By Gayne C. Young
The Mohs SafariKar is one truly ugly piece of shit.
And I’m in love with it.
Built by the Mohs Seaplane Corporation of Madison, Wisconsin, in 1973, the car/truck/ugly abomination of a vehicle was designed by Bruce Baldwin Mohs whose previous inventions include highway barrier reflectors, an instant milkshake, and a coating to prevent television tubes from imploding. He also conceived and produced the Mohs King o’ the Road Motor Scooter: a 13-foot-long, two-wheeled vehicle billed as “the world’s largest motor scooter,” and the Mohs Ostentatienne Opera Sedan: a 20-foot-long sedan that had only a single rear door. Despite the fact that neither of these vehicles sold very well, Mohs decided to try his hand at motorized conveyance once more. He called on his love of big game hunting and out-of-the-box-vehicle-design ideas to create the 1973 Mohs SafariKar.
Designed for the rigors of an African safari hunt, Mohs SafariKar is a fever dream, acid trip of a vehicle. It’s constructed on a 1969 International Harvester Travelall frame, features aluminum-tungsten alloy bulkheads, and a 392ci V8 engine that sent 181bhp to the rear wheels via a three-speed automatic transmission. The 17.5×8″ wheels featured dished chrome covers with Mohs emblems and wear custom-made STA Super Transport LT whitewall tires filled with nitrogen. Heavy-duty impact bumpers with inset lighting protect the rear while the front is adorned with an oversized Rolls-Royce-knockoff grill and an eagle ornament the size of a cantaloupe.
The interior features front-row seating in the form of three-abreast bucket seats by Solar Automotive, which were developed and patented by Steve McQueen for the Baja 1000, whore-red plush carpeting, a fold-down rear bench seat that converts into a bed, and an AM/FM and Motorola CB radio.
The exterior is batshit crazy.
The exterior is padded with polyurethane foam and wrapped in black Naugahyde. Yes, the whole vehicle is wrapped in Naugahyde. Forty yards of it held in place with over 7,000 stainless steel staples to be exact. The idea was that this would keep light from reflecting off of the vehicle.
The Mohs SafariKar also features a manually retractable roof and doors that open outward—waaaaay outward—and slide backward, parallel to the vehicle like a minivan. A minivan designed by a simpleton who was dropped on his head, given hallucinogens, and handed a sketch pad.
Only three Mohs SafariKar vehicles were made. Only two survived. As of this writing, one is for sale at auction. Despite the fact that the vehicle is an important cultural icon and part of big game hunting and overlanding history, the current bid is only $31,000. Unfortunately, I do not have $31,000. But given how much I love this ugly piece of shit, I’m thinking of starting a Go Fund Me. I need this rig.
