If you saw the truck above out on the roads, you’d assume it was old—a classic. It looks positively ancient in its styling and dimensions, with the goofy look that is so common among vehicles from the awkward post-war period. You might do a double-take when I tell you that’s a brand new truck you could go out and buy tomorrow.
A couple of years back, we took a look at the oldest vehicles still in production, and we landed on a few models that date all the way back to 1965. When I wrote that article, I neglected to explore the world of heavy commercial vehicles. It turns out that a Mercedes-Benz truck that first rolled off assembly lines in 1959 remains in production to this day. It’s a new candidate for the oldest new vehicle in the world!
I speak, of course, of the legendary Mercedes-Benz Kurzhauber—short-bonnet, in English. It’s a truck that never made inroads to the US and vanished from Western roads decades ago. And yet, in the Middle East, these things are still driving off dealer lots on the regular.
Long Innings
The Kurzhauber model line began with the L 337 back in 1959. It was first built in Germany, the home of Mercedes-Benz. Its unique shape came down to the location of the engine, which was partially tucked under the cabin to reduce the length of the vehicle. Mercedes went on to offer the vehicle in a variety of weight ratings and configurations to suit the needs of various end users.
Thanks largely to its rugged nature, the Kurzhauber quickly became a big export success across the developing world. It found purchase in markets in South America, Africa, and across the Asia Pacific region. Sales were strong enough that production soon moved beyond Germany, with Mercedes-Benz establishing plants across Africa, the Middle East, and South America.
As explained by Construction Week, it became a particular hit in the petroleum industry in the Middle East, where the trucks were used to deliver infrastructure to rapidly developing oil fields. They were prized for their ability to carry multiple times their recommended weight limit without failure, even on poorly graded unpaved roads. The truck’s striking look, combined with the fact that almost all of them were shipped in a burnt orange color, turned them into somewhat of an icon.
While Western markets have long expressed preferences for the fresh and new, the same isn’t universally true around the world. Due to their enduring popularity, Mercedes-Benz kept the short-bonnet trucks in production for an exceptionally long time. Even though local German sales ceased in 1977, the production lines kept running for export until 1995. Overseas, Brazilian production via a partnership with Freightliner continued until 1991. Meanwhile, the trucks kept pumping out of Argentinian plants until 1997.
Over in the Middle East though, things went a little differently. The truck had entered production with the Iran Khodro Diesel Company all the way back in 1979. When Mercedes-Benz started finally phasing out the trucks in the 1990s, it simply didn’t see a reason to stop. The domestic Iranian market still had sufficient demand for the short-bonnet trucks, and so Iran Khodro kept building them.
Incidentally, the Iran Khodro name might sound familiar if you hang around these parts. That’s because it’s the same company that kept the Peugeot 405 in production until 2024. Both the commercial vehicle and passenger vehicle arms have been very successful at producing license-built copies of Western automobiles, stretching many decades past their typical use-by dates.
Today, Iran Khodro builds two major variants of the Kurzhauber—termed the Benz WH 1924 and WH 2624. The former is a 19-tonner with six wheels across two axles, the latter, a 26-tonner with ten wheels across three axles. Both remain very faithful to the original design, still wearing the old-school grille with the three-pointed star proudly front-and-center. The burnt orange paint remains, as do the vintage red wheels wrapped in simple treaded tires.
However, that’s not to say the trucks haven’t been updated over the years. Technology has moved on a long way since 1959, and the current trucks reflect that to a greater degree than you might expect.
Each variant runs the OM 355 LA engine. While the first OM 355 engines date back to the 1960s, the version employed by Iran Khodro has been heavily modernized by the manufacturer, the imaginatively-named Iran Diesel Engine Manufacturing Company.
The current version impressively meets Euro 4 emissions regulations with the aid of a diesel particulate filter and an 8-gallon AdBlue tank. The 11.6-liter inline-six turbodiesel is good for 280 horsepower at a low 2200 rpm, delivering up to 774 pound-feet of torque from just 1000 rpm. It appears in this regard, Iran Khodro has diverted from the Mercedes-Benz tradition, where the last two digits of the model could be multiplied by 10 to get the engine horsepower.
