Uneeda Unimog - $7k, NMNA

Uneeda Unimog. U know U do.  1971 mog, lots of new parts, $7000

https://jacksonville.craigslist.org/cto/d/1971-mercedes-unimog-404/6565121686.html

Thank goodness it doesn't have a real cab. I could have been in for the longest fly-n-drive ever. Diagonally across the U.S. in a Unimog...

They bolted a utility cap on top of a radio box. Hilarious. 

But yes, I do need a Unimog, and $7k is super cheap!!

7k? That's damn cheap for a mog. 

In reply to dculberson :

That's the penthouse

I actually looked it up. It's nominally 43 hours of driving from Jacksonville to PDX, but 56 if you check the "Avoid" box for "Highways". There was no box for "Alabama".

(I know some lovely folks from Alabama, but I have the clear impression that crossing the state in a funny looking camper thing is likely to be problematic at *some* point.)

Ransom said:

I actually looked it up. It's nominally 43 hours of driving from Jacksonville to PDX, but 56 if you check the "Avoid" box for "Highways". There was no box for "Alabama".

(I know some lovely folks from Alabama, but I have the clear impression that crossing the state in a funny looking camper thing is likely to be problematic at *some* point.)

Is that time estimate at Unimog speeds?  Realizing a Unimog will pass nothing on the road - especially a gas station. 

I agree - $7K seems really cheap for a Unimog, even with the open cab. 

I seriously doubt anyone in Alabama would give you a hard time driving that. More likely, they would embrace you as one of their own.

I see a top speed of 60 listed on the web.

If so, it's every bit as fast as SanFord and I drove it from WI to SC on the interstate. 

In reply to Toyman01 :

A 404

with radio box will do 60, maybe against thr rev limiter. But you won’t  to for any long stretch of time. It’ll be the most white knuckle ride ever. Suggest speeds of 45-50 at most on flat ground and 35 on hills. 

That's about as fast as SanFord, 60 at 4000 rpms. 50-55 is a much better speed and not nearly as white knuckle. Any kind of decent hill drops that into the 30s-40s in a hurry. Lucky for me I live in the flat country.

Patience isn't a virtue when driving SanFord, it's a requirement. 

Ian F said:

Is that time estimate at Unimog speeds?  Realizing a Unimog will pass nothing on the road - especially a gas station.

I hoped the "avoid highways" would make things a bit more Unimog-like. OTOH, a lot of those smaller roads are still 60ish mph marked, and I'm going to guess that the only thing a Unimog does worse than an interstate at 60 is a winding road at 60...

The only way I could possibly rationalize this is that it's a real, live Unimog that's in budget for my current truck hunt. The mog's limitations mean that even once I got it home, it would be the wrong tool for almost every job I'd ask of it. It would just be so dang cool... In addition to the comments here, the Dirt Every Day episode with the Unimog really drove home how ill-suited they are to covering ground.

I keep telling myself that someday a 416 with an uprated engine and some sort of overdrive would actually work as a truck. I figure the larger truck is probably less... nimble, and more stable.

The big negative for using a Unimog for "truck" stuff would be the bed height.  There were times when we (especially my ex-) hated the loading height of my Cummins 4x4 and that SOB was bone stock.  The deck of a Unimog appears to be about 2 feet higher.

A mog is absolutely the wrong tool for any activity you can participate in within this country. But that doesn't make it any less cool.

In reply to Ian F :

It's not my best idea. But I can't shake the want.

Just messaged someone about a '65 F-250. Which is also problematic from a practical standpoint, but it would complete then run after growing up with '64 and '66 F-250s as the family trucks, and at least the load-in height is saner and it's not so wallowy...

Fueled by Caffeine said:

In reply to Toyman01 :

A 404

with radio box will do 60, maybe against thr rev limiter. But you won’t  to for any long stretch of time. It’ll be the most white knuckle ride ever. Suggest speeds of 45-50 at most on flat ground and 35 on hills. 

I had a sno-cab and it listed 55 as top speed but I’m telling you that 45 would beat the crap out of you. I didn’t have a bed/box on it though so possibly it was a sprung weight issue. Not geared to be driven across the country.

I don't think Google maps is willing to simply draw a straight line between Jacksonville and Portland either though. So even if not time, you should at least be able to save some distance.

ultraclyde said:

A mog is absolutely the wrong tool for any activity you can participate in within this country. But that doesn't make it any less cool.