Unimog
The Unimog (pronunciation in American English: YOU-nuh-mog; British English: YOU-knee-mog;[1] German: [ˈʊnɪmɔk], listenⓘ) is a Daimler Truck line of multi-purpose, highly offroad capable AWD vehicles with power take-off (PTO) driveshafts that since 1948 can be used with additional equipment in the roles of tractors, light trucks and lorries, for snow plowing, in agriculture, forestry, rural firefighting, in the military, even in rallying and as recreational vehicles.
The small universally-applicable motorised 25hp workhorse should be able to fit over two rows of potatoes to work on fields like a slow agricultural tractor, but with four equal size wheels on portal axles, coil spring suspension, and many gears, it was designed to also run fast on roads like a truck.
[3] Unimogs were also built in Argentina (first ever country to do so outside Germany) by Mercedes-Benz Argentina S.A. under licence from 1968 until 1983 (with some extra units built until 1991 off the assembly line from parts in stock) in the González Catán factory near the city of Buenos Aires, as stated in the book "El Unimog en el Ejército Argentino", by Argentine author and historian Gaston Javier Garcia Loperena in 2015.
With their very high ground clearance and a flexible frame that is essentially a part of the suspension, Unimogs are not designed to carry as much load as regular trucks.
[9] The Unimog's characteristic design element is its chassis: a flexible ladder frame with short overhangs, and coil sprung beam portal axles with a central torque tube and transverse links.
[5]: 23 Unimogs are equipped with high visibility driving cabs to enable the operator to see the terrain and more easily manipulate mounted tools.
The ability to operate on highways enables the Unimog to be returned to a home garage or yard to thwart vandalism.
This new model was supposed to be a small 1.5-tonne truck, capable of carrying 10 to 12 soldiers on its bed, at a speed of up to 90 km/h, rather than being an agricultural tractor.
The Argentinian made Unimog 431, which was a licensed version of the civilian series 421, was also used as a military vehicle, mainly as a self-propelled howitzer.
Unimogs are used by the German emergency management agency Technisches Hilfswerk (THW),[19][20](literally Technical Relief Organization), by fire departments[21] and municipalities as utility vehicles.
[22] Their ability to operate off-road, in high water, or mud, makes it easier to access remote areas in emergency situations.
Many Alpine towns and districts are equipped with one or more Unimog snow blowers to clear narrow mountain roads that have drifted closed.
In 2002 DaimlerChrysler tried to re-enter the North American market with the Unimog and engaged in four years of aggressive marketing, which included activities such as; truck and trade shows, exposure on the television show Modern Marvels, numerous magazine articles and extensive demonstrations (both touring and on an individual basis).
The UGN series was specifically manufactured for the North American market and was significantly different mechanically from its European counterpart.
[32] The UGN faced stiff competition in North America by manufacturers whose truck or equipment lines performed some of the same duties as the Unimog.
Daimler AG cited non-compliance with EPA07 emission requirements as the main reason for ceasing North American sales.
Unimogs have won the truck class of the Dakar in 1982 and 1986, the latter an unexpected victory as the vehicle participated for Honda, primarily to provide support for the motorcycles of the team.
[34][35] High-powered factory-sponsored entries of truck companies aiming for the overall win have since taken the laurels, with Unimogs used mainly for service purposes.
The type had excellent off-road capability but poor on-road handling due to a high centre of gravity and several accidents occurred as a result.
Eventually the Unimog Scout Cars arrived in Ireland in February 1972, their departure having been delayed by a local peace group who thought they were destined for the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA).
[12]: 59 Further armoured vehicles developed in Germany using Unimog chassis are the UR-416, the Sonderwagen 4 and Condor 1 in Police service, and the ATF Dingo used by the Bundeswehr in Afghanistan.
This was done mainly for two reasons: Erhard und Söhne did not have the capacity to build the Unimogs and Boehringer (a former tool manufacturer) could evade dismantling.
The primary customer of the 404 S was the Bundeswehr (literally Federal Defence, i.e. the West German Armed Forces), which was created in the mid-1950s in the era of the Cold War.
The first Unimog produced in the Mercedes-Benz Argentina S.A. factory in Gonzalez Catán, in the outskirts of Buenos Aires city, rolled off the assembly line on 1 September 1968.
It is a body-on-frame design trac-tractor, has four big wheels of the same size, and all-wheel-drive, a slim bonnet, and an angular driver cab.
In March 1994, Mercedes-Benz presented the design concept "Funmog", a luxury version of the Unimog, on the International Off-Road-Exhibition in Köln, Germany.
[6]: 23 The Funmog features chrome bull bars, and air horns, but lacks hydraulics and is limited to a total mass of 5,000 kg.
Within a few years, production of the UX 100 was transferred to the Multicar subsidiary of Hako GmbH, who specialize in vehicles of this kind and size.
Starting from June 2006 the UGN series was produced with BlueTec technology so that the Euro IV emission requirements would be met.
[47] Unimog series numbers like 401, 406, or 425 in this article are the factory numerical designation (in German "Baumuster", literally Construction Pattern).