However, if you desire a yet more modern powerplant, it appears Iran Khodro can supply that, too. The website mentions a variant that features the Cummins ISF-3.8s 5154 engine. It’s got an unattractive name, but it meets Euro 5 emissions standards. The 3.8-liter diesel inline-four is good for 154 horsepower and 368 pound-feet of torque.
All that grunt will get you to a “maximum permissible speed” of just 90 km/h (55 mph). Probably wise given the ancient suspension underpinning the vehicle. Other upgrades include power steering and dual-circuit brakes, with anti-lock braking to boot.
It’s easy to see the appeal of these trucks, even if they left Western roads long ago. We have our own obsessions with the past that linger on. The 70 Series Land Cruiser is a particularly relevant example. It’s an old design that looks straight out of the past, but we appreciate it for what it does and the fact that it doesn’t need to look modern to do its job well. It’s the same case here.
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These trucks are a common sight in Iran to this day, burnt orange paint gleaming in the sun.
It’s hard to say how long these trucks will live on. Still, when it comes to hauling a heavy load over bad roads, these trucks are still getting the work done. It seems that Iran Khodro will keep throwing new engines at the classic design for as long as Iranians are willing to buy them.
Image credits: Iran Khodro, Hashtablakoo2000 CC BY SA 3.0, Jan Hoffmann CC BY-SA 3.0, Mercedes-Benz
Can we please have Mercedes do a deep dive into the RV featured in the Argentinian comic book based Netflix series The Eternaut? It is built on a Mercedes-Benz LO 1114 chasis, which were manufactured in Argentina to make buses between 1968 and 1980, apparently. Gorgeous machine.
The old ones are still everywhere down here in Costa Rica, working as god intended. Indestructible trucks, suitable for a zombie apocalypse.
Lewin, that was fascinating and entertaining as well. I haven’t had such a great companion to my morning coffee since Jason’s article about die-cast Citroen 2CV toys yesterday, so I feel spoiled for enjoyable content. So, thanks sincerely! 🙂 I also appreciated (as I always really do around here) the well-sourced/chosen images, which were clear and happily in color (not always the case when things of a certain age are being discussed), because this truck is frankly kind of gorgeous. Especially in that soft orange color, which has got way more visual charisma than OSHA Safety Orange IMO. And that instrument panel: a collection of mechanical/analog dials with orange markings on a simple black background, all housed in a steel binnacle painted that same shade of orange… perfect!
I’m sure it’s not exactly comfortable to drive like a modern Scania rig, and it probably requires some effort on the part of its driver to shift and steer, but boy, it looks like the business. Like when you see a person (an auto mechanic, let’s say) and no matter their height, weight, ancestry/accent, sometimes they just make an overall impression that shouts ‘this guy/lady is good at their job!’ That’s what the Kurzhauber looks like to me. It pushes the very same ‘desire’ button that Adrian’s brother’s lemon yellow 2CV did yesterday. 🙂
Thank you again Lewin! 😀
Great article.
Fun fact: the 1967 Kaiser-Jeep M715 lives on today as a Kia military vehicle – the KM450 / K311.
https://special.kia.com/kr/kia/vehicles/k31-series/k311a1-cargo-truck.do
Yellow Freight had a bunch of these, never drove one myself but drivers complained of poor heaters and general lack of power. The Freightliner FLC that replaced it with it’s Mercedes cab and chassis was a much better truck until Freightliner cheapened it into the “Business Class”.
This is absolutely perfect! The G Wagen has become way too prosaic for the class that flaunts perceived status by driving ancient, uncomfortable, extra-guzzling equipment, and this could be their next SUV. (Sure it’s made in Iran, but with Qatar now a super ally, tariffs on traditional allies, who knows what new-normal holds.)
I really appreciate the insight into Iranian car culture we’ve been getting lately. Feels a little like the ’90s import magazines publishing trips to Japan and starting the legends of Wangan/Mid Night.
