The first drafts of an agricultural vehicle, made by Albert Friedrich who had previously been Head of Aeroengine Design at Daimler-Benz, date back to the autumn of 1945. Friedrich assembled a committed team of development engineers and won over Messrs. Erhard & Sons in Goppingen, Germany, as development partners. Large-scale production began in 1948 at the mechanical engineering factory of Messrs. Boehringer in Schwabisch Gmund. Since high investments had to be made to reach economically viable production volumes, the project was taken over by Daimler-Benz in the autumn of 1950 – production in the Gaggenau plant started in 1951. From 1953, the Unimog was decorated with the Mercedes star; in the same year, a fully enclosed cab complemented the previous version with folding top. Two years later, the Unimog S set out on its impressive career: it was soon highly popular among armed forces and, later on, also among civilian users, particularly among globetrotters and members of expedition. Produced until 1980, it became the bestseller in Unimog history.
