FEATURE
Daimler’s divvy-up
Story Colin Smith
VEN WITH AN AMICABLE SEPARATION, THERE IS ALWAYS the tricky issue of who gets the family heirlooms. And so it’s been with December’s division of global automotive giant Daimler into two independent companies…one taking over all of the truck and bus business, the other focusing on cars and vans. Historic Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicles – plus the make’s truck and bus archives – have been moved from Stuttgart to the Mercedes-Benz truck plant in Worth, in southern Germany, where Daimler Truck AG will be headquartered. As part of the moving out process, a convoy of transporters – plus a couple of historic trucks under their own power – made the first trip. The trucks included a Mercedes-Benz LP 333 from 1960 (known as a “millipede” due to its two steerable front axles) and a Merc LP 608 that is the first truck produced after the
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opening of the Wörth plant in 1965. Along with Mercedes-Benz Trucks’ archival material, the initial transfer also involved the transport of prized pieces of the make’s commercial vehicle history, including a Mercedes-Benz O 321 H panorama bus (1962), a 1937 Merc L 1500 with a wood gas generator, the second Unimog built (in 1946) and a 1926 Mercedes-Benz OE diesel tractor. Two Actros tractor units and a Unimog U530 from the current Merc product range did the honours in the transporting duties, accompanied by a rally-spec Unimog U400….which was used as a service vehicle during the 2006 Paris-Dakar Rally. Daimler Truck intends to mainly house its collection of historical exhibits near its truck and bus locations. The collection encompasses around 130 vehicles, of which about 30 were previously located in the Stuttgart area… Plus powertrains, parts and accessories from the company’s
