The MAN (or M.A.N. Diesel) ‘Ponton-Kurzhauber’ was soft on the outside and tough on the inside. The short-nosed conventionals, offered from 1956 to 1994 (updated in 1969), competed directly with the illustrious Mercedes-Benz L-series and air-cooled Magirus-Deutz Eckhaubers, to name two other undiluted heavy-duty on-/off-road vehicles with a nose job.
Naturally, the MANs were also available with a 4×4 or 6×6 drivetrain. Straight from the factory, and always equipped with in-house front and rear drive axles.
The 192 DIN-hp MAN is powered by the truck maker’s D2565 diesel engine, an inline-five with a displacement of 9.5 liters. The truck’s six-speed transmission comes from ZF.
A compact heavy-duty truck with a 4×4 drivetrain, a three-way dump body, and a PTO-driven crane to pick things up (not to mention the obligatory shovel and broom). No wonder such setups were in high demand among (sub)contractors and many municipalities. Versatility to the max and for the win.
Now let’s look beneath the surface.
Thanks to the planetary drive axles, the differentials are not as bulky as the usual lumps. Pictured is the whole situation at the front.
The front and rear leaf spring suspension, respectively.
Evidently, the Baars keep-on-truckin’ family prefers MAN vehicles in that bright shade of blue. These modern fleet members are two TGX 4×2 tractors, an 18.510 (on the left in the picture) and an 18.470, both from 2021.
Related Ponton-Kurzhauber reading:
Truck Stop Classic: MAN 26.281 DHK Dreiseitenkipper – Round-faced And Steely-Spined
Almost the stance of a Gasser .
…thanks to the sloping ground.
Though you could lose a small person up the wheelarches back then.
These days, they use custom GRP mouldings or rubber inserts more.
MAN’s regular rear drive axles were a bit strange, too – reduction gears like a Transporter, they looked like a De Dion setup, but weren’t. So very light & slim-line.
“The short-nosed conventionals, offered from 1956 to 1994 (updated in 1969) …”
Here’s a photo of the pre-facelift (or should we say it was it was a noselift ?) version. Shown is a three-axle tipper truck without all-wheel drive, but equipped with the slightly more powerful 230 hp engine.
A pre-1969 Ponton Kurzhauber 6×4 dump truck? Here’s its cabover brother, a contemporary M.A.N. Diesel ‘Pausbacke’ 6×4 with a dump body. The kind of classic heavy-duty truck that a six years old kid would draw. I caught it two years ago at an event for old MEN.