It’s simply impossible to mistake a Unimog for any other vehicle, regardless its age. A more than 75 years old concept that has stood the test of time, with the 1963-1989 406-series as a prominent classic generation.
This one, with ample lighting, was parked in the lot of a farm machinery dealership and repair shop. An appropriate place, old Unimogs are especially popular among the agribusiness crowd. An all-round motor vehicle for farmers, that was the whole idea behind the Ur-Unimog (Urimog?) in the first place.
Move over, brodozers around the world, here’s the real McCoy. More specifically, a 1972 Unimog 406.121 (full steel cab), model U 84, equipped with a three-way dump bed.
The U 84 was introduced in 1971, it superseded the U 80. Those numbers merely refer to the engine’s DIN-hp rating. From 1964 onwards, the 406-series was powered by a direct injected, naturally aspirated inline-six diesel engine with a displacement of 5,675 cc.
A coupling for attaching a big, full trailer and a ball hitch for a toy trailer (from a Unimog’s POV, anyway). When needed, a full trailer can also be hooked up to the truck’s front bumper. Also visible, a front and rear PTO shaft (above the front bumper cut-out and left of the rear trailer coupling).
And that 2005 Ford Mondeo Wagon 2.2 TDCi on the left is either slightly slammed or it’s carrying a hefty load.
There it was again, exactly one week later. Sitting in the same parking lot, yet the other way around. And still accompanied by the Ford Mondeo. Commuter vehicles of a completely different nature.
Now let’s get this show on and off the road! A promo video/historical overview, going all the way back to the Unimog’s early days and ending in our times. Extraordinary multi-purpose-taskers!
Related articles (in chronological order):
CC Outtake: The Odd Couple by David Saunders
Cohort Sighting: Unimog In Hell by Perry Shoar
Cohort Outtake: A Study In Contrasts by Paul Niedermeyer
The Unimog was an interesting vehicle for this American kid. Never seen here in real life, but common as a toy from Matchbox, Dinky, it had an appeal to me that far eclipsed any Jeep or even my previous favorite, the Dodge Power Wagon. Even the name was cool. At some point in the Seventies and Eighties I started seeing them, perhaps fitted with flanged steel wheels for railway track use, or with a snow removal attachment. In the Nineties I worked with someone who owned several Unimogs and occasionally drove to the office.
My first up-close encounter was in 1998 when I took my 80 Series Land Cruiser on the Rubicon Trail in Northern California, in a large Toyota event. The only non-Toyota was an older Unimog which hauled in the food and beer for the overnight festivities at Rubicon Springs. I don’t remember the details, perhaps it lost low range, but fairly early on it was unable to climb the steep Walker Hill. My LC was two rigs ahead of the ‘Mog, and we strapped my Cruiser to the one behind me, which in turn was attached to the Mercedes, and it it winched itself up the hill. I was told to take my 80 out of Park and push on the brakes as hard as possible. In those mostly pre-digital camera days I never got a photo but it happened, I swear; my stock 80 Series Toyota helped a Unimog in distress.
Saw a few of these while working in Angola. Well suited for west African roads or lack thereof. Local haulers prized them them for their amazing off road capability. Faster but less capable vehicles could take a lot longer as they detoured around destroyed bridges and roads.
Mercedes-Benz has an excellent, long-standing reputation in Africa for their heavy AWD vehicles, and certainly not only thanks to the venerable L-series (with the short hood/nose).
Currently, they offer the Zetros trucks and tractors for extreme climate and off-road conditions. King-size Unimogs, sort of.
Here’s a part of 85 new Zetros 6×6 tractors, about to be shipped to West Africa (photo courtesy of BV Shipping).
That cab looks familiar.
Initially I thought the cabs of the Zetros and Unimog 4023/5023 were the same, but that can’t be the case. Those Unimogs have a perfectly rectangular and flat windshield, on the Zetros it’s more rounded/panoramic. The doors match, that’s for sure.
We had one Unimog in our fleet with multiple attachments. Its main claim to frame was tunnel washing. The downside was its top speed of 45 MPH. Our tunnels were located in two areas that were about 200 miles apart. So it got loaded on the lowboy trailer when shuttled between jobs. Eventually we outfitted a Mack Low Cab Forward with a swap loader. The Mack was more useful with a tunnel washer, V-Box sander, flatbed, and demo box plus front plow for snow work. Plus the Mack could cruise all day at 70 mph.
We did look at the latest Unimog with a bunch of attachments but to spendy and support was another issue.
The multi-use equipment is interesting but you have to plan it out carefully, get buy in from the end users and keep the overly enthusiastic in control.
A tele-handler was purchased to replace a forklift that was used in our pole yard. A fork lift was a poor choice for moving light poles. The tele-handler worked much better, especially for unloading a trailer load of light poles. However for some bizarre reason they also purchased a snow bucket for snow removal. Eight years later the snow bucket is sitting on a pallet buried in the backyard with nary a scratch on its paint.
I gave the bucket to another district, the folks weren’t very happy that “their” bucket was leaving, oh well, so goes the fleet managers job.
I saw an Unimog with a camper on the back at Port Orford the other day. It looked like it was ready to conquer the world. But I imagine it’s a bit less than ideal on paved highways.
I would see these occasionally over the years. In The States, they were very expensive. Fascinating versatility.
Unimog versus Hummer H1 and I’d take the Unimog every time. Too bad they are forbidden fruit here in the US. I’m sure the internet has likely helped a lot for sourcing parts in recent years. From what I’ve read US owners sometimes have to find a sympathetic Canadian MB dealer to order parts. Very cool though for those with the dedication and big enough wallet.
These are not a common sight in Mid-Michigan, however from sometime in the ’70s or ’80s until about 5 years ago one small town nearby had one as a brush rig for the fire department.
I don’t know how much use it saw, but I remember it from a lot of parades over the years.
The NZ military replaced its fleet of 4WD RL Bedfords with Unimogs in the 70s so Mogs are a familiar sight here, ex army Unimogs are all over the place.
I always think of this series Unimog as grey with red accents because that is how Matchbox painted them . Back around 1999 somebody at Intel in Hillsboro had one of these with a crew cab and a folding tent trailer bolted to the flatbed to make a basic motorhome.
This generation was also sold in the US by Case, painted Case orange with speed blocks an fitted with a large headache rack with the spare on top.
I saw one of these on the freeway here in California, oh, at least 10 years ago now and I was so surprised I was sputtering to myself being alone in the car. I think it had California plates, which would suggest smog and I was wondering how they ever got it thru smog. It looked way too new to be exempt. Done up in olive drab green, very military style, with maybe even stenciled numbers on it. Smaller than I expected, but it sat high. I’d of course read of them, but seeing one on the road was startling. Again, the Calif smog factor if nothing else.