EI Gets Some New Digs

We are currently under construction! 10+ years ago when we moved into our current location we installed a wall to block off one of the bays of the warehouse. This month that wall came down. We needed a little more space so we have taken over more of our existing warehouse. This will give us new offices and the ability to separate out the spare parts operation from the vehicles and vehicle builds. Same location, just a whole lot bigger. Give us a couple of months to make the move and get settled in.....then we will host a little get together.

SEE Tractor Surplus

We have been waiting for quite sometime for the U.S. Military to start releasing their surplus SEE tractor Unimogs. It has finally started and we are seeing them work their way through the surplus channels. In August EI decided to pick up a few of the trucks to get our feet wet with them. We purchased 6 trucks. 3 of them are being repaired/rebuilt and 3 of them are being cut up for parts.

After our experience with these trucks we have formed some opinions on them. First and foremost, these trucks are heavy. Do not think that you will easily roll them around your yard if they are dead. Secondly, if you are purchasing a fixer....more than likely it will eat you alive on the labor and parts side. If possible, find a truck that is running and can be checked out. Doing a transmission on one of these trucks borders on the absurd.

Keep your eyes open for spares from the companies that are scrapping these trucks. Had you asked me if you could buy a nice Schmidt front loader with all the brackets for $1500 a couple of years ago I would have laughed. Today I have 3 pieces to choose from!

Stay tuned as I expect that we are going to see a lot more of these trucks as they make there way onto the market.

Pinzgauer 718 Turbo Diesels - Military History Up Close and Personal

So the story goes that a select group of 15 x 718 Pinzgauers were used by Delta Force (Task Force 20) to enter Iraq on March 19th, 2003 en-route to the Haditha dam complex. These were the first "operators" to enter the country and attack/secure high priority targets. Their mode of transport was the Pinzgauer 718 Turbo Diesel gun trucks. Officially the Iraq war started the next day on March 20th. Fast forward to the Pinzgauers sitting in Qatar for a number of years before making their way back to the U.S., being de-militarized and surplussed by the Federal Government.

EI is pleased to have picked up a number of these unique vehicles. We are currently just starting the refurb and rebuild process. Follow along as over the next couple of years these vehicles get re-purposed.

There Back! PTM Racing Rock Buggy Takes 1st Place

This year Craig Thompson and crew are continuing on with the 404 Portal'd Rock Buggy in the new Cal-Neva series. Last year we Won the class through persistence with good scores, but the elusive 1st place trophy was missed.

Well this year at Round One on April 9-10th, Craig took FIRST PLACE. We are hoping to see a lot of "our" team up on the podium this year. Congratulations to Craig and his team.

Dos Equis Add Campaign

EI was approached by a marketing company representing Dos Equis. They had a pretty tall order. To go along with "The Worlds Most Interesting Man" add campaign Dos Equis needed trucks in major cities for Cinco De Mayo celebrations. The premise was simple, the worlds most interesting man was returning from his jungle expedition where he happened to discover the lost civilization. As any good explorer would do he brought back evidence in the form of 3 Mayan Princesses....Ok enough of the campaign. EI was tasked with handling the vehicles for San Francisco, Chicago, San Diego, Los Angeles, Ft. Lauderdale, San Antonio, Phoenix, and New York. We used 4 of our own vehicles t handle the West Coast and Phoenix, then got on the phone and started calling customers to coordinate rentals for the other 4 cities.

With 3 weeks to coordinate, EI cranked it up and went to work. Coordination, driver training, contracts, insurance....pretty much a marathon. To tell you how Just in Time it was Brian Mason (EI Engineer) used his own custom 712DK for the Phoenix promo vehicle. The wrap was completed at EI in Vallejo, 30 minutes later Brian was on the road driving to Phoenix to deliver. Brian drove all night, arrived in Phoenix with two hours to spare and the truck made it's opening night debut.



We had a lot of fun with this campaign. Learned a number of valuable lessons as well. #1 - Marketing teams do not understand the unique characteristics of these vehicles. Try explaining to 3 "Mayan Princesses" they will be traveling in a soft top Pinzgauer for 200+ miles in an evening with multiple stops, in poor weather, on the freeway.....yep you get the picture! #2 - A vinyl wrap on a poor paint job works very good at removing the paint. #3 - Marketing companies pay well for promotional vehicles. Don't undersell yourself!

The next time the phone rings make sure you answer as EI might just be asking if you want to rent your vehicle for a promo!

Forced Child Labor - Teach'em early!

At EI we are constantly "kitting" items and preparing them for sale. Carb kits, ignition conversions, fuel pump kits, etc. When we get behind, we have to enlist the help of family. My boys probably the only 4 year old to know the difference between a Zenith 32 and Zenith 36 Carb kit! My girl has found that "packaging" in the shipping area can create it's own fun. She really likes the peanut dispenser. Coming from a bigger family I have quite a few nieces and nephews that enjoy "working" at EI. So the next time you wonder about your parts keep in mind they are assembled with love in the good old US of A!

Spare Parts Aquisitions and their Stories

Over the years EI has purchased a number of large lots of Unimog Spare Parts. Each one has a story and over the next couple of months I am going to do a writeup/travelogue with pictures. If there is any doubt as to our commitment to the long haul in Unimog spares come give us a visit, we can use the help!

• 2001 - Swiss Military Depot outside Lucern, Switzerland. This one has a funny story in regards to communication and sarcasm between cultures. In this case it saved me 80,000 Swiss Francs! Someday I'll take the time to write it up.

• 2006 - Sabiex International Belgium - Sabiex had made it a habit to purchase all of the German, French, Belgian, and Swiss parts lots that they could get a hold of to aid there refurbishment of 404's for African militaries. When the governmental 404 refurb market had passed, they sold us their 3000+ tons of remaining stocks. 6 Months of logistics, and thousands of man hours got this into our warehouses.

• 2010 - French Surplus Dealer calls it quits. 500 Tons, NOS parts.

• 2010 - Mexican Military calls it quits and surpluses remaining parts stocks. - 30 Tons

• 2010 - Belgian Surplus - Still squeezing out some of their parts stocks - Of Note, NOS Cabs, that we had thought were gone for good.

• 2010 - Swiss Military Spares found in America! Purchased from the Swiss Military in 2000 and warehoused in Colorado, this was a nice batch of 40 tons.

So the quest continues. Hoping that 2011 will give us some time to sort out the 2010 purchases.

January in Denver - Yummy

Being a CA guy with an aversion to the cold, it takes a lot to get me to Colorado in January. However, if you waive 40 tons of NOS Unimog parts in front of my nose......you get my attention. Brian and I headed to Colorado last week to coordinate the move of a batch of Swiss Military spares.....primarily 404 and 2010 Mog parts. We flew in on a Thursday, loaded 2 x 53' trailers on Friday and Monday and flew home Monday night. Parts arrived in Vallejo 48 hours later. Now the fun begins.......


Arrival in Vallejo......it will take us a couple of days to get things coordinated so we can move around the shop and yard.



Ooooohhhh....Aaahhhhhh, mint chip NEW, not even rebuilds!