It’s amazing what the modern SUV is capable of. Whether on road or off it - or even on a race track - the ability of the very best sport utility vehicles to deal with everything thrown their way is pretty remarkable. No doubt electrification will only add to what they can do.
But long before there was an SUV, decades before there was a Range Rover and not long after the first Jeeps, there was the Unimog. Back in the 1940s, it aimed to improve the lot of farmers, offering them four-wheel drive, a roof, and the ability to actually accrue some speed on road that a tractor never could. Ever since the first one was built in 1948, Unimog has become a byword for unbreakable automotive toughness. You won’t go any further than one can carry you without tracks. It makes a Land Cruiser look like a kids' toy.
Today, the Mercedes-Benz Unimog range is pretty bewildering because of the engines and options on offer, but all you really need to know about this monster truck is that there are two derivatives. There’s the UGE implement carrier, the sort of thing that might be used by a rural fire service. Then there’s the UHE extreme off-roader, which is a pretty formidable proposition when that badge is attached to a Unimog. This is a UHE, and it’s available to buy right now. Presumably, the possibilities are endless.
Every extreme off-road Unimog comes with a 5.1-litre, four-cylinder diesel (you read that right), which places an understandable emphasis on torque (664lb ft) over outright power (231hp). It really is as big as it looks, too: six metres long, nearly three metres tall, and 2.5m wide. Its maximum permissible weight is at least 10.3 tonnes, and could be up to 14.5 depending on options. The approach (44 degrees), departure (50) and breakover (31) angles all look like misprints. This really is the ultimate off-road crusader.
Yet it’s also got a touch of the modern Mercedes in the spec; the driving environment may look incredibly utilitarian compared to anything else with a three-pointed star on the wheel, but this Unimog has also been treated to an Interior Package by selling dealer Clive Sutton. So it’s got red seatbelts, quilted seats like a G63 and leather where you’d never expect to find it in a car like this. The pickup bed is lined for whatever needs to go in the back, like a small semi-detached house or similar.
It’s right-hand drive, too, so the perfect thing for those mean city streets and towering over even portal-axled G-Classes. That’s a joke, don’t worry. The Unimog is surely going to need a particular environment, a special set of skills and (probably) a specific licence to really get the best from. But it is road registered, the first MOT is due in December and it’s covered just 101 miles from new - perhaps this was just too extreme for whoever had it first. But if it’s just up your green lane, the asking price is £129,950, or bang on G63 money. Which this could probably run over.
SPECIFICATION | MERCEDES UNIMOG EXTREME OFF-ROAD U4023
Engine: 5,132cc four-cyl turbocharged
Transmission: Eight-speed auto, four-wheel drive
Power (hp): 231
Torque (lb ft): 664
0-62mph: na
Top speed: na
MPG: Oh some
CO2: Plenty
Price new: na
Yours for: £129,950
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