All about Unimogs - old and new 'Mogs driven

Ah, the Unimog. Created in the late 1940s as a more advanced, habitable and faster alternative to the basic agricultural vehicles of the time, during the past three-quarters of a century it has grown and become ever more versatile and capable.
To chart just how much it has changed, we've driven both: a mid-1950s 401 model which is still pretty close to how it was originally designed - save for modifications that made it easier to build.
Then we've tried the most off-roady version of the very latest Unimog, the UHE extreme off-roader. Woof. How good is it off-road? How true is it to the ideals the 'Mog was designed for? And what happened in the meantime? Find out here as Matt Prior charts the Unimog's path.
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[@helipeek2736]

Got to be added to my fantasy Lottery win garage.

[@wolfgangezeh2221]

Same here, mate.

[@charliesmith1984]

All men are the same hahahha. We love a fantasy garage!

[@frankflstf]

Definitely no doubt about it

[@mrbagitos]

Love the Unimog and Mercedes trucks generally. My daily work driver is a Mercedes Axor manual 18 ton rigid. It’s not the fastest truck in the world but I just love the solidity and practicality of the truck to get the job done. I also enjoy shifting through its 6 speed manual box. Much easier for pulling off and reversing. Just a joy to drive.

[@whosyourmate8292]

Everyone loves a Unimog! It was great to see this on Autocar, something a little out of the ordinary but still entertaining and informative. Many thanks.

[@susanb.1113]

Interesting! Thanks for showing a bit of variety.

[@nevarran]

Ha, I saw an old model of these yesterday on the road and I was shocked how high this thing was :) What a beast.

[@andrewtaylor2067]

Awesome to see an early unimog! Just a tip with old equipment it helps to double clutch when changing gears, most are not synchronized and even if they where from the factory they are usually worn by now. Also with the gearing and torque from those engines most start in 3rd gear without load or 2nd if you have a load or are on an incline, lots of torque with the low gearing!!

[@humbucker0076]

It's even what Mercedes recommends in the manuals. Even on these early Unimogs the gearbox should be functionally the same as even with the later 406s up to the late 80. Meaning you've got a 6 Speed main gearbox, which is actually a 4 speed with a low range and if you shift from 2nd to 3rd you change the range and go back into first basically. A side note on that: The German army called for bids in the 70s or 80 where they wanted to buy a 7.5t military truck, AWD and lockers but with a 6 speed gearbox. Mercedes didn't have anything in their product range fitting that description, because the 1300L Unimog had an 8 speed gearbox (same principle as above, but they used all gears in both ranges). Instead of changing the gearbox itself they just reprinted the labels to call the 3rd gear "1st" and renamed the original 1st and 2nd as crawler gear one and crawler gear two. So the Unimog then technically only had 6 main gears and they won the bidding.

[@andrewtaylor2067]

@@humbucker0076 I always enjoy hearing about how companies alter their products to meet military specs, in this case that was a brilliant move by Mercedes! It is for this reason I tend to stay away from “military grade” products. Thank you for the info very interesting!

[@drzoidbergmd3200]

Really interesting video, I've always had a soft spot for these

[@OldSillyHector]

Fell in love when the snow-blower fitted Mog at CairnGorm Chairlift kept the Road open for skiing 👏

[@totallypixelated]

Haha that's funny. The first place I ever saw a Unimog was at the Cairngorm Chairlift as a child about 40 years ago!

[@rpjwhite]

That looks great fun Matt. The unimog is so cool

[@kumbackquatsta]

do tatra next

[@user-tn1vc1xz5d]

I have the Lego Unimog. I saw an identical real one in Germany loading a car ferry with cargo. Loved them ever since. I saw an early model 4cyl in the Dutch Frisian islands, small compared wih the newer ones.

[@EnglishMike07]

Excellent and interesting video. Thank you Matt.

