GAGGENAU, GERMANY. A funny thing happened on the way to the IAA Commercial Vehicles show in Hannover this fall: We were fortunate to take a side trip to the south to play with one of the most iconic multi-purpose vehicles on the planet.
The Universalmotorgerät or Unimog, originally built here following World War 2, is still produced by Mercedes-Benz and can be found wherever the roads are bad and there’s work to be done. They’re used in jungles, mountains, and deserts as military vehicles, fire fighters, and expedition rigs, and famously compete in off-road trials such as the Dakar Rally.
Fans of the Unimog are so devoted they created a museum as a tribute to the brand, highlighting the evolution of the vehicle and the many uses that have grown from its agricultural roots.
The gallery above features several photos from the museum, and a few others from the morning we spent putting the modern versions of the truck through their paces at a nearby test facility.
Unimogs are hard to come by in the U.S., but we can dream, can’t we?
