Old military vehicles never really die. They just enter long periods of slumber until they’re needed again. This is why WWII-era Jeeps are still on the road today and are still fixable with nothing but a hammer, a plumbing wrench and a long stream of curse words. And this is why you can still get Cold War surplus machinery that has sat around in a bunker since the time Erich Honecker led the DDR.
One of the latest such Cold War machines to reawaken and demand marching orders shouted in your choice of European languages is this 1974 Mercedes-Benz Unimog 406 Doppel Kabine 4×4 utility, equipped with an appropriately long German name. But we’ll call it Unimog DoKa for short. And it will be ready to join your military unit or suburban garage in a couple weeks when Bonhams auctions it in Brussels, Belgium.
This Unimog, as you’ve probably suspected by now, was first supplied to the West German military, and it happens to be a rare 406.145 Doppel Kabine model — most Unimogs featured a single-cab layout with one row of seats. So rare is this version, in fact, that just 353 examples of the Doppel Kabine were built between 1974 and 1986, and as you’re probably guessing by now, judging by the front apron, it may have been used as a tug for pulling aircraft with its front trailer hitch.
So it’s not quite a pickup truck, and it’s not a wagon. Is it a sedan then? It does have four doors, after all.
Bonhams confirms this example was indeed an aircraft tug and was used from 1974 till 1980, when it was put into storage and forgotten about until 2017.
“The vendor advises us that 353 of the 406 Doppel Kabine type were built at the Gaggenau plant, mainly for the German armed forces; of these 353 units, it is estimated that around 140 still exist, although at least 100 of them are no longer in their original condition, having been rebuilt,” Bonhams notes.
The front apron, of course, was used to prevent damage to the front in case a hitch failed or if an aircraft lurched for some reason while being towed, and the high seating position and weight made it a suitable towing vehicle, allowing it to use its weight and traction to pull large aircraft. Powered by an OM32 5.7-liter six-cylinder diesel engine paired with a six-speed transmission, the Unimog was recommissioned for road use after it exited hibernation in 2017.
“In 2017 the Unimog was rediscovered and the vendor was fortunate enough to become its owner,” the auction house advises. “All necessary measures were taken to ensure that the Unimog would be roadworthy, and in 2019 a TÜV acceptance and a vintage car certificate from TÜV Nord were obtained. Copies of all documents are available.”
Bonhams estimates this Unimog to bring between $59,000 and $83,000 on auction day, which is a fairly liberal range and reflects the rarity of this model.
Most Unimogs in enthusiast hands are of the pickup truck variety, equipped with a two-door cabin, and feature a much longer wheelbase. The example here, equipped with NATO hitches front and back and a civil towing hitch with a 48,500-lb towing capacity, reflects the very narrow task for which it was built, but we could still see this being a fun toy that can do serious farm work, act as a fun off roader, tow a boat, be used as a promotional vehicle of some sort for an off-road equipment maker… but it could just as easily end up in a fancy boat yard on the French Riviera.
Gallery: Check Out All the Electric Pickup Trucks Coming down the Pike (Autoweek)
An electric car on the streets won’t surprise anyone these days, but the next biggest test for EVs will be pickup trucks. The segment is currently empty, but in the next two years it’s about to get filled up with more than half a dozen competitors, all vying to make electric trucks mainstream while jockeying for a slice of the sales pie. Just how big that pie will be remains unproven at the moment, unless you count the deposits placed for Tesla’s Cybertruck and a handful of other models, and also take those claimed reservation numbers at face value. This segment is about to go from zero entries on the market to almost 10.
Just who are the contestants? We’ve rounded up all of them below, and the first ones will begin arriving in a just a few months.
1) Ford F-150 Electric
Ford’s electric truck is expected to be one of the more mainstream offerings, as far as design and engineering are concerned, mostly because it will be use as much existing F-150 engineering as possible. The automaker has already shown a prototype based on the last-gen F-150 towing a train, but has shared little concrete details about other aspects of the pickup.
Expected start of sales: Mid-2022.
Battery options: TBA
Range: TBA
Dazzling technical feature: Towing a freight train, which may not be as great a technical feat as it may seem. Also a little impractical on a daily basis.
Performance: TBA
Expected price range: Approx. $50,000
Available to private buyers? Yes
Method of sales: Ford dealerships
2) Rivian R1T
Rivian’s R1T, shown in prototype form over the past two years, has already seen plenty of interest, and a partnership with Ford has attracted plenty of funding to this startup. Rivian indicated just a few days ago that production of the truck will start in June 2021, about half a year later than originally planned, due to factory delays caused by the pandemic. Rivian’s prototype, which features unique styling but an orthodox layout, will be offered in three battery variants.
