zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Trucks
/
I Dare You To Daily This Ex-American Military Unimog
I Dare You To Daily This Ex-American Military Unimog-November 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:13:07

Image for article titled I Dare You To Daily This Ex-American Military Unimog

When a comes on the market, we have to post about it. It’s a rule here at Jalopnik from way back in the and who am I to dispute that? Now, this one is at BringATraileroutof Berkeley, California and I am daring you to daily it.

Unlike many of the Unimogs out there in America, this one hasn’t had its hard-working attitude painted off and replaced with the name of an overpriced surf shop in Venice or Montauk. It’s still got the patina it left the service with. That’s right, the service. The military. The real deal.

This Unimog served in the US Army as an engineering vehicle. Called the Small Emplacement Excavator, or SEE Tractor, by troops, these were ordered with a special 24-volt electrical system and a more powerful engine than standard ‘Mogs got on the German market.Kitted out with a loader upfront and a folding backhoe excavator in the rear, it must have been quite the machine to have at hand when you need earth moved and you need it moved quickly.

Image for article titled I Dare You To Daily This Ex-American Military Unimog

The idea of a Mercedes-Benz-built Unimog in American military use sounds a little weird, of course, but it’s not the only Merc to make it with the Pentagon. Just ask the Marines about their G-wagens. They were awesome.

But if you look closely at the photos of this ‘Mog, you’ll notice that it isn’t wearing a three-pointed star up front. That’s because it comes from a period when Case Construction Equipment and Freightliner were importing Unimogs for the American market before Freightliner took things totally in-house for a while and eventually stopped selling any at all here in North America. If you need some more info, a 1989 model sold back in 2014 and our man Andrew got

No three-pointed star up here.

Now, though, this 1987 Unimog 419 is on the market and it deserves our attention. With a 5.7-liter OM352 Mercedes diesel straight-six under the hood (and between the seats) sending its power to all four wheels through a gearbox with eight forward gears and four reverse, adual-range transfer case, and locking differentials, it won’t be phased by a little rough terrain or weather. It’s got less than 900 miles on the odometer, which is pretty nice and the seller says it’s pretty much all functional but the hydraulic lines probably should be replaced by the buyer. That didn’t stop the seller from recording a little video of the backhoe in action, though:

I’d say this Unimog is perfect for daily use. While other, less equipped ‘Mogs might have trouble parking in small spaces, the attachments front and rear on this truck are perfect for moving obstacles (and other cars) out of the way so that finding a spot downtown should be a breeze.

Image for article titled I Dare You To Daily This Ex-American Military Unimog

The for this truck ends on 6th of March and I dare one of you to pull the trigger on it and give the old ‘Mog the daily-driven. life it deserves. You might want one of those air-ride seats put in though. Just a thought.

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Trucks
The Nissan Navara Was The Overdue Frontier We Deserved A Decade Ago
The Nissan Navara Was The Overdue Frontier We Deserved A Decade Ago
gets dunked on for letting models like the languish for years. But, the truck saw a model update well before the release of the , which is mechanically much like an with a design. Outside of the U.S., the successor to the second-generation Frontier came in 2014 with the...
Nov 14, 2025
Porsche Built A 911 With Portal Axles To Go Where Unimogs Can't Reach
Porsche Built A 911 With Portal Axles To Go Where Unimogs Can't Reach
No car has ever driven at higher altitude than this 992-generation Porsche 911 Carrera 4S with portal axles. On Saturday the Porsche crew, led by racing driver Romain Dumas, reached the highest peak of the west ridge of the Ojos del Salado volcano in Chile, . That’s the tallest...
Nov 14, 2025
There Was Once A Glorious Compact Chevy ZR2 Truck
There Was Once A Glorious Compact Chevy ZR2 Truck
Those who saw the meteoric rise of through the 2010s and onward probably associate the badge with the . The was Chevy’s halo midsize truck when it was released in 2016, but the ZR2 badging goes all the way to the when Chevy made the S-10 ZR2. It’s gnarly....
Nov 14, 2025
Ford Robbed Us Of The Old Four-Door Ranger To Give Us The Explorer Sport Trac
Ford Robbed Us Of The Old Four-Door Ranger To Give Us The Explorer Sport Trac
By definition, a big truck like a or struggles to be small. Even in its smallest, most trucky configuration — a two-door single cab — a full-size truck is relatively large and comes with a sizable bed for hauling cargo. But a small truck like the third-generation can do...
Nov 14, 2025
Deer Flies Directly Into Pickup As Its Prospective Buyer Arrives
Deer Flies Directly Into Pickup As Its Prospective Buyer Arrives
No square inch of the Northeast is safe from deer, as video out of New Jersey shows. A deer, tearing through the suburbs, managed to leap over a Pontiac Vibe and Honda CR-V before landing on the bedside of a 2007 Chevy Silverado — just as a prospective buyer arrived...
Nov 14, 2025
The 2025 Ram 1500 Ramcharger Is The Hybrid Truck America Probably Needs
The 2025 Ram 1500 Ramcharger Is The Hybrid Truck America Probably Needs
In addition to the all-electric , the truck brand announced this week that it will also release a engine gasoline-powered hybrid version of its electric pickup, called Ramcharger. The goal here is to use the V6 engine as a generator for the electric powertrain when the 92 kWh battery...
Nov 14, 2025
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved