Mercedes Unveils Luxury Unimog For Comfortable Adventuring

Mercedes is no stranger to building ultra-tough 4x4 vehicles, having been knocking out G-Wagens for several decades now, but that’s not the company’s most hardcore off-road workhorse. That honour goes to the Unimog, the massive 4x4 truck designed for hauling stuff to places that regular lorries simply can’t go.

Typically, these beasts are as unashamedly utilitarian inside and out as you’d expect, but with Merc having carved out a fine niche for itself in ultra-posh G-Wagens, it was only a matter of time before the ’Mog got the same treatment – and here it is.

This one-off creation doesn’t yet have a name, but it’s a collaboration between Mercedes’ Special Trucks division and Hellgeth Engineering, a firm that carries out specialist conversions of Unimogs.

Outside, it’s been treated to a matt grey paint job, new LED lights, aluminium beadlock wheels and cameras in place of mirrors. While we’ve only got the one shot of the interior, we can see the more comfort-oriented seats that have been fitted, swathed in plus quilted leather. Apparently, there’s also new LED mood lighting, plus leather floormats – maybe not one for getting into after a day’s logging in a muddy forest, then.

Underneath, it retains all the usual Unimog off-road goodies, including portal axles, selectable full-time four-wheel drive and diff locks on both axles, but the big change comes in the engine department. The regular four-cylinder has been replaced with one of Merc’s six-cylinder turbodiesel truck engines, a 7.7-litre OM936 unit making a fairly modest 295bhp but a mighty 885lb ft of torque.

Although it remains a one-off showpiece for now, Merc is apparently going to hand it over to a customer next year for real-world testing, in order to “gain valuable insights for a possible future development stage.” In other words, Mercedes might actually put this thing on sale. We can literally hear the cheers of joy from Dubai, Los Angeles and Chelsea from here.