[@karstenpedersen7749]

Had a go on that very track last year, my department won a trip down with the company. Was a great experience. 😊

[@jamiep61]

I enjoyed watching the Video. One of the best you have Filmed 😊

[@howardg186]

Love Autocar for this sort of thing 👍🏼👍🏼

[@richardbarter9864]

Love a Unimog…took me up to the mouth of Vesuvius 👌🌋

[@HeidiLandRover]

Welcome to the club! :-) The driver's handbook says start with the clutch pedal depressed, so you did the right thing. 2nd gear needs the lever moving MUCH further back than you were doing there. Also (as others have mentioned) you can pull away in 3rd when driving on tarmac, 1st and 2nd are very low gears for off road use. The only thing better than a Unimog is 2 Unimogs ;-)

[@dancarter482]

Love at first sight for me as a kid in the 70's. Drove a U1200 for work (swb ag spec with wide tires) and I was waiting at a roundabout with a Merc sports convertible next to me who'd just overtaken me, I looked down at it and _knew_ given the choice, I'd have the Mog over _any_ flash expensive sports car. I'd have mine built by Jay Couch - _Couch Offroad_ of Boulder Colorado. Crew cab with a fifth wheel hitch!

[@ShaunRoberts1]

What a piece of kit👍

[@petewatson9866]

Thanks for showing us something more interesting

[@johngoodfellow168]

Unimogs are excellent vehicles, I used to drive one in the Mosel valley during grape picking season, towing two trailers full of grapes. When the Cop' on traffic saw me coming he always stopped all traffic so that I could just keep rolling.

[@brianjosefsen4668]

Gear or neutral, you always start with clutch pedal down on any manual. Love the mog

[@casto-]

Nice to see Tim’s mog out👍 the reason I feel in love with unimog was after one with a tree company. Nothing would beat it for all round capacities and it’s set up. Great review as well 👌👍

[@michaelteret4763]

Wonderful!

[@NoName-ds5uq]

I love Mogs! They used to be a somewhat regular sight in some parts of Australia near bases, but the Army has switched to MAN for some reason or another. I did see an ex-Army Mog yesterday with a huge camper on the back…I was extremely envious!

[@MrBrenos]

There’s a couple of ex military unimogs on car sales. 1984 models

[@monteiro5306]

Congratulations on your consistency Matt: whether you're driving the old Unimog or the new one, it's clear that you don't know what you're doing. A joke ! haha ha...

[@MichaelLyte-Mason]

at 4:15 (exactly) if you look just before the muffler you can actually see straight through the exhaust and that helps you understand why that original 401 in particular was so unbelievably loud in the video haha

[@TheSujanroy]

Have you ridden an elephant through a jungle? That's the craziest off-roader I have been on. While I don't dream of owning one, I do dream of owning a Unimog.

[@GermanGreetings]

I can not afford this Biest... but I admire it since early childhood :)

[@AndrewHeisey]

Love to see how this compares to a pinzgauer 712 in terms of design and capabilities.

[@jamdc2000]

This should be in Snowrunner as a recovery vehicle

[@andreww2619]

weirdly, I drive buses/coaches for a living and I can feel your pain with that gearshift, even Merc chassis' from 2010 have that same vague, incredibly heavy shift and clutch. but even with a million miles on them, you know they'll do another million.

[@genclod-rw6gg]

Quel beau matériel...

[@andrewstubbings5628]

I have a 1600 Unimog they are super cool, but recon brakes cost £7000 brand new £12000 and clutch now gone re con clutch £1000 Labour £2000 but when running is very cool mine will do 60 mph if your brave enough!!!! I use mine as a farm pick up!!

[@malcolmeunson5543]

Didn’t mention when in 4x4, all the diffs, gearbox, transmission/s are pressurised by air, to keep water etc out….!

[@ZeeBri]

Drive a Zetros next!

[@johnsmith1474]

(8:40) UHE would be 20 thousand lbs, not 200 thousand. A vehicle that heavy could not drive on ordinary roads.

[@ChristofferETJ]

The black borders are an interesting stylistic choice.

[@tomcat7525]

Fabulous machine but I would like to have seen it rather than mostly you, handsome as you are. 😀

[@raulbustamante8337]

I want a unimog

[@flowinthrou]

I came to see a pack of Unimogs in their natural enviroment.

[@kamilbednarz227]

I wanted to see unimog. I saw mainly driver...😂

[@flight2k5]

The unimog does not have a locking center diff. Its part time 4wd

[@parthasarathimishra9513]

Ever heard of double clutching?

