{"id":3635,"date":"2012-08-15T15:03:53","date_gmt":"2012-08-15T15:03:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/?p=3635"},"modified":"2012-08-15T15:03:53","modified_gmt":"2012-08-15T15:03:53","slug":"mercedes-celebrates-105-years-of-four-wheel-drive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/archives\/3635","title":{"rendered":"Mercedes Celebrates 105 Years of Four-Wheel Drive"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s been 105 years since Mercedes-Benz introduced the first commercially-available 4×4. Since then, it’s produced some superb 4×4 commercial vehicles, including the legendary Unimog.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 1907, four-wheel drive was virtually unheard of and certainly not a standard production option — until Mercedes-Benz (or Daimler-Motoren-Gessellschaft, as it was then) introduced the Dernburg-Wagen, the world’s first commercially-available four-wheel drive vehicle.<\/p>\n

Not only did it have four-wheel drive, it also had four-wheel steering, something that’s still considered high-tech (if a little eccentric) today.\u00a0With ground clearance of 32-centimetres and a 6.8-litre, four-cylinder engine developing a modest 35 hp at 800 rpm, the Dernburg-Wagen was a serious piece of kit and could carry five passengers. Solid steel wheels wrapped in pneumatic tyres helped protect the drum brakes from debris.<\/p>\n

Since then, Mercedes has produced a succession of superb four-wheel drive vehicles, many of which are aimed at the commercial market. Let’s take a pictorial look down memory lane at some of the finest 4x4s ever made:<\/p>\n

\"Mercedes-Benz

This is how it all started. The Dernburg-Wagen was the first commercially-available 4x4 model when it was introduced in 1907.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"An

Early versions of the Unimog were somewhat agricultural in terms of creature comforts, but their off-road abilities, pulling power and toughness were never in question.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Mercedes-Benz

The Unimog soon got bigger and better...<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Mercedes

Don't make the mistake of thinking that the Unimog is just an overgrown pickup -- it's not, as this picture of it pulling a 32-tonne tipper shows.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Mercedes-Benz

The latest Unimog is more capable and technically-advanced than ever, but they still haven't ditched that orange paint!<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Mercedes-Benz

White van man's ultimate ride? The Sprinter 4x4 is surprisingly capable off road and doesn't sacrifice any of the practicality of the standard van. I want one...<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Fuso

Merc's adopted Japanese cousin hasn't been left out either. The Fuso Canter was already a great workhorse, and the recent addition of a 4x4 option made it even better.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Mercedes-Benz

Finally, for when a Unimog simply isn't enough... The Mercedes-Benz Zetros is even bigger and more awesome. It offers gross weights of up to 27t combined with genuine off-road ability. <\/p><\/div>\n

What’s your all-time favourite 4×4? Leave a comment below and let me know.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I take a look back at Mercedes 4×4 vans and trucks over the years, from the first Dernburg-Wagen in 1907 to today’s models, including the Sprinter 4×4 and the awesome Unimog and Zetros trucks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8],"tags":[1537,1538,1466,96,156,1535,1536],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3635"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3635"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3635\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3645,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3635\/revisions\/3645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}