Meet the Cheap Amphibious Mercedes You’ve Never Heard Of
It’s not often we come across a vehicle that is built by a major manufacturer in low volumes for a single purpose and with a price most of us can stomach, but that’s exactly the case with today’s find. Listed on Bring a Trailer is this 1989 Hägglunds M973A1 Small Unit Support Vehicle, or SUSV, a tracked amphibious vehicle that was delivered to the U.S. Army in August 1989. It entered private ownership in 2024, and the exterior was refinished in bed liner material, replacing its original green paint. Amazingly, it sold for USD $113,111, almost what it would cost to buy a brand-new 2026 Mercedes-Benz S-Class.
Indomitable Mercedes Diesel Grunt
The monstrous machine, the U.S. military equivalent of the Swedish-designed Hägglunds BV206, is powered by a 3.0-liter Mercedes-Benz OM603 turbodiesel six-cylinder engine (not much unlike that in the Unimog), which produces around 136 horsepower and up to 229 lb-ft of torque. Fortunately, the new owner won’t be shifting gears manually, as power is delivered to the four-track-drive system through a four-speed automatic, and traffic won’t be an issue as this is an off-road-only beast. It seems like an ideal base for the wildest exploratory expeditions, with rubber tracks that allow it to travel over loose ground, snow, mud, and water, and it should be relatively comfortable, too, thanks to a reupholstered interior, a heater, and a 24-volt electrical system.
The SUSV also boasts two bilge bumps and a fire suppression system, and if those don’t work, there’s a roof hatch for a quick escape. That’s not entirely unlikely, either, as the vehicle’s Wikipedia page reveals that the fire suppression system was added after several instances of the front car catching fire and burning to the frame.
Low Mileage, Which is No Surprise
The VDO instrumentation indicates that the vehicle has covered roughly 5,000 kilometers, or around 3,100 miles (only 10% of which were added by the selling owner), and that low mileage count is to be expected given how few places there are to drive the vehicle. The gauges also show an 80 km/h (49 mph) speedometer, though that’s probably a lofty target in something like this. But with a load capacity of 4,960 lbs plus a trailer capable of handling up to 5,500 lbs of gross weight, the Hägglunds M973A1 SUSV is meant for utility, not speed. Of course, there are other ways of showing off. Like crossing a river, for example.
