Around ten minutes of classic footage of the Mercedes-Benz T2 406~508~608 D, showing as much panel van and chassis-cab variants as possible, merely to highlight the series’ versatility. Rolling down the streets and sitting still, being (un)loaded. Some action from the plant and the test track is also included.
No spoken words whatsoever, only calming/annoying (delete as applicable) elevator music of unknown source.
The T2, often referred to as the Düsseldorfer Transporter, was introduced in 1967. Together with the smaller 1977 – 1995 T1, aka the Bremer Transporter, these were famous for their ruggedness and longevity. The full-size T2 always had dual rear wheels, the T1 only had them on the heaviest versions.
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Another YouTube video
With awful background music-o
It hurts the eardrums and headaches come
And then your ears begin to hum
This awful background music-o
Please delete this video!
-ThePoest
Thank you. Very interesting for me, an old truck salesperson.
I’ve always considered the T1 as the forerunner of the Sprinter. The T2 is so much wider, and generally in a class (or two) above the Sprinter, although I suppose the biggest versions of the Sprinter do overlap somewhat.
Yeah, the Sprinter was basically a “T1.5”, right between the old T1 and T2.
The T2 evolved into the 1996-2013 Vario, but the Vario went beyond the heaviest Sprinter versions (weight-wise).
And the new 1996 Vito was substantially smaller and lighter than the T1.
Slow, basic, reliable (Was that a 240D engine?).
I prefer this styling over the Sprinter’s ‘Taffy-pull’ look.
Happy Motoring, Mark
The T2 – 407 D had the 2.4 liter OM 616 engine. OM 616.916 (2,404 cc) from 1974 to 1982 and OM 616.912 (2,399 cc) from 1982 to 1986.
These were indeed the same engines as in the 240 D (W115-series and the later W123-series).
These were much much better then Sprinters were, these were designed as downgraded trucks while the Sprinter has become more and more an upgraded passenger car.
The 406 Diesels were as usefull as a chocolate ashtray, powered y a 220 diesel I believe, but the 508’s were simply great and reliable vans if you kept the fluids on a decent level. Even the non-airco cab was an acceptable environment, because it had a very high ceiling.
The ones to have are the Mk2 versions, with the bigger corner mounted taillights and the wind down windows. Its biggest rival, the Hanomag F45 and F55 were even better built, but as panel vans the Benz offered a larger volume .
I remember the 508D’s very vividly, the first one you could easily do over 100 km/h with on the motorways.
In the late seventies and early eighties I had plenty of “seat time” in a T2 and T1.
The T2 was a SWB, double cab panel van. It was replaced by a T1 SWB, single cab panel van. The T1 felt even more carved-from-granite, maybe just because it was more compact than the T2.
After that, the T1 was traded in for a new Ford Transit Mk3 (first gen with the sloping front). The Ford was faster and more car-like, but it couldn’t stand in the T1’s shadow when it came to sheer solidness.
I bought an ex-Miele fire truck red T1 207D used panel van, when I started my own business, nicknamed Big Bertha, the noise was horryfyingly loud in the cab, the best cruising speed would be 95km/h to keep your hearing intact, but she left us after 400000 kilometers to get second life in Morocco. Then I bought a long T1 208D, with powerrrrsteering and sort of nice cloth fabric a bit artistic which got the nickname gay Hugo because of its interior design, the loud engine noise was gone but gay Hugo did not have the powerrrr or torque BigBertha had, once I had to deliver 20 liferaft to a cruiseliner in Marseille, so we hitched up a trailer and I drove down with Pete the peasant, as he was born and bread on a farm, gay Hugo would loose it all during the steep Ardennes climbs and on some hills when we reached the top we’d be doing 40/50 km. BoerenPete, thanks to his farm experience would lift his ass up from the seat and was able to tell you if we were evenly loaded or not, fortunately we drove down to Marseille at night tme. Before entering Marseille, there is a very steep hill followed by a tunnel, Pete was driving and near the top of the hill the engine was screaming in 2nd gear and we were doing 25 km/h hazards on when Pete said: if you hear a bang, jump out!. We made it, the cruiseliner came in that afternoon, we exchanged the life raft and went back home again driving at night.
I was making baguette sandwiches at night and navigating, we avoided the steep hills in Luxemburg and the Ardennes, taking the autoroute des Anglais via Reims.a much flatter stretch. At sunday morning we were home again dead tired but we had had a great adventure. After a hard life I gave gay Hugo to a christian charity where he served for many years to come.
I got the 213D Sprinter, that felt like a Nascar or Formule 1 van after the two T1’s, but the small steering wheel, the light grey interior the bad paintwork and lousy hinges Mercedes seriously had looked more to the competition then their own heritage.
Excellent! BoerenPete, you say? We only worked for BoerenPetes (fill in any other first name) back then with the Benz T2, T1 and the Transit.
The crew and cargo/tools aboard, together with the (over)loaded trailer were our flat land’s hill-simulator, all the way to BoerenPete’s (fill in any other first name) farm yard.
Even though they have about as much styling as a phone box, they are for some reason handsome old blocks, with something appealingly Tonka-esque about them.
You wouldn’t catch me entering the Unterturkheim speed bank of up to 90 degrees in a 220D-powered truck. Not, at least, without my brown trousers on.
Many seem to think that these were always powered by lil’ car diesels. Yet only the 406 D and 407 D were (2.0, 2.2 and 2.4 liter inline-4 engines).
The 408 D, 508 D and 608 D had a 3.8 liter inline-4.
And the Untertürkheim speed bank must have been a Tortenstück for the 130 DIN-hp, 613 D, see below (5.7 liter inline-6). Note the guy on the bed. He seems to be called away from the office, while the driver is operating the crane.
Very nice, these are attractive trucks/vans and I well recall seeing them as common as the (smaller) VW transporters back when I was still over there. Also good to see Hamburg so well represented here!
Typically a rare sight in the UK but we have taken to the Sprinter in a big way…thanks for posting!