The Unimog 2010 is a vehicle of the Unimog series made by German manufacturer

Daimler-Benz The Mercedes-Benz Group Aktiengesellschaft, AG (previously named Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler and Daimler) is a German Multinational corporation, multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It ...

from June 1951 to August 1953 in the Mercedes-Benz Gaggenau plant. It is a technical copy of its predecessor, the Unimog 70200. Despite being sold by

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...

dealerships, the Unimog 2010 did not feature the brand's „Mercedes-star“ emblem. Instead, it was solely sold under the Unimog brand, having the ox-head-Unimog emblem on the bonnet; only vehicles purchased by the Swiss army lack the Unimog emblem and have no branding at all (as seen on the right). In total, 5,846 units were produced, and five different models were available. All Unimog 2010 vehicles have a

wheelbase In both road and rail vehicles, the wheelbase is the horizontal distance between the centers of the front and rear wheels. For road vehicles with more than two axles (e.g. some trucks), the wheelbase is the distance between the steering (front ...

of and a canvas roof; a closed cab was not available as a factory option. The name „Unimog 2010“ originates from the German supply firm

Erhard & Söhne Erhard is a male German given name and surname, and may refer to: People *Erhard of Regensburg, bishop of Regensburg in the 7th century *Erhard Altdorfer (c. 1480–1561), German Early Renaissance printmaker, painter and architect *Erhard Arnold Ju ...

, which manufactured the Unimog prototypes – all technical drawings, parts and tools of that firm had the part number ''2010'', which is said to be the reason why Daimler-Benz simply named the Unimog ''2010''. The Unimog 2010 was succeeded by the

Unimog 401 The Unimog 401 is an all-wheel-drive vehicle of the Unimog-series by Mercedes-Benz, developed as a tractor and equipment carrier. It was produced by Daimler-Benz in the Unimog plant in Gaggenau from 1953 to 1956. A total of 16,250 Unimog 401 and 4 ...

in 1953.

History

After the final development steps of the Unimog 70200 had been completed at Erhard & Söhne, production was carried out by Gebrüder Boehringer in their Göppingen plant starting in 1948. Boehringer, originally a tool manufacturer, was not experienced in the automotive field, and, therefore, all Unimogs were solely built by hand. This ineffective production process led to a production figure of roughly 25 to 30 units per month, which was not enough to accommodate demand, thus Boehringer sold the entire Unimog production to Daimler-Benz in late 1950. Production in Göppingen was halted in April 1951. During the following months, it was moved to Daimler-Benz' Mercedes-Benz Gaggenau plant. It was planned to start production in the Gaggenau plant in spring 1951, but during the process of creating a new production line for the Unimog, logistical problems occurred. The planned production figure of 170–180 units could not be reached. On 4 June 1951, makeshift production was started in the provisorily modified building 14 of the Gaggenau plant. This marked the introduction of the new name for the Unimog, ''2010''. After four weeks, the makeshift production was halted after series production could be started in the building 44 of the Gaggenau plant. Building 44 was equipped with the necessary tools, equipment and an assembly line. Daimler-Benz engineers modified the original Unimog 70200 design: The mud guard wings were upgraded with a beading and the rear part of the bed frame was made with an edge rather than curved to ease production. Also, axle lids were now welded instead of held in place with screws. The original

Diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

OM 636.912 was used until 1952, when it was replaced with the OM 636.914. The OM 636.914 has a modified cylinder head and valve cover. The 2010s successor Unimog 401 was presented on the DLG exhibition in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

in May 1953, and Unimog 2010 production was ceased in August 1953.

Military use

Like its predecessor, the Unimog 2010 was also used as a military vehicle. Some Unimog 2010s were purchased by the French army, but most of the military Unimog 2010s were operated by the Swiss army, they purchased 540 units. In addition to 540 Unimog 2010s, they also had 44 Unimog 70200 in service. The Swiss army used their Unimog 2010s as artillery tractors, combat engineer vehicles and aircraft tractors. Being the smallest motor vehicle of the Swiss army, the Unimog 2010 received the nickname „Dieseli“. The Dieseli remained in service until 1989.

Models

In total, there exist eight different models of the Unimog 2010, however, only five were ever built. The model number was added after a slash; military versions for the Swiss army received an additional M-letter.

Bibliography

*Carl-Heinz Vogler: ''Typenatlas Unimog. Alle Unimog-Klassiker seit 1946 bis 1993.'' GeraMond, München 2015, , pp. 25 *Lutz Nellinger: ''Der Unimog: Arbeitstier und Kultmobil.'' Komet, Köln 2016, .

References

Vogler, p. 25 Vogler, p. 26 Vogler, p. 28 Vogler, p. 29 Vogler, p. 32 Vogler, p. 33 Vogler, p. 41 Nellinger, p. 11 Nellinger, p. 14 Daimler AG
Baureihe 2010 in the Mercedes-Benz-Archive
/ref> {{Unimog Tractors Mercedes-Benz trucks Vehicles introduced in 1951