Monday, June 6, 2011

60th Anniversary of the Unimog Prompts New Concept from Mercedes-Benz

The Unimog is certainly not a common discussion topic at the dinner table these days, so perhaps an introduction is in order for this vehicle.
The term "Unimog" technically represents a range of multi-purpose 4-wheel drive trucks made by Mercedes Benz. There's the medium 405 series, the heavy 437 series, and U20 which is the smallest available Unimog. Shortly after World War II, the first Unimog was designed to be used off-road, with farming in mind. Unimogs can be found anywhere that an off-road vehicle is required, such as in the jungle, on mountains, in the desert, and in towns and cities as municipal vehicles (such as snowplows).

To honor its multi-purpose design, Mercedes-Benz has created a concept based on the already-existing U5000 platform, featuring exposed underpinnings and brightly-detailed aluminum chassis rails. And of course, the aluminum five-spoke wheels add a certain personality to the truck.

Designers promise that certain aspects of this concept will manifest themselves in upcoming models of the Unimog.
(source)