Expected start of sales: June 2021
Battery options: 180 kWh, 135 kWh, 105 kWh
Range: Up to 400 miles
Dazzling technical feature:Tank turns, performed by wheels on one side moving in one direction, while the other two move in the opposite direction.
Performance: Up to 750 hp and 829 lb-ft of torque
Expected price range: $70,500
Available to private buyers? Yes
Method of sales: Sales through Tesla-style company stores
3) GMC Hummer EV SUT
GM made the surprise decision half a year ago to relaunch the Hummer nameplate, if not the standalone Hummer brand, aiming to offer several battery and motor configurations of the truck aimed at different price points. Industry observers expect a four-door layout, not too dissimilar from that of the H3T. An electric SUV will debut as well.
Expected start of sales: Late 2021
Battery options: At least two options expected
Range: TBA
Dazzling technical feature: A promise of 11,500 lb-ft of torque, which may or may not be measured at the wheels.
Performance: 1,000 hp
Expected price range: $60,000-$80,000 est.
Available to private buyers? Yes
Method of sales: GMC dealerships
4) Lordstown Endurance
Lordstown Motors’ Endurance pickup, unveiled almost weeks ago, will feature a fairly conventional four-door layout, similar to the F-150 and Rivian. However, the company will rely entirely on orders from large businesses, including utility companies, that typically operate large fleets. This means that Lordstown will not offer the Endurance to private buyers, at least not at first, but the upside is that it doesn’t need a store or dealership network.
Expected start of sales: Early 2021
Battery options: TBA
Range: 250+ miles
Dazzling technical feature: Hub motors for each wheel.
Performance: 600 hp
Expected price range: $52,500 per mfr.
Available to private buyers? No.
Method of sales: Direct from automaker
5) Nikola Badger
Nikola’s contender, also expected to be offered as a hydrogen fuel-cell truck, features a fairly orthodox layout coupled with a big battery and a futuristic interior, complete with the obligatory giant touchscreen display. Nikola won’t build the Badger itself but will instead use another OEM, the company has indicated.
Expected start of sales: 2022
Battery options: 160 kWh
Range: 300 miles
Dazzling technical feature: The ability to add a hydrogen fuel-cell system later, as an option. Finding hydrogen stations will be left up to you.
Performance: 906 hp and 980 lb-ft of torque
Expected price range: TBA
Available to private buyers? Yes
Method of sales: Direct sales
6) Tesla Cybertruck
Tesla made a big splash in late 2019 with the surprise reveal of the Cybertruck, featuring a stainless steel body, a four-door layout, a big touchscreen control panel and plenty of puzzled looks from the audience. Accounts vary, but the Cybertruck is claimed to have received around half a million reservations. It remains to be seen whether Tesla will put the Cybertruck into production as it sits, or if it will rework the design to appeal to actual, repeat truck buyers and not people who have bought all the previous Tesla models and who live in the Bay Area.
Expected start of production: 2022
Battery: TBA
Range: 250 to 500+ miles, depending on version
Dazzling technical feature: A lot to choose from here, but we’ll probably have to go with Tesla’s apparent intent to work with stainless steel stamping. If achieved, this could well be the most significant production milestone for the automaker.
Motor: Options will include single-, dual- and tri-motor versions.
Performance: TBA
Expected price range: $39,900 starting price per mfr.
Available to private buyers? Yes
Method of sales: Tesla stores, online ordering
7) Bollinger B2
Bollinger’s boxy B2, expected to be offered alongside an equally boxy B1 SUV, promises a spartan interior, just enough range and rugged off-road ability. With a hydropneumatic suspension and geared axle hubs, it sounds like the B2 wants to be an off-road champion, and suitable equally for lifestyle use as well as an everyday work truck. But it won’t be cheap.
Expected start of production: 2021
Battery: 120 kWh
Range: 200 miles
Dazzling technical feature: A pass-through interior, which will allow cargo to stretch from the end of the bed all the way to the front bumper.
Performance: 614 hp and 688 lb-ft of torque
Towing capacity: 7,500 lbs
Expected price range: $125,000
Available to private buyers? Yes
Method of sales: Direct sales
8) Chevrolet EV truck
GM won’t rely just on the Hummer electric truck—the automaker will offer what is likely a Hummer-shared platform with less of a lifestyle direction for this model. The Chevy model is expected to be aimed at buyers who need utility over luxury, and odds are it’ll be styled closely to the Silverado, seen here. Let’s hope it gets a cool name, like Chillverado.
Expected start of production: End of 2021
Battery: 50- to 200-kWh options
Range: 400 miles
Dazzling technical feature: 400 miles will be quite a lot for a truck or any EV on the market today, actually, so we’ll go with promised range.