Heritage
Memories of the folding top.
Summer, sun, cabriolet. What fun: driving the Unimog – with the folding top folded down. However, the reason the folding top was fitted as standard on the very first Unimog (U25, model series 70200) had nothing to do with driving pleasure. It was simply for pragmatic reasons: a low loading height for rail and air transport. In addition, this cab was simple and inexpensive to manufacture in the post-war period. A closed all‑steel version would have required expensive moulded parts, which would have significantly increased the production costs of the Unimog.
Simply pragmatic.
When the Unimog was still "topless".
In principle, the cab of the then-new Unimog was a novelty compared with conventional tractors: it provided very good weather protection, had padded seats and a windshield with a wiper. Not to mention the full-size passenger seat. For the Unimog's primarily intended use at the time in agriculture and forestry, the cab overall offered very good visibility and, thanks to the optional folding down of the front windshield, allowed a very low vehicle height.
Unimog model series 406 with plough and open cab for best visibility, the roof has been completely removed.
From 1953, as an alternative to the open cab there was also a closed all-steel variant (type "B") for model series 401 and 402. Customers from municipal services, the fire brigade and industry predominantly preferred this variant. The open versions were primarily intended for agriculture and forestry and non-civilian applications. In the construction sector both variants were used almost equally often.
The subsequent model series 404 (from 1955), 411 (from 1956), 406 (from 1963), 416 (from 1965), 403 (from 1966), 421 (from 1966) and 413 (from 1969) also offered the option of an all-steel cab or an open cab with a folding top or a hardtop. The licence versions 431 (from 1969) and 426 (from 1968) from Argentinian production offered the same options. The available double cabs for some model series were also offered in both variants – for example for the 404 model series.
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The open cab of the 406/416 model series also served as a base version for special cabs. Examples include the Mulag panoramic cab with enlarged glazed areas and cabs for snow blowers with auxiliary engines, such as those from Schmidt/St. Blasien. With the introduction of the 424, 425 and 435 model series from the mid-1970s, the open cab variants were dropped from the standard product range. However, there have always been open versions of these and of the subsequent Unimog model series for certain customer groups.
Unimog model series 416 with an open double cab.
Unimog model series 421 with folding roof in service as a tourist bus on the Hallig Langeness in the North Sea.
Eye-catchers here are the very individual examples from the recreational vehicle and motorsport sectors. Truck-Trial Unimogs, camper vans and expedition vehicles built on the Unimog are still repeatedly converted into "cabriolets" by hobby mechanics today. Driving pleasure, of course, has long played a role.
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