Report: 18-wheeler maker Freightliner introduces extra large SUV
By Associated Press, 2/21/2001 01:45
NEW YORK (AP) Freightliner Corp. reportedly has plans to begin selling an extra-large four-wheel-drive vehicle more than nine feet tall and seven feet wide, introducing to American consumers a sport utility better known for its use by the German military.
Freightliner, a unit of Germany's Daimler Chrysler AG and the top manufacturer of heavy trucks in the United States, will begin taking orders in October for the vehicle, called Unimog, The New York Times reported on Wednesday. The diesel-fueled vehicle, which has a 52-gallon tank and gets about 10 miles per gallon of gas, will sell for a base price of $84,000, the Times reported.
The Unimog will be produced in Gaggenau, Germany, but targeted at people living in the suburbs of America: affluent off-road enthusiasts, fire departments and businesses needing to haul some 13,000 pounds worth of passengers and cargo, according to the Times.
The Unimog is a foot longer than Ford Motor Co.'s Excursion and 3.5 inches wider than General Motors Corp.'s Hummer, a vehicle whose design is based on an American military transport. Freightliner hopes to begin selling 1,000 Unimogs a year, the Times reported.

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Perhaps the lessons learned with the past version can be used to test the new version - if (there it is - the biggest word in procurement) the CF is interested in obtaining this vehicle.

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Also included was a militarised Dodge Ram with a Cummins diesel engine.

And last and least, also the winner, the Iveco/Western Star Italian breadtruck with mark 1 non-tactical brakes, suicidal coolant preheater, and various other faulty parts too numerous to list.

In hindsight, maybe it would have been a better idea to have purchased the HMMWV and kill two birds with one stone by replacing the CUCV/5quarter ton truck and the Iltis with one vehicle.

Here are official: http://www.mercedes-benz.com/e/ecars/unimog/default.htm
and unofficial sites dedicated to the Unimog. http://www.unimog.net/

I've been interested in the Unimog since the 70's, but am impressed by the info you've all shared - thanks again.

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Good lord, have you priced this piece of kit? Over US $135, 000 for a mil spec. If the CF wants to replace the Iltis with another disposable, there are a lot out there on the open market for a lot less.

If we are going to spend this kind of money, this will work out to approx Cdn $200, 000. I a have read and seen the odd thing hinting at this vehicle, I pray not. This is of course as long as we don't build them in Canada, then they will probably run out at Cdn $225-250 g.

For this amount we can buy a UNIMOG, a whole fleet of UNIMOG's, same designer, no figure?

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Anyways, here are some pics. Thought you might be interested in what other armies drive ;)

The German Gelaendewagen:

The British Land Rover:

The Russian UAZ:

Good topic, lots of good rapport. Lets expand it a bit and have a quiz.

1. Which vehicle portrayed above can be adapted to the most variants: i.e., command post, amb, recce, weapons platform, personnel support, logistics, EME, etc?

2. Which vehicle can mount the widest variety of weapons systems: section level; platoon level, company level, battalion level, regimental, brigade, etc? These weapons consist of the Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW) (C-9 to us), PAW (C-6 to us), 50 cal., 40 mm grenade launcher, TOW, Anti Air Missiles, recce platforms (similar to those on the Coyote), up to a 25 mm cannon in a special turret mount, and pretty much anything else imaginable (within reason).

3. What vehicle is designed to be the easiest for maintainers to work on?

4. What is the obvious draw back to this vehicle? Is this really an impediment, or are we basing this opinion upon a perceived set notion of what role the vehicle should fill based upon our experiences? As an aside, these vehicles usually accompany other vehicles with wider track or wheelbases. So is our concern of width truly an issue?

5. After mulling this over, rationalize that the vehicle I have hinted at, was a true military design, a hybrid, created to be both robust and highly adaptable for a multitude of roles. This vehicle, unlike the others depicted did not start its life as a civilian pattern to be adapted for military use. It was hard-core mil spec, which has found its way into today�s mainstream.

Close to home, the Iltis was a true military design based upon earlier successful German vehicles. But I would be remiss to not point out that the Germans discontinued this style due to the inherent shortcomings of payload, restrictive operational use to cite but a few reasons. Yes they are robust, but compare them to the Gelaendewagen, no comparison. Unfortunately the G wagon is from a civ pattern and very expensive, as has been pointed out.

To recall the Unimog�s, 4 Fd Amb ran them in Germany, then they were used in the Balkans after CFE closed out. Great piece of kit, highly adaptable, but in reality a Hummer can do the job of this veh for cheaper, same for the LSVW, with a lower silhouette.

If any one recalls we also had the 10 ton-8 wheel MAN�s in Germany, they ended up in the Balkans as well and were turned over to the UN. I was working in UNOMIG (Georgia) two years ago and guess what, found a couple over there that none of the local drivers could use. They still had the CFE unit ID�s, and CDN UN markings. Needless to say, I had a couple of days of fun showing the drivers how to operate them and got a few souvenirs to boot.

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SECURTIAS

OCKNOD

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Yard Ape

Saw an interesting Janes Defence article the other day. Apparently the only company to submit a return to the request for proposals was DaimlerChrysler with the Gelaendewagen. All others, including Western Star which has been bought by Freightliner, have declined the opportunity. Apparently Western Stars decision was based on their evaluation of the possibility of future sales...zero.

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