Unimog 416 with Hiab 950 crane, 1976
I'd wanted one of these since I first became aware of them. Partly because of the marque, partly because they were very capable, and partly because they are unusual (here, anyway).
I'd window-shopped a few times before, but always something else came up to distract me. Also, I hadn't run into exactly the right vehicle yet. (And what was exactly the right vehicle, anyway? That takes some time to figure out. But I had figured that I wanted a diesel, and the 406 body style was to me the most attractive. Don't discount this factor entirely, as even my wife thinks it's cute. If she'd thought it ugly, I doubt that it'd be in our driveway anytime soon.)
Anyway, while looking for something else on the Web, I ran across this one for sale, at a price that was attractive. Even with shipping it over from Germany, it looked like I wouldn't lose money if it turned out to be the wrong vehicle for me. I had some spare funds at the time, and my wife wasn't too opposed to the project. So I bit. It needed paint, but I figured I could do this and save some money.
So far it's been a good little Mog, and the only problems have been self-inflicted. It hasn't (yet) seen much use, though. Getting it painted has been more of an ordeal than one would have thought. (Though you'd think that my estimation abilities would be getting better by now...)
A (partial) log of its life with us.
