
Information
“UNIversal MOtor Gerät”
or: universal engine device.
The Unimog is a 4x4 vehicle that can be used for various purposes such as agriculture, military activities and construction work. The Unimog was designed in Germany in 1948 by Boehringer. In 1951, production was taken over by Daimler, he sold the vehicles under the name Mercedes-Benz Unimog.
Unimog history
The Unimog was designed in Germany in 1948 by Boehringer to function as a self-propelled machine with a PTO in forests to cut down trees and in agriculture as a harvester. The logo on these first vehicles was formed by two ox horns forming an “U”.
In 1951, production was taken over by Daimler-Benz. The unimog is officially part of the MB (Mercedes-Benz) family. And since 1953, there has been a Mercedes star on the Unimog’s grill. A fully enclosed cab also arrived that year, in addition to the earlier versions with a folding hood. These new cabs were known by the pet name “Froschauge” or “Westfalia cab”. In addition in the Dutch firm, ‘Hoegen-Dijkhof’, also built cabs fort he Unimog for a number of years. You could then mount these on the convertible version of the Unimog.
In May 1966, the 100.000th Unimog was produced
The name Unimog is an abbreviation for “UNIversal MOtor Gërat”, or: universal motor unit.
Unimog consists of a series of multi-purpose, medium-sized trucks with four-wheel drive. The wheels are of equal size, allowing you to drive on the road at higher speeds than a regular agricultural tractor. Unimogs are not designed to carry as much load as a normal truck. This is because of the large ground clearance and the flex frame, wich is part of the suspension.
The Unimog was only occasionally used in agriculture, in order to change this, Daimler-Benz designed the MB-Trac in 1972. This tractor was derived from the Unimog.
In addition, forestry vehicles were designed based on the Unimogs 401, 421, 406 and 417, characterised by a winch constructed by the Trier company Werner. These are mostly convertibles with a round tank and an upright exhaust. Also built on the basis of the Unimog 406 was the “Uniknick”. This is an articulated forestry vehicle.

Unimog Uniknick
There is also a track-driven Unimog, this is the “Unitrac”. A special airport version of the Unimog was built for Deutsche Post AG. This involved hydraulically raising the rear.
Unimogs, thanks to their off-road capabilities, can be found in jungles, mountains and deserts as military vehicles, firefighters, expedition campers and also in competitions such as truck trials and the Dakar Rally.
In Western Europe, Unimogs are often used as agricultural implements, construction machinery, snowploughs, forestry vehicles, municipal equipment carriers, road-rail vehicles and in the army.
Unimog types and models
Mercedes-Benz has a particular way of naming their Unimogs that they build in Germany. The Unimogs are divided into different types and models. For example, one of the models they have is the Unimog 406, wich is a Unimog truck that refers to Mercedes-Benz’s model series. An example of a type of Unimog is the Unimog U1300.
To broaden your knowledge aboud vintage Unimogs and Daimler-Benz’s newer vehicles, we have outlined a timeline on all Unimog vehicles released.
Timeline
Prototype
1946: Erhard & Söhne
1948: BoehringerU1-U4
Unimog 70.200
1949
U25
Unimog 2010
1951 - 1953
U25
Unimog 401
1953 - 1956
U25
Unimog 402
1953
U25
Unimog 404.1
1955
U80 / U825 / Unimog-S
Unimog 411
1956
U30 / U23 / U34 / U36
Unimog 406
1963
U65 / U70 / U80 / U84
Unimog 416
1965
U80 / U90 / U100 / U110 / U125
Unimog 421
1966
U40 / U45 / U52 / U60
Unimog 403
1966
U54 / U66 / U72 / U800
Unimog 426
1968
U90 / U100
Unimog 413
1969
U75 / U80 / U800L
Unimog 431
1969
Licentiebouw Argentinië
Licence build Argentina
Lizenzbau Argentinen
Unimog 404.0
1971
U82 / U110 / Unimog-S
Unimog MB Trac 440
1973
65/70 / 800
Unimog 425
1974
U120 / U1300 / U1500 / U1500T
Unimog 435
1975
U1300L (BW) / U1700
Unimog 424
1976
U1000 / U1000T / U1200 / U1200T / U1250
Unimog MB Trac 442
1976
1000 / 1300
Unimog MB Trac 441
1982
1000 / 1100
Unimog 419
1986
SEE Tractor
Unimog MB Trac 443
1987
1400 Turbo / 1800 intercooler
Unimog 436
1987
U1300L / U1700L 38
Unimog 427
1988
U1000 / U1200 / U1250 / U1600
Unimog 437.1
1988
U1700 / U2100 / U2450 / U2400TG
Unimog 407
1988
U600 / U650
Unimog 417
1988
U900 / U1150
Unimog 408
1988
U90 / U100L / U110
Unimog 418
1988
U130 / U140L
Unimog 409
1996
UX100 H/M
Unimog 405 UGN
2000
U300 / U400 / U500
Unimog 437.4 UHN
2001
U3000 / U4000 / U5000
Unimog 405 U20
2007
U20
Unimog 405 UGE
2013
U216 / U323 / U427 / U535
Unimog 437.4 UHE
2014
U4023 / U5023