Is a Mehari 4×4 rare. Well…yes! Only 1213 were produced, of which a small amount where 4-seaters, of which an even smaller amount were originally delivered in Holland. They were built between ’79 and ’83.

This 4×4 first drove at September 2nd ’81, still yellow at that time. Later on an owner thought of it as being to yellowish and had the plastic sprayed beige in a proper way. We don’t know to much about its history, but at least it was part of a collection in the south of Limburg (Holland). After that it moved to the centre of Holland. Most of the kilometers were made before 2008, the last owners didn’t add much to that, the clock is now at 46.000km. The off-road hours are also quite limited, just 54 hours of fun.

The body is of the first type, with the more curvy look. Later on the model got more rectangular rear wings. It is of course fitted with the original “bull bars” to keep everything of some weight away from the thin plastic. The spare-wheel has a sturdy place in the bonnet. It has the sought-after 14-inch wheels with matching wider tires. The upper-doors can be stored in a kangaroo-bag just under the roof.

Of course we took it for a spin, being a garagist has its advantages, and it performed above expectations. Because of its low weight it doesn’t need a lot of power to start climbing. The gearbox, reduction and differential lock all work very smoothly. The engine sounds like it should after just 46.000km, just getting started… A very nice toy!