Mr. Johnson's Unimog And Some Useful Unimog Links

His Unimog has just arrived from Germany and he is driving it home from San Francisco.

Demonstrating a bit of axle articulation during an off-roading trip last winter.

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Mr. Johnson's Unimog is a 1961 404 TLF8 with the fire truck box removed and a military cargo bed mounted. It is equipped with air over hydraulic brakes and Ramsey winch. He has driven many trails in the west such as the Dusy Ershim and the Rubicon in California and others in Washington, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Colorado and Arizona.

 

 Want to see what a new Unimog looks like?

 

Mercedes-Benz Unimog, The Jack-of-all-Trades.

The Unimog, also known as the UNIversal-MOtorGerat (universal power-unit), was born from the ashes of World War II. The Morganthau plan called for a devastated Germany to become a strictly agrarian economy and manufacturing could only support agriculture. Recognizing these severe constraints,Albert Friedrich, the former head of aviation engineer at Diamler-Benz AG, saw the potential for a multi-purpose farm vehicle. Ironically, this vehicle is designed for a completely de-militarized Germany would turn out to also be an excellent military vehicle.

Friedrich's concept was turned into a prototype in less than a year in a rather unlikely location., Erhead and sons, gold & silverware factory in Schwabisch Gmund in southern Germany. Note the Porsche was also born around the same time in a town named Gmund, but this one is in Austria. The Unimog, both tractor and truck, featured a high ground clearance, four-wheel-drive, a small cargo platform, front and rear power takeoff shafts and a two person cab. Its extremely low speed made it perfect for working fields, while a top speed of 30 mph allowed it to bring crops to market. Because an appropriate diesel engine was not available, the Unimog started with a 1.7 liter, four-cylinder gasoline engine. By 1948, the Unimog had a diesel engine, the 25 hp, four-cylinder used in the Mercedes-Benz 170D car.

Because of restrictions by the occupying forces, Daimler-Benz could supply the Unimog's engine, but not the entire vehicle. Thus, the first 600 Unimogs were built by Boehringer brothers in Swabia with first deliveries in 1949. By 1950, Mecedes-Benz was allowed to build them and production was moved to Gaggnau where they were produced to the end in 1993 with a total of nearly 299,000 produced and they were exported to some 160 countries.

While designed for farm work, the Unimog's capabilities were soon discovered by others who had a tough job to do. One of the first was on a dam construction project in Switzerland. The implement industry worked with Daimler-Benz AG to develop dozens of attachments for the Unimog. For the construction industry, there were front-end loaders, back-hoes, trenchers, cranes, and compressors for pneumatic tools. When the job was done, Unimogs could travel to the next job site under their own power. Other Unimogs are still being used for sweeping streets, plowing snow, mowing lawns and fields, removing waste, transplanting trees, and even digging graves. They proved very popular as fire trucks as well as for search rescue and disaster relief. Of course, they cultivated and harvested crops around the world.

Unimogs starting appearing in North America in the early 1950s. Some 200 Unimogs were used for mining in Alaska and hundreds were delivered to Canada, where among the applications, they used by the Canadians Nation Railway. They were also used by U.S. railroads such as Union Pacific. Unimogs fitted with street-to-rail systems featuring steel gripping rubber tires could shunt railroad cars or quickly travel via rail to railroad or other emergencies. Unimogs can pull a locomotive that is four times as heavy and twice as expensive. A fleet of Unimogs fitted with Alfred Schmidt snow plows were used during the Winter Olympics at Lake Placid, N.Y.

Others were on duty with many stat highway departments, countries, municipalities, federal and state land management agencies, logging companies, fire departments, construction firms, geo-physical research, oil exploration, and mining companies.

Until 1976, Unimogs were sold by Mercedes-Benz or North America, then the Racine, Wis.-based J.I. Case Corp. took over. Case fitted them with its own backhoes, trenchers, forklifts, three-point hitches, and other implements. They were also equipped with U.S.-made wildfire pumpers, front-end loaders, back-fill blades and Alfred Schmidt snow plows. In 1981, Mercedes-Benz or North America again took over only to turn it over to the Schmidt Engineering and Equipment Co. in 1985, then taking over again in 1991.

