Anyone ever heard of the Unimog? Proving Ground demonstarion 1957

[Studebaker Wheel]

Many years ago I was casually chatting with a Studebaker dealer and we were discussing a yard stick he had with an imprint about the 1958 new car Driveaway held at the Proving Ground in late 1957. He said what he remembered best at that occasion was a demonstration of a vehicle they called a Unimog. I had never heard of it. He thought it was a Studebaker experimental vehicle made for the military. This issue of the Studebaker News has the photos and confirms that it was instead a Mercedes product (see image #4). http://www.ebay.com/itm/1957-Studeba...-/310574935763 Looks somewhat similar to some of the vehicles worked on later during the Egbert years (for the military).

[rockne10]

Friend of mine owns and drives a Unimog; purchased from Belgium military. I don't have a picture of his handy but,

I believe they are still being produced by Daimler for military.

I have another friend who is keen on findin' himself a gamagoat.

[Santosh]

UNIMOG is the abbrivation for " Universal - Motor - G

[8E45E]

Yes, I owned one circa 1969. VERY rugged vehicle, too! I was totally unaware they were tested at the Proving Ground, though. Now I wish I kept it!! I Googled it, and found one exactly the same as the one I owned, but mine was mint at the time: http://www.tortoys.co.uk/acatalog/info_24701.html

Craig

[Noxnabaker]

I've got a friend who has one sitting in Holland & don't want it so it's l-o-o-o-w priced, it runs but it's expensive to drive cause of the fuel-consumption & the fact that he's not the spending kind of guy...

[JRoberts]

I assume testing the Unimog at the Proving Grounds is a result of the the Studebaker-Packard-Mercedes relationship during that era.

[duncan1951]

One feature of the Unimog was the versatility. I worked for Mercedes / Freightliner and the story goes that one idea was to sell to a farming "community" who could share the non military vehicle and it's uses (I got this from a Mercedes engineer). You could hook a mass variety of attachments so it could be a plow tractor, post hole digger, brush clearer, mower, pto platform front or rear output, or maybe even used as a truck. Think Bobcat on steroids.

[showbizkid]

I became aware of the Unimog in 1966 when I got a Matchbox version They're amazing vehicles. Go on YouTube and you'll find multiple vids of guys pulling through mud, over fallen trees, into lakes, etc. with them.

[t walgamuth]

They are pretty cool but geared very low. Top speed maybe 45? I looked at them before buying my present 87 Mitsubishi Montero for plowing snow. I decided thy would be too much work to get in and out of for an old fart like myself.

[Steven Ayres]

My best old-car buddy is a certified Mercedes mechanic and deals in military-surplus Unimog and Pinzgauer vehicles, parts and service. Most often he handles the older 404s, generally like the pic in #2 above, because they're a lot more broadly useful. They run a Benz inline six motor similar to the contemporary passenger cars, adjusted for huge torque and prepped to run fully submerged, with a four-speed dual-range transmission and cab-selectable four-way locking. We also handle the diesel 406s, which are a bit larger and more powerful. You can put a 406 in first in low range, get out of the cab and work beside it as it crawls. We call the Mog the Hummer recovery vehicle.

Modern Mogs are much larger and more military-purposed, but still used in Europe for civil purposes as well. We occasionally see civilian users come through, people who need or enjoy taking large amounts of gear into rugged desert wilderness for long periods, an example being one couple who are serious entomologists, who use it both as lab and living space. The new Mogs cost around half a million bucks with appointments, so they're not for the joyrider.

You can see offroad action shots at my buddy's site, mogsrus.com.

[studegary]

In the Feb. 7 issue of Old Cars Weekly, there is a "rust free" 1958 Unimog for sale for $3250 by www.RustFreeWesternCars.Com

[j.byrd]

There is a fellow on the AACA site named Unimog John that had one, and he is doing a series of posts on his Avanti, Jag, and some other stuff. Neat guy, neat post, and there were pics of his Unimog on there too. His posts are called Avanti, R-2, refresh, I believe.

[8E45E]

I became aware of the Unimog in 1966 when I got a Matchbox version.

I bet it looked 'zackly like mine! baby blue & red

Craig

[Corvanti]

There is a fellow on the AACA site named Unimog John that had one, and he is doing a series of posts on his Avanti, Jag, and some other stuff. Neat guy, neat post, and there were pics of his Unimog on there too. His posts are called Avanti, R-2, refresh, I believe.

One of my "daily reads". http://forums.aaca.org/f190/avanti-r...269244-76.html

he also posts updates from Mr. Greg Cone, an extraordinary "builder of cool things". (also owner of the R-5 engine at the Int'l Meet this past year)!

[Bordeaux Daytona]

Hot Wheels made a unimog too but they did a "final run" and destroyed the tooling.

I didn't know that matchbox makes a newer one.