1987 Mercedes-Benz Unimog 1300L
The Story
Our Unimog began it’s life as a German military “krankenwagen” or ambulance. It was decommissioned by the German military in 2021 and purchased by Atkinson VOS who exported it to the UK.
This Unimog is a 1300L model which is also known as the U 435. Unimogs feature portal axels, a coil spring and torque tube suspensions, locking differentials, crawling gears, and extreme axel articulation, just to name a few things. The Unimog is a rugged vehicle used in the most extreme terrains and environments around the world. Known for it’s capability and all mechanical simplicity, they are off-road vehicles that can also be driven on road.
We always knew a Unimog was our dream vehicle platform but until now, the barriers seemed insurmountable. In the fall of 2022 we decided the Unimog would be our next full time home and we were determined to do whatever we could to make it happen. Our Unimog was purchased from the Unimog specialist shop Atkinson VOS in the UK that December, with plans to convert it into our dream global expedition vehicle.
After a lot of thought and planning, we decided to make the habitat out of a composite material to save on weight and increase the insulation value to create a true 4 season camper. We decided to have the camper box and subframe manufactured by Atkinson VOS as the hurtles to accomplish these specific tasks correctly became much harder once the vehicle was in the United States.
In October of 2023, our new (to us) Unimog arrived in the United States and the build began. This Unimog will now become our new full time home.
Follow along on Youtube as we work through the build process in a weekly video build series showing the ups and downs of building your home on the back of one of the world’s most capable vehicles!
The Unimog Build Series
Want to watch the Unimog being built?
We documented every step of the process in our Youtube build series!