When you think of a tough vehicle, you probably don’t think about the Unimog – which is a shame, really, because it has this incredible go-anywhere attitude and offers great reliability and ease of maintenance, if you know what you’re doing.
Mercedes originally designed it to be an alternative to tractors, offering the ability to be driven at higher speeds on roads than other agricultural machines.
The huge ground clearance, courtesy of its portal axles, combined with a selectable all-wheel drive and a frame that flexes as part of the suspension, made sure that the Unimog will almost take you and your gear anywhere, and that’s what made the Unimog so popular with farmers and armies around the globe.
This particular example is an army-surplus vehicle bought by the guys in Dirt Every Day, with the goal to drive it from Indiana to Memphis, Tennessee.
With the Unimog being able to cruise up to speeds of 50mph, it’s not the ideal road-trip vehicle, but the fun starts when the tarmac stops and that’s what this beast is all about.