The Number 1.

The L 3500 rolled off the production line 56,000 times. The model series, which was called the L 311 from 1955, was the best‑selling model of the 1950s. In 1956, it occupied a 58.6% share of the market in the Federal Republic of Germany. However, Germany wasn't the only place in which Mercedes‑Benz could celebrate huge successes with the long-nosed truck. The vehicle was also assembled in India, Brazil, and for some time in Argentina. Its design hardly changed for over a decade until 1961.

In 1951, Heinrich Henke bought his first truck from Mercedes‑Benz for his transport company. In 2005 – the vehicle hadn't been in the company for decades – his grandson discovered the same model in an online auction.

"We were lucky that nobody outbidded us afterwards," says Ludger Henke. Using their own low‑loader, they brought the remains of the auctioned  vehicle to their company in East Westphalia from Heide in Schleswig‑Holstein.

The condition of the truck sobered our enthusiasm. "At least the engine was still working," remembers Ludger Henke. Otherwise, the vehicle, which in its first life was on the road for a drinks company from Rhineland‑Palatinate, had truly been in the wars over the  years. And you could see that as well. The company’s own workshop spent two years trying to restore it. The floor in the cab was shot and had to be completely replaced. A range of sheet metal work also proved time‑consuming.

The truck, which is now always ready for action, is only used very rarely. But taking part in a classic car rally is always an option for the Henkes and the L 3500.