Unimog's diamond anniversary concept
Mercedes-Benz trucks celebrates 60 years of the legendary Unimog with outlandish 'dart frog' concept, with strong hints to future commercial division stylingMerc's specialist truck division, responsible for Unimog, Econic and Zetros, among others, has presented a futuristic design concept at the ceremony celebrating the ubiquitous model's sixtieth anniversary.
The original Unimog, which rolled off the production line in Gaggenau on June 3, 1951, was a rugged truck designed to go just about anywhere, and has since that time continued to be the workhorse of choice in dozens of countries across the globe through its 26 model incarnations.
The concept vehicle pays tribute to the original Unimog, its open top a nod to the early design, the front guards and bonnet suggesting where the famous model's future styling is headed. Based on the modern Unimog U 5000 chassis, the concept model resemble little else of its offroad-going counterpart, its designers saying a "dynamic and extremely expressive face" corresponds to the future form language of the German brand's commercial design.
Like its tough production derivative the Unimog concept rides on coil springs, finished in red paint, its hulking bonnet and guards presented in a fresh green finish. When selecting the colours used, the designers were said to be inspired by an unusual amphibian, the poison dart frog. The hue is also a tribute to the very first Unimog which was not only great in water and on land, but also green in colour.
The headlights, like stage lights, focus a direct beam of light and sit boldly over a clearly visible, swept frame crafted of aluminium. It is dominated by four same-size "alu-rim" wheels for what Merc's truck division says is "a strong optical impression".
"We have taken the Unimog-DNA with its unique concept features to 100 per cent into consideration when creating this design concept," said commercial vehicle design head, Bertrand Janssen.
"The result is a complete success. At Mercedes-Benz Special Trucks we decided to construct a design concept because we are of the opinion that such a vehicle will act as a bridge between the progressive strength of self-renewal that has distinguished the Unimog programme for 60 years and the future design of the coming generations of products."
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