The Unimog always was and continues to be the automotive equivalent of the Swiss Army knife. You name it – it’s been mounted on a Unimog chassis. That probably includes some pieces of equipment that I wouldn’t be able to identify even if I had The Interwebs at my disposal. But the version seen here is pretty straightforward, with a small (in proportion to the rest of the truck) cargo bed, and attachment mounts front and back. The attachment mounts are what allows the Unimog to interlock with several other Unimogs to form the SuperMog, which of course battles other large robots in an unconvincing and poorly lit urban diorama populated with scale models of Japanese public housing.
As you’ve probably guessed, the attachment mount on the back of this ‘mog is to accomodate an attachable excavator arm, which then folds up over the pickup bed resting over the cabin. The mount on the front is probably for a plow or a front loader. The excavator arm has obviously been taken off for journeys into town (though one could argue it may be useful for creating parking spots/reshuffling parked cars) but the bar over the roof remains, alongside what looks like a rerouted exhaust pipe.
The ‘mog here appears to be a later facelift of the short-wheelbase U406, which were made between 1963 and 1989. Overall, it appeared to be in excellent shape for its age, though it’s probably been repainted at some point. In fact, it wasn’t even all that rusty, which is probably a testament to how much time it spent relaxing in a garage in Connecticut.
Bad news first: these don’t quite do highway speeds. That’s probably why one seldom sees these at large German car gatherings stateside, or even truck gatherings. The Unimog is one of those classic vehicles that just doesn’t travel well to regional shows, either on the left coast or the right coast. In that respect it’s very much a useable, practical classic, rather than a show truck. And that is perhaps very fitting, as these were never meant to be waxed to within an inch of their life and doused in Armor All several times throughout the summer.
I’m sure we would all agree that this is the perfect truck to have on a farm, whether or not one is actually into any sort of farming or simply owns a large estate. Because let’s face it, everybody has a Kubota, but the difference is that you can’t drive a Kubota into town to pick up a case of pinot noir. Or PBR, whatever your taste. (That’s probably the exact same demographic, now that I think about it).
What grisly/awesome industrial attachments would you employ on your ‘mog?
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