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Friday, April 19, 2013

Dilating times for 4x4 users

Miners, farmers and tree planters all share a deep hatred for mud. They don't like snow much, either.
For where they work, wet, clinging and gripless soil means the difference between getting the payload delivered, or not getting paid.

Which is why German engineers, forced to work in co-ops to plant potatoes after WW II, designed the first Unimog to help do the planting for them. Wiz punctual precision, ja?
Today's much bigger beast of Unimog burdens are the best small permanent 4x4 trucks on earth.
But it is also the most expensive wheels you can buy to plant potatoes with.
Which is why the Italians, who did not so much lose to the Germans as take evasive action in WWII, came up with a cheaper, but still very capable permanent 4x4 small truck, the Iveco Daily 4x4.
Sure, the first generation was a typical rush job. But they were on the money and even axle beam up front and wheezy diesel did not deter especially campers from converting the Daily 4x4 into a go-anywhere home on wheels.
The third generation Daily 4x4 is still not capable of following the Unimog everywhere, but it does cost a lot less and will get three quarters of the way.
Iveco South Africa launches the third generation Daily 4x4 next week, and Mercedes-Benz South Africa is expected to follow with the Unimog as soon as all the Teutonic boxes have been neatly ticked.
Exciting, nay, even dilating times for professional 4x4 users down south, jaa-jaa!?