**OT** "IT" as envisioned by engineering:
delphion.com
"IT" as envisioned by the public:
idleworm.com
"IT" as released by Marketing for sale in U.S.
cartalk.cars.com
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Get outta' the way: Freightliner rolls out the 'universal engine-driven apparatus,' aka Unimog (03/06/2001)
BY BOB GRITZINGER
Outgrown your Excursion? Hummer lacking the ground clearance to ford the creek on the south forty? Talk to Freightliner. The manufacturer of the ubiquitous 18-wheeler may have the right vehicle for you in something it calls the Unimog. Based on a German military transport vehicle, the four-wheel-drive Unimog is 20 feet long, nine feet seven inches tall, seven feet six inches wide, and weighs in at just under six tons, empty. A full load pushes the Unimog over the limit of most local road bridge capacities at 26,000 pounds.
"This is not intended for use as a sport/utility vehicle," stressed Freightliner spokeswoman Debi Nicholson, contrary to published reports quoting Freightliner execs saying the immense SUV would be the kind of eye-catching statement moms would want to make at the local market. "It's clearly a work truck-it wouldn't even fit in your garage," said Nicholson. "This is not something mom is going to drive to the grocery store."
Want one? Freightliner, a division of DaimlerChrysler, will start taking orders this fall and will deliver the first Unimogs to U.S. customers next February. Base price (chassis and cab that seats three) is $84,000. That's before you add a truck bed and other high-end amenities like leather seats, a sound system and 18-wheeler-like vertical exhaust pipes.
"Unimog adds a new dimension to the North American 4x4 truck market," says Freightliner president Jim Hebe, in what has to be the early front-runner for understatement of the year.
The company plans to sell up to 1000 Unimogs a year, including about 250 to private citizens who yearn for a three-step walk to the driver's seat. The rest will likely go to work as firetrucks and forestry vehicles, or for businesses that need an unstoppable force in the fleet.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
It is expected to have a major impact on the transportion infrastructure as roads become unnecessary.
We ensured the vehicles go-anywhere capabilitites by keeping it small enough to fit in the cargo bay of the space shuttle.
Users with special needs were not forgotten as evidenced by option packages for fire fighting and military applications.
unimog.net
ginger.patentcafe.com
Happy April Fool's Day ; ) |
