The fifties – the golden age of the heavy German conventional truck. Peak Teutonic Autobahn Behemoths, in other words. In Europe, there was nothing else on the road so massive and heavy back then. Stand next to them, study them closely and you can only admire the expertise and craftsmanship of their creators.
An impressive collection of classic trucks and tractors was brought together at a local show, held in October last year. Today, the spotlight is on heavy Mercedes-Benz, Büssing, M.A.N. Diesel and Krupp creatures with a big nose.
Vintage rather than classic, this 1936 Mercedes-Benz L6500K tanker truck with a matching trailer.
A set-back front axle if ever there was one.
1950 Büssing 8000 S, a majestic workhorse, powered by a 13.4 liter inline-6. Diesel fueled, but that speaks for itself.
Quite literally a cool feature on many old trucks.
Büssing was founded in Braunschweig in 1903, the company’s famous logo is a reference to the Lion of Braunschweig.
In 1971, Büssing was taken over by MAN (see further below), so now you know where the lion on the grille of MAN trucks and tractors is coming from.
The Büssing is towing a Wackenhut drawbar trailer.
1954 M.A.N. Diesel 758 L1 tractor, under its nose a 10.6 liter V8. The M.A.N. Diesel name on the grille is classic too, it’s simply MAN now.
The roots of MAN (Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg) can be traced back to 1758. Also worth mentioning is that MAN built the world’s first truck diesel with direct injection, that was in 1924, so 95 years ago.
According to the information I found, Blue Band (one of the many Unilever brand names) is called Country Crock in the US and Imperial in Canada.
1955 M.A.N. Diesel 515 L1 tractor with an 8.0 liter inline-6.
The semi-trailer, a DAF schommelas oplegger.
This is a DAF schommelas, just in case you were wondering.
1956 Mercedes-Benz L 326 box truck, powered by a 10.8 liter inline-6, known as the OM 326 engine.
This brute was built by the same company that also created the contemporary 300 SL. Simply amazing.
The side turn signals are neatly integrated in the cab.
There are curtains halfway the cab, right between the seats and the bed.
Beer assistant!!
The mighty Hall drawbar trailer. More specifically, a geschlossen Kastenwagen.
1960 Krupp 801 Mustang truck, built by the Friedrich Krupp Motoren- und Kraftwagenfabriken (also called Krupp Krawa), the truck and bus division of the Friedrich Krupp AG steel empire.
Here we have Krupp’s D 459 diesel engine, a 5.9 liter 2-stroke inline-4.
The driver’s workplace, fabulous.
The company logo refers to an invention of Alfred Krupp: the seamless steel railway tires, circa 1852.
Krupp & Krapf, made for each other.
Ironically, it was Germany’s own legislation (in short, overall length and weight restrictions) that marked the beginning of the end for this breed of big rigs. The days of their dinosaurs were numbered indeed.
A number of years ago I wrote about an American Brockway truck from the 1950s (https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/car-show-classic-1957-brockway-260-the-big-noreaster/). At the time Paul remarked that it reminded him of the rigs common in Europe in the 50s.
Your pieces on the big trucks of Europe have made me understand his point, and these big Germans really drive the point home. To my American eyes those front axles mounted so far back behind the radiator look really strange, but I can imagine that the more confined streets of Europe demand the tightest turning circle possible.
These are beautiful old trucks, and fascinating to gaze at.
I suspect that weight distribution also played a part in the set-back front axle. None of these trucks had dual rear axles, so setting the front axle back would have spread more of the weight on the front axle, thus possibly keeping the rear axle from exceeding a maximum single axle load restriction.
That’s the reason front axles are set back on some really big NA HD construction/logging trucks. It’s not the turning circle, but the weight distribution.
Beautiful!! The DAF schommelas is fascinating … transverse leaf spring that also twists a bit, with trailing arms between the duals. A little bit of everything there. But the Mercedes L6500K takes the prize. Not just a radical setback front axle, but the bumper width creates a huge swinging scythe for any pedestrians (or cyclists or small cars) unlucky to be caught in the way when that thing turns.
The DAF schommelas dates back to the early thirties.
A little side note here…
Krupps owned the trademark for ‘Mustang’ in Germany for years. When Ford Germany planned to import the first generation Mustang in the 1960s, Krupps offered the licence to use ‘Mustang’ for $10,000 (about $80,000 adjusted). Nah, no thanks, Ford decided to rename Mustang as T-5 for German market.
When the German trademark lapsed in the late 1970s, Ford snatched it and held onto it tightly ever since.
Thanks! On a related note, the Kreidler Amazone and the Volvo Amason/Amazon. There must have been more.
Holy front overhang batman, not only a massive blind spot out front like a US conventional but its miles in front of the steer axle to boot. Four wheel trucks towing four wheel trailers are a very rare sight these days, though some local orchardists do pull some ancient gear out to use at harvest time most just phone someone like my boss to send a truck and trailer round and do it in one load not two or more.
They (a 4-wheeler towing a 4-wheeler) are not as common anymore as they once were, but they are still around. Especially in furniture hauling and such.
That “sign” above the windshield on the 1950 Büssing is interesting. Looks like the destination sign on a city bus. I assume that was just meant as a space for the owner to advertise? I don’t think I’ve ever seen that on a truck before.
Advertising headboards are pretty common on British trucks from the 50s to early 80s. not sure after that since my truck book is from 86
They are still common. Often they are fully integrated in the raised roof, example below and the Van de Kamp Volvo above, or the headboard is a separate unit.
Beautiful big bruisers – and great pictures Johannes. Jim.
Wow! Seeing vehicles I’ve never seen before is a thrill. These are incredible!
It’s always interesting to see what M-B was up to in any given era. Not quite as globally ubiquitous as GM in it’s heyday, but arguably as diverse.
Bit of a shame that Euro standards forced chassis dimensions into a fairly narrow box. The big rigs of the US and Australia are infinitely more visually appealing than cabovers.
Absolutely stunning trucks. They’re just like the big rigs that came through Innsbruck on their way to Italy over the old Brenner Pass road. And how they held up traffic on that road! In the summertime, it was brutal. But I loved seeing them all the same.
From what I’ve read, it was quite common in Germany that a truck towed two trailers in the early fifties. All that with a maximum power output between 150 and 200 hp.
I can imagine that the government thought “enough is enough”…
Hence, overall length restrictions, 32 metric tons maximum GVM and at least 6 DIN-hp per ton from 1960 onwards.