The good conditions of European extra-urban roads have convinced car manufacturers to produce multi-purpose SUVs to replace classic 4x4s, which are more expensive and less comfortable on the road.
With the classic layout of the two axles (front and rear), reduced gears and high mobility, there are few models still in production, the Jeep Wrangler is the best known, but there is also the Grenadier of the newly created Ineos, but even the Mercedes' timeless G-Class has adopted independent wishbone suspension on the front wheels.
Electronic management is, in fact, the undisputed protagonist of mobility, from the new Land Rover Defender to the Jeep Grand Cherokee, in short, goodbye rigid bridges…. and let's not talk about the most extreme solution, the portal ones, where a gear on the wheels moves the axle shafts and differentials higher.
Historic vehicles no longer in production rely on this sophisticated technique, such as the Austrian Pinzgauer from Steyr-Puch, but also the Swedish Volvo C303, both designed and built following demanding military specifications. Unfortunately, however, they are vehicles that are more than 30 years old and this requires careful use, both due to the lower resistance of the assembly and the limited availability of spare parts.
So, what's left? The Unimog (from the German “UNIversal-MOtor-Gerät”, i.e. “universal motor vehicle”), still produced today in various versions at the Mercedes factory in Gaggenau. Always spartan and functional, in its 75 years of history it has been used in the most diverse situations, in fact there are more than a hundred accessories/tools that can be installed, aided by the direct factory assembly of power take-offs and hydraulic system. Snow cutters or mowing arms, fire tanks or augers for plant holes are attached to these, in short, all you have to do is think of a use and “He” is able to carry out the task with ease. He holds the record for climbing the highest volcano in the world, 6,694 metres, in Chile, but he also carries out daily passenger transport on the nearest Etna, still 3,000 metres.
The constant evolution over the years started in 1948, at the Frankfurt Motor Show, with 150 orders and an 82 HP engine, then by 1961 50,000 had been built and in 1994 the milestone of 300,000 units was reached. Meanwhile, the engines decreased consumption and emissions, until today, with two ranges of Unimog, UGE and UHE. The first is more compact, the second exceeds 5 meters in length, and even the fields of action are not always overlapping. The Fire Brigade, for example, uses the largest with a tank for extinguishing in the woods, and the most compact to squeeze into narrow passages between trees more easily.
Unimog today has engines from 150 to 231 horsepower (all strictly Euro 6), automatic transmission, but above all a chassis that fears no comparison. Based on centrally curved spars, it can achieve a diagonal twist of up to 600 millimeters, ideal for always keeping the wheels attached to the ground. Added to this are the suspensions with thrust tubes that compensate for the reactions of the road surface and, even more specific, the portal bridges, with a ground clearance of almost half a meter, attack and exit angles of 44 and 51 degrees, in short characteristics close to those of a tank in terms of mobility.
But the versatility of the Unimog does not stop there, in fact it can be fitted with the VarioPilot, which allows you to move the steering wheel and pedals from left to right and vice versa directly from inside the cab in just a few minutes, very useful when the operating machine has to work on the side of a road, perhaps to mow the grass on the nearby slope without ending up underneath.
A curiosity? The disappointment of the Unimog department in Mercedes-Benz Italia: “The trouble with these vehicles is that they practically never break down, it is very difficult to convince an administration to replace one with a new model…”
The Unimogs all have a “C” license and a price list that is unapproachable for many off-roaders, the price list starts from a basic version at 100,000 euros…
Among private individuals, however, some (definitely wealthy) enthusiasts succeed. There is a Unimog Club, which organizes annual meetings, in parallel with the equivalent clubs in other European countries.
Difficult to achieve economically – it even costs more than a “G” Class – however it remains the dream of all those who love to go off-road without fear of any obstacles.
by MAURIZIO CALDERA
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