Jeff Rowsam and a few other promInent MV collectors played a major role in the success of this measure.
Success or not? Depends on your perspective.
As far as I'm concerned,
I'm now better off than I was before: I can now register my Pinzgauer, as a Collector vehicle, for a one-time fee and I can still
use the truck whenever I want (except during January, when the roads are salted anyway) and use it to haul whatever or whoever I want.
I can only assume that all the guys who backed Jeff Rowsam's efforts are satisfied with his work and the HMV (parades, etc.) law that they got. If they're happy, then I am too.
I'm
not entirely satisfied, since soon my Duece & 1/2 will be useless as my farm truck. So I intend to see what can be done to get other vehicles added to the "approved model list", just like the DUKWs. But that's tomorrow's fight.
He said, she said? Whatever. I see no gain from trying to make others look bad. But I'll also be quick to defend my actions against others who seek to make me out as the "bad guy" in this affair. The proof's in the paperwork for anyone who wants a look. Mike, you're in Madison, so if
you've got questions, let me know.
truth is these vehicles are most likely less safe then most.
Than
most?? Well, then let's talk about motorcyclists without helmets and how safe we compare against them? Or whether motorcycles are as safe as automobiles. Yet motorcycles are allowed to operate unrestricted here, aren't they? So why hold milvehs to some absurd standard? If milvehs are so unsafe, then DOT
ought to have amassed statistical evidence of such. They didn't, or couldn't.
It is true in some respects.
Yes, agreed. But is it to
such a respect that these vehicles cannot be used, but rather deserve to be limited to parade-only functions? ??? In many states, specific laws already require some vehicles to be upgraded, ie. seat belts, signal lights, etc. So if the owner wants to
use the truck, he/she would be required to make those modifications. Wisconsin already had such an assortment of laws (Wis. Statute Ch. 347 and Wis. Admin. Code Trans305).
To hear him tell it(as he often does), anyone that is not US Army trained has no business owning a former US military vehicle.
Heh, heh. Well, Ben seems to appreciate tossing out the short one-liners, but rarely supports his comments in-depth. As Tom pointed out,
any vehicle can become unsafe through lack of maintenance or repairs. It's certainly not a condition unique to milvehs. In fact, my experience has shown that obtaining parts or manuals for old milvehs is generally easier than getting those for an antique civvy vehicle. I can obtain nearly every part for my 33-year old Pinzgauer with 3 days, the most common ones from my local NAPA. The problem with a poorly-maintained vehicle is a problem with the owner, not a design flaw within the trucks themselves. I've never been in the military (flat feet and a broken neck), and I'm neither Austrian nor Swiss, but I
can fix Pinzgauers. In fact, last year I logged nearly 200 hrs. of repairs & maintenance work on my truck. In my opinion, this issue simply has no bearing on whether milvehs deserve to be legal to register in Wisconsin.
Paul
Its true 
I don't really maintain my MV i drive it for a half hour twice a year and let it sit 
. . .
The owner before changed and serviced nothing except the week before selling it to me it got all its fluids and filters changed along with complete tune up 
