a rugged UAZ 4x4 for a swim to the other side.

June 15, 2006
By Heiko Haupt

Gelsenkirchen, Germany - The sports utility vehicle or SUV has given automakers a real boost in recent years with its go anywhere, do anything allure but soft side of ferrying kids and going shopping.

Despite the hype, there are plenty of drivers who'll shake their head at the thought of one in their driveway. They'll happily go without cabin refinements such as leather seats and polished interior surfaces for a genuine 4x4 that's most at home in really tough terrain.

"On one hand you have off-roaders that tend towards the SUV end of the market," said Professor Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer, an automotive analyst at Gelsenkirchen Technological University.

"Alongside them are vehicles which look rugged but can't really 'go anywhere' because they lack all-wheel drive or other technical means to do so. Chunky styling is what sells them and automakers believe this sector still has considerable growth potential.

"Compared to them, a real off-road vehicle comes across as exotic."

Despite lacking creature comforts and electronic driving aids they come across as attractive to many customers.

"A true off-road vehicle is designed with only off-roading in mind," says Carsten Loebel from HC-Off-road in the Lower Saxony town of Bergen. He's the German distributor for the otherwise little-known Spanish make Santana.

"The emphasis is on reliability and robustness."

His thoughts are echoed by Horst Jesche of Volga International Trading & Automotive in Friedberg who sells the martial-looking off-roaders made by the Russian firm UAZ.

They may look antiquated but these vehicles are used by the military and designed to cope with the most arduous of terrain.

"The cars are Spartan, simple and robust," Jesche said, "and they do exactly what the customer demands. People really put them through their paces.

"The average SUV driver might venture onto a farm track once in a while but our customers are of a different calibre, they want to exploit to the full the 4x4 potential of their vehicle."

Potential buyers who come to see Loebel and his Santanas are not interested in metallic paintwork or gadgets but in whether the car can withstand rolling over during a daring off-road manoeuvre. They're not worried about a few dents.

The no-nonsense approach taken by such manufacturers attracts other customers, too, people who appreciate a car that doesn't need a workshop every time a minor defect occurs.

"When these cars go wrong you can fix a lot of things without diagnostic machinery," he said.

Lots of modifications

Santana began by assembling Land Rovers under licence in the 1950s and its cars have the look of the iconic English make.

The UAZ models seem to looked the same for decades but Jesche says about 90 modifications are made to the vehicles for private use because otherwise they wouldn't sell. They reach Germany in knocked-down form, ready for assembly.

Interest in genuine off-road vehicles has grown to such a degree that specialised car shows have grown up to cater for fans. Europe's largest off-road showcase, "Abenteur Allrad" (Off-road Adventure, will run at Bad Kissingen in Bavaria from June 15-18. - Sapa-DPA