Military Unimog 500 Is the Coolest Overlander You’ll Ever See
Mercedes Unimog RV build includes solar power, a retractable deck, and all of the amazing abilities the off-roader is known for.
Summer is finally here, which means lots of travelling in your Mercedes of choice to all the great outdoors has to offer. One way, of course, is turning your GL-Class or G-Wagen into a rough-and-tumble overlander. All you need is the proper gear, a ladder to climb into your roof-mounted tent, and a sense of adventure.
If you’re truly hardcore, though, you could do what John Marshall of Coyote Adventure did: combine a 2005 Unimog 500 with a military surplus box into the ultimate RV. TFLoffroad’s Nathan Adlen recently met up with Marshall at Overland Expo West in Flagstaff, Arizona to check out the custom Mercedes overlander.
“I started off with this Mercedes-Benz U 500; there’s no other off-road vehicle that compares to these,” said Marshall. “Then, I bought from government surplus, it’s called a Gichner Box. I bought the box from a military surplus site, and then built it into my own overland camper. Why? Because I’m a cheap bastard.”
Marshall adds that the deck he built into his Unimog overlander began as a way to figure out how to get into the box in the first place. “A couple of beers later,” he came up with the folding deck, which uses linear actuators to help put it away before moving onto the next site. Having the deck also adds more room the otherwise-cramped space, especially when someone else needs the kitchen to cook dinner.
“What I’ve done [is add] the elevated bed. I’ve got 84 gallons of fresh water under the bed. There’s also a diesel-fired heater, as well as my three-way refrigerator,” said Marshall. “Also under there [is] my 7,000-watt inverter. I’ve got an AGM battery bank inside. It’s got plenty of storage capacity.”
Marshall also added solar to his Unimog, and has received all of his power from the sun since installing the array seven months ago. There’s also a water heater for hot water for cooking and cleaning, plus showering in the combination shower/toilet area. Finally, the overlander has a cell-signal booster for keeping connected to the rest of the world wherever he travels.
“Off-road, these things are nimble like a cat, and pretty comfortable,” said Marshall. “It is a big truck, but first and foremost, it’s a Mercedes truck. Although it’s big, it still rides like a Mercedes on-road as well as off.”
As for how much extra weight the box and its upgrades put on the Unimog, Marshall says the box itself weighed 1,400 pounds, while the additions bumped the weight to around 2,000 pounds. Not that the overlander would notice, as it’s rated to handle a GVW of 33,000 pounds.
“Welcome to the cabin portion of this,” said Marshall. “There are some things that make this U 500 unique; it’s kind of a rarity.”
One of those things is the Unimog’s Vario Drive system, which allows the steering and the pedals to go from the left side of the cab to the right and vice versa. And speaking of the steering section, another lever under the wheel retracts the clutch pedal for a fully automatic shifting experience. There’s also power take-off, eight hydraulic units for hooking up a snow plow, and the ability to let the air out or pump air into the wheels.
And of course, the seating position means not only seeing everything clearly in front and below you, but being high enough to see some things no one else would want to see, like a trucker with his pants off, according to Marshall.
The final cool part of this Unimog build? Thanks to the brief window of time Mercedes delivered these beasts to our shores, they’re DOT-approved. So, if you find one, registering it won’t be an issue.
Photos: Screenshots
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