Unimog - part tractor, Part truck, All icon
STORY | EVAN GRIFFEY
PHOTOGRAPHY | BLAINE BECKER EFAW
An eyeful any way you look at it, the “Universal-Motor-Gerät” (universally applicable motorized device) or Unimog has been in production since 1948 and offered under the Mercedes-Benz banner since ’51. It is an agricultural appliance, a literal Swiss Army Knife that teams having numerous farm implements at the ready with the ability to roam out of the fields and into the village when the need arises. It’s a two-faced tractor for the ages.
The Unimog’s superpower is its power take off (PTO) capability. At its core PTO is a separate driveline that is capable of running or powering different types of machinery for farming or forestry. Apparatus like multi-cut rotary lawn mowing decks, saws, woodchippers, long-reach trimmers, water pumps, snow blowers, concrete mixers, compressors, generators, and balers are a few of the possibilities. The Unimog’s design features extremely high ground clearance, a flexible frame that essentially acts as part of the suspension, a driveline that can be switched between rear-wheel drive and front-wheel drive, and equal-size wheels that allow the vehicle to be driven on roads at higher speeds than conventional farm tractors. Mercedes’ tried-and-proven Portal Axles provide the impressive ground clearance
UNIMOG: AN UNEXPECTED RALLY RACING STAR
Maybe it was a pair of farmers seeing who would be first to the pub, but somewhere along the line speed and competitiveness entered the picture. While Avants is all about “Drive Everything,” the world of motorsport says, “Rally Everything” and you know they’re serious when there are categories for 3.5- to 7.5-ton vehicles.
We all can conjure images of Unimogs dressed in lavish racing liveries trailing rooster tails of sand behind them as they weave through the desert in the grueling 10,000-kilometer Paris-Dakar Rally. The big Benz won its class from 1982 to 1986. More recently, Unimogs dominated all three steps of the podium in the Extreme Small Truck Class at the 2023 Rallye Bresau. The race, held in Poland, is one of the toughest in Europe, featuring sandy trails, river crossings, muddy mountain passes, and challenging forest trails. In 2022 a Unimog won the 1,800-kilometer (1,118 miles) rally by a mere 13 minutes. That 2022 winner was a 1988 Unimog 1300L that started life in the military, serving as an airport vehicle. The racers enhanced the OM-366 LA engine with a large air cooler, injection pump, and turbocharger, then added racing seats and a roll cage inside, and a rescue winch outside. This proves these big rigs take well to performance mods and there looks to be a burgeoning, underground Mog-based aftermarket out there.
SAL ORSO’S 1979 UNIMOG 416 DOKA L
According to Sal the Unimog is surprisingly spry on the road. “It can go 60 mph on flat highways and drives nice and straight. It’s a bit loud with you sitting right on the diesel engine, and the tires make quite a roar. I need to use Airpods with the noise canceling feature active to enjoy a drive longer than 30 minutes. For sure sitting up that high you do have great visibility and the four-wheel disc brakes stop it better than expected, though I do give myself plenty of room. It’s as heavy as it looks!”
Sal is quick to point out that the Unimog flexes a number of cool design elements. “I appreciate the logical, simplistic engineering of the entire truck and how it’s designed to be field serviced if it breaks down. However, you’ll need decent tools and be able to lift quite a bit as everything is really heavy. The bumper might weigh 300 pounds by itself. The three-way tipper bed is another simplistic design with a single pivot point to allow movement in most any direction. This is the part of the truck I use the most for myself and helping out friends with landscaping, it’s great to add bark around the house or in the garden. I also really like it being a DOKA (a four-door dual cab) and having the ability to take family and friends for rides is awesome. The Benz would not nearly be as fun as a two-door considering what I use it for.”
Looking forward, Sal relates, “I’ve had the Unimog for nearly 10 years and it’s as stock and original as any in the country. I plan to keep it that way as well. For a while, I was going to make some random changes but after going to MOGFEST in Oregon in the summer of 2023 and meeting up with other Mog owners, I realized quickly what a gem this truck is as a stock original. Oddly enough, before MOGFEST I was thinking of selling it sooner than later, but after finding that community I plan to keep it a while longer. Someday I will probably sell it and pass it along to someone who appreciates it as much or more than I do, but that’s a little far out in the future.”
The Unimog is an industrial minimalist’s dream machine—a larger-than-life vehicle that makes no excuses for its perceived shortcomings when taken out of its element. We hope Sal attacks the highways and byways, keeps those noise canceling earphones charged up, and lets the good times roll for years to come.
