Gershon Schlesinger, Bazra

The Unimog was developed in Germany after World War II, and it was intended to be an agricultural tractor. To cope with the deep furrows in flooded cabbage fields, the engineers wanted to give it unprecedented ground clearance; this is how portal axles came into being – massive live axles that do not emerge from the center of the wheel, but about 15 centimeters above it. The engine power is transferred from the axle to the wheel center via a secondary transmission, which improves the efficiency of power transfer. Decades later, the Americans implanted the portal mechanism in the independent suspension of the military 'Hummer H1'. The Unimog also boasts a particularly flexible ladder frame and coil springs. These features give the Unimog rare suspension travel, enabling it to handle extreme ground conditions.