2024 Mercedes-Benz Unimog Extreme Off-Road is here!

Long before there was an SUV, decades before there was a Range Rover and not long after the first Jeeps, there was the Unimog. Back in the 1940s, it aimed to improve the lot of farmers, offering them four-wheel drive, a roof, and the ability to actually accrue some speed on road that a tractor never could. Ever since the first one was built in 1948, Unimog has become a byword for unbreakable automotive toughness. It makes a Land Cruiser look like a kids&toy. Today, the Mercedes-Benz Unimog range is pretty bewildering because of the engines and options on offer, but all you really need to know about this monster truck is that there are two derivatives. There’s the UGE implement carrier, the sort of thing that might be used by a rural fire service. Then there’s the UHE extreme off-roader, which is a pretty formidable proposition when that badge is attached to a Unimog. Every extreme off-road Unimog comes with a 5.1-litre, four-cylinder diesel (you read that right), which places an understandable emphasis on torque (664lb ft) over outright power (231hp). It really is as big as it looks, too: six metres long, nearly three metres tall, and 2.5m wide. Its maximum permissible weight is at least 10.3 tonnes, and could be up to 14.5 depending on options. The driving environment may look incredibly utilitarian compared to anything else with a three-pointed star on the wheel, but this Unimog has also been treated to an Interior Package by selling dealer Clive Sutton. So it’s got red...