[@Prodriver33]

That thing munches a green lane like a rolls munches a high street

[@Aj1981Mr]

If I win the lottery il by a new crewcab, I'm very tempted to sell my series 3 landy and by an old 70s mog.

[@paulcoverdale8312]

If I could afford one? It would be a 6x6 an have the home on it so I could travel around the world the hard way❤❤❤❤💯💯💯🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧

[@Pinzpilot101]

I have a U1300L....a remarkably good Of Road vehicle....but now I will tell you something that REAL Unimoggers know. If you want to utilise a lot of this ability, throw on any old tyres. But if you really want to go off road or onto fields....THINK! Tractor?? do tractors have racing slicks?? no they don't...do they have road tyres??? no they don't....So what do we know.?? tractors have big chevron tyres for traction on mud. So many people have bought Unimogs and been disappointed at getting quickly stuck even with Diff locks front and rear. Like the landrover set with lights everywhere and jacks stuck on the outside, it is easy to spot the 'trendy' mogger...He has Michelin Xzl.....and of course his Mog is really good on road...and pretty mediocre off road. So now you now the truth......Look at the vid....watch the Agri Mogs on chevrons...and the other REAL Mogs on Chevrons.....Oh yes the New Mogs...they have tyres that can be inflated/deflated as you go....very helpful........check out the price.....are we talking 1-200,000pounds sterling or more?? or near ? or less...find out yourself.

[@infernoking7504]

In the us this things are like 30k if you want one.

[@andrewdavis6226]

Want 😊

[@BPF80MCar-vi1pg]

That 50's Mog was badass

[@kutz13]

I guess we won't see the exterior shots then...

[@bradkaberline5828]

Bad thing about them trucks if used for logging construction ect if you lose control in the mud hit a tree the driver might eat the steering wheel or drive in your chest and trap you in the wreckage then cabover the motor may end up in the cab with you piston rod threw your leg and such

[@DrewRobertson1]

All this with a better view of the road in front of you than every damn stupid pickup the US produces. My countrymen have little wee-wees.

[@jamesabe2929]

Ya great vid cause i always want to see what the driver looks like driving on an off road course why even video waste of time.

[@darkchocolate4595]

Too much view of the presenter instead of the vehicle !! :(

[@garymittelstadt7821]

Exactly! Came for the MOG, got a bald English guy.

[@boy638]

2:23 headphone users beware!

[@Mike-1000]

*🏆 🥇 - 1st - 🥇 🏆*

[@garybrown5769]

What ever settings were used to film this NEVER ever use them again

[@bryanabdltif7406]

هذه الشاحنة قوية لكن سعرها مرتفع جدا هذه مجرد جرار او شاحنة للاعمال الشاقة لا يجب ان تصل الى هذا السعر

[@ericbrammer2245]

Hmm ,? ,uh ,Never drove a Case/Leyland/nor JD tractor? Yup, it shows.. badly.

[@InsaneBimmer]

Miss me with that Euro compliance BS.

[@user-en7un3ln1b]

Since you don't know how to drive it or shift it you should have been the choice to be in the video!!!! Sorry bloke

[@burrito-town]

Hey Autocar, the audio in this video is way too quiet. Right click on this video and select "Stats for Nerds" where you will see that KZbin measures this video as 9 dB too quiet. When 5 dB too quiet is very noticeable, 9 dB is unacceptable. This problem ruins your videos and makes your team look like amateurs who don't know what they're doing. Your team really, really needs to learn how to properly export video for KZbin. This problem has forced me to unsubscribe from your channel. There's no reason to watch your videos if they're too quiet to adequately hear.

[@jimjam8149]

Oh no how will the channel survive

[@harrisonrawlinson5650]

I’m assuming you’re on PC, if you’re using windows, you can go to the bottom right corner to the tool bar, select the speaker icon and turn the volume up. Hope this helps

[@v-gun9735]

You’re AutoCAR, not Autotruck. This might be fun for you but pointless for the majority of people. Please do something useful like Supra manual vs M2 manual.

[@Mike-1000]

How can you not like these trucks man ?!?!?!?

[@TheAegisClaw]

I think you're alone there.

[@indiebekonn]

Lol I haven’t enjoyed an Autocar video like this one in a long time.

[@mcdick]

Unimog, pure sex on portal axles.