Mercedes-Benz Features The G-Class and Unimog In “Summit of The Off-road Giants”
Giancarlo Perlas July 30, 2019
The Mercedes G-Class is celebrating its 40th anniversary this 2019 as the passenger vehicle of choice for off-road terrains while the Unimog looks back to about 70 years worth of tradition. Both cars have demonstrated their durability and reliability in off-road terrains that they were even featured in the Hollywood films “Jurassic World” (2015) and the “Transformers: The Last Knight” (2017).
When the current G-Class celebrated its world premiere in Detroit in January 2018, it had Arnold Schwarzenegger on stage. At one point, the celebrated action star also had a Unimog in his garage.
The G-Class
The G-Class has a low-range, 100-percent locking differentials, and a slope climbing ability of up to 100%. It can go “virtually anywhere,” Mercedes said. Emphasizing its durability and reliability, Mercedes said that 80% of all G-Class vehicles ever made are still on the road. The model was built by Magna Steyr in Graz, Austria. It spawned many versions over the years, including a Popemobile, the Landaulet, the AMGs, and the 6×6 behemoth.
The Unimog
The Unimog stands for UNIversal-MOtor-Gerät (Gerät meaning machine/instrument/device in German). The Unimog was first created back in 1946 when the first prototype was built. It came with AWD with front and rear locking differentials, and it was the fastest agricultural vehicle at that time.
The first Unimog made do with just 25 horsepower while the Unimog S in 1955 came with 80 horsepower as produced by its six-cylinder 2.2-liter engine.
Since it was introduced, there have been 350,000 units of the Unimog.