While dozen of different Unimog models were built, the ones probably most familiar is the Unimog U 404 and Unimog S.More than 64,000 were built between 1951 and 1957 for military use. Most were powered the six cylinder, Mercedes-Benz M-180 engine from the 220 passenger car that operated on gasoline and produced 82 hp. There several many variations of the military versions- open cab, closed metal cab, and a special five-seat cab mostly used for driver school tasks. Few military vehicles have ever matched the versatility of the Unimog. Besides the normal cargo and troop carrying tasks, they were used ambulances, communications and maintenance vans and fire-fighting vehicles,and much much more. When funds were tight, the Bundeswehr (West German Army) used Unimog as the basis for dummy training tanks and there was an APC(armored personnel carrier) version based on the Unimog.About 36,000 saw service with the bundeswehr.

Many other variations with the Unimog family are in worldwide use in military service in countries such as Argentina, Australia, Denmark, France, ect.The seventh U.S Army had some Unimogs with a front end loader and an excavator on the cargo bed. Being an excellent cross-country vehicle, it a highly regarded expedition vehicle the world over.The Unimog even has a racing history when a Unimog took first place in the demanding Paris-Dakar race.

Old Cars - January 20, 2000

Unimog Links - as of September 2004

Rocky Mountain Moggers - Probably all the links you will need.

Unimogs West - Kurt Jackson was my Unimog broker and is a straight shooter.

Unimog Models Sorted by Baumuster - Unimog Models Sorted.

Road-Test - Mighty 'Mog - Well this must be the ultimate off road tool, the best thing you could ever drive, the most incredible machine for climbing the most impossible hills and traversing incredible terrain ? In a word, YES.

Unimogs on the Rubicon Trail - The Rubicon Trail is one of the most famous 4x4 trails in North America.

Mog Mailing List - The Mog Mailing List is a group of individuals (Owners and those with any interest in Unimogs) that share the 'list'.. When mail for the 'list' is sent it then goes automatically to everyone that is a part of that 'list'. It is sort of like an open forum for discussing anything that interests the list members.

Unimog-S 404 FAQ: An Incomplete Guide - This is a collection of information on the Unimog-S 404, a four-wheel drive truck made by Mercedes from 1955-1980. Other Unimog models are convered, but the 404 is the focus. Topics are listed in the Table of Contents.

Unimog Wherehaus - After importing hundreds of trucks and tons of parts in the last ten years we are changing our operation a bit and concentrating on building nice trucks; faster, quieter and more powerful so you can enjoy these great machines with peace of mind, whether being on a rough trail or rough freeway (the latter certainly being worse).

Westfield 4x4 - The Unimog Concept - The exceptional cross-country ability of the UNIMOG can best be described by the following distinctive features:

United Parts Service - United Parts Service, or "Unipaser", remains dedicated to serving the owners of S404 series Unimogs. Always have been - always will be. We're both a spare parts supplier as well as an authorized Mercedes Benz Unimog dealer for complete units. With over twenty years of active, continual involvement with these vehicles, you may be assured of reliable advice, assistance, information and service.

Unimog Network Int'l - United Parts Service, or "Unipaser", remains dedicated to serving the owners of S404 series Unimogs. Always have been - always will be. We're both a spare parts supplier as well as an authorized Mercedes Benz Unimog dealer for complete units. With over twenty years of active, continual involvement with these vehicles, you may be assured of reliable advice, assistance, information and service.

EUROTECH SERVICES INTERNATIONAL, UNIMOG - United Parts Service, or "Unipaser", remains dedicated to serving the owners of S404 series Unimogs. Always have been - always will be. We're both a spare parts supplier as well as an authorized Mercedes Benz Unimog dealer for complete units. With over twenty years of active, continual involvement with these vehicles, you may be assured of reliable advice, assistance, information and service.

European Motorsport, 3985 First St Suite F, Livermore, CA - We also service Mercedes Unimogs.

Unimog Parts Supplier - WESTFIELD 4x4 - We supply parts and equipment for Unimogs 411 and 404 with reliable delivery to any address UK, Europe and worldwide.

Fort Hood Texas May 2 and 3 1998 - The Unimog FINALLY made it to Fort Hood, one of my very favorite places to play offroad! I have had the Unimog for about a year and have been wanting to make the 200mile trek to Ft. Hood with the Mog.

Unimog Mail Lists Archives Search - Find the answers to your Unimog questions in this wonderfull database of previous Mog Mailing List posts!