Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Mercedes Unimog U 500 Black Edition

At the beginning of December 2005 DaimlerChrysler presented the new Mercedes-Benz Unimog U 500 Black Edition, which has been additionally upgraded by Brabus the tuning company, at the Dubai Motor Show. The new Unimog U 500 Black Edition is tailored to meet the wishes of customers in the Gulf region: outstanding off-road capabilities combined with refined elegance both inside and out. The Mercedes-Benz Unimog U 500 Black Edition aims to make the concept of an outstanding all-terrain capability and solidity accessible to a discerning private target group, creating an interesting and spectacular addition and alternative in the off-roader market. The Unimog is massive. Maybe the NZ Army should trade in their old Unimogs for this version?


The vehicle interior has been customised by Brabus and includes 16 features in real carbon (e.g. instrument cluster, centre console, door and grab handles). The roof and the A/B-pillars are lined in Alcantara leather, while the sports-style seats are upholstered in the finest mastic leather and the footwells are carpeted in soft velour. The colour scheme is deep black, in line with the model name. With a black leather steering wheel and sporty aluminium pedals, the driver of the Unimog Black Edition has the vehicle firmly under control. Technical highlights include the COMAND system from the S-Class, with a 6.5" screen, DVD navigation, CD changer and a specially developed compass function. A comfortable interior atmosphere is ensured by two separately controlled air conditioning systems, tinted glass all-round and a first-class sound system.

The Unimog generates an output of 205 kW/ 280 hp from an engine displacement of 6.4 l, developing a torque of 1100 Nm. A high final-drive ratio enables speeds of over 120 km/h to be achieved. With a gross vehicle weight of 11.99 tonnes, the Mercedes-Benz Unimog Black Edition has a payload of around 4.3 t and is fitted with tyres in size 455/70 R24. The standard portal axles in conjunction with the in-cab-operated tyre pressure control system and the rear-mounted cable winch make this premium Unimog an extra-special off-roader which knows practically no limits. The EAS transmission allows the gears to be shifted manually or in automatic mode, just as the driver prefers. Switching between the two modes is possible at any time.

The Mercedes-Benz Unimog U 500 Black Edition offers the well-known off-road capability of the Unimog, a high payload for all manner of sports equipment and a high towing capacity. This makes it suitable for a wide range of applications: in addition to day-to-day use in the city this Unimog is ideal for excursions to rough mountain areas, remote ski slopes or hot desert regions. And soon afterwards the same vehicle can be used as a towing unit to transport a yacht to the coast or carry boating and diving equipment. These many applications fully reflect the versatility for which the Unimog is famous. I wonder if Arnold will order one of these?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

No he won't -- I don't care if the cows killed for the leather were fed from the Hyatt every day, this looks just absolutely hideous. It looks like something put together by panelbeaters in a third-world country from off-cuts of disparate trucks. I know that with Germans, form follows function, but in this case it looks like form got lost following from behind.

Rob Good said...

It is designed for teh desert and the mountain...It is a glorified Hummer....

Anonymous said...

The Unimog is very cool, in a butt ugly sort of way, which is a shame.

A nice alternative is the yet to be produced International MXT

Check it out here at http://www.internationaldelivers.com/site_layout/XTFamily/mxt.asp

Same general idea, big for the sake of being big, but less objectionalable than the Unimog.

Anonymous said...

Arrrgh! My eyes!