I’m sure Iran has an underground race scene that Torch would love.
I have a feeling COUCH might offer a solid old Merc in the US with probably any diesel you want. https://couchoffroad.kartra.com/page/vehicles
The Brazilian Kurzhaubers were sold in the US in the ’80s mostly at the lower end of their tonnage range, Class 5/6/7 stakebeds and box trucks, but the Freightliner Business Class replaced them.
They competed directly with the GMC C-7000 Jason was talking about yesterday (the normal version with the headlights in the grille as intended).
I remember seeing a bunch of those back in the 90s, didn’t know they were made in Brazil, but that makes sense. I always thought they were cool, and maybe there were more of them sold in the North East because of maneuverability in cities?
Came here to say this. I was particularly enamored with the “whiskers” these had on the front to mark where the corners of the truck were.
My fantasy garage has a couple of ugly-cute trucks including the Ford F-600, a vintage Unimog, and one of these.
Maybe suspensions have advanced in the land of Roo bumpers, but the underpinnings of this rig are pretty much identical to what you’ll find under most North American trucks. The only noticeable change being that most have opted for Air suspension. but that just smooths the ride, doesn’t really fix the handling.
The spoke wheels are the only REALLY outdated part of this. But we were still running them on new equipment as early as the late 90s. (Mostly dump trucks, as the carrying capacity of spoke wheels is significant, and it took a while for disc wheels to catch up).
I wonder if these trucks are currently building Saudi Arabia’s “Neom” project.
I also wonder if “Neom” will ever hold even a fraction of the intended residents.
Saudi and Iran aren’t on the best of terms…
What are you, trying to sidetrack me? I love hearing about this slow-motion, painfully obvious disaster of a project. I expect the most recent renders will include a Trump hotel as well…
Well it looks like many of these large, spectacular projects in parts of the eastern hemisphere. Big, beautiful, and very impressive, but the whole economic reality tends to be ignored, and in the end it becomes an almost-empty shrine to hubris.
Are these available with 4WD? Or 6WD, 10WD, whatever
The second picture appears to show a front diff, so I’m assuming it was at least available, unless that’s an aftermarket conversion.
Isn‘t it amazing that once you could buy a „911“ from Mercedes-Benz? That also shared its headlights with another Porsche – the 356. Yes, these were (and still are) the good old Beetle headlights on these trucks, only rotated 90 degrees, like on the VW Bus.
You get a like for context-appropriate usage of quotation marks.
Very cool and yet something about buying new something that was build and designed at a time when the only thoughts of safety was making the vehicle mildly water resistant.
This was the first thought I had too. How safe can this be on the road, for both driver of the truck and others on the road. Have the braking systems been updated to match the engine? That seems just as crucial….
They’ve upgraded the brakes to dual circuit with ABS, but I’m guessing they’re otherwise solid drums that will burst into flames if you use them too much. Not a great situation for something designed to haul massive loads in a mountainous country.
And as the article states, these trucks are lauded for their ability to haul significantly over their posted weight limits, so I’m sure that will have no ill affect on those drums.
When does something become old enough to be charming and not just old?
Nissan Z and Dodge Challenger get ripped to shreds in comment sections for “riding on old platforms” or “using Mercedes suspension from 1999” or whatever, but the longevity and lack of changes to a 70 Series and trucks like this is seen as a positive. Just find it amusing.
I believe it falls under the use case and the pricing.
In commercial, it’s beneficial to make as few changes as possible. Keeps parts interchangeability high and costs low.
Typically the older models cost less as well.
But when Nissan wants to slap fresh panels on an old chassis and demand new Supra money, most folks will question it.
It’s the same argument I had against the “Ram Classic”. Build it all you want, but you can pound sand if you think I’m gonna pay new design money for a truck that’s largely unchanged since 2009.
This is why what buyers see as positive attributes for fleet vehicles are typically diametrically opposed to what people want in consumer vehicles. Fleet customers loved the Checker cabs and Ford Crown Victorias specifically because they barely changed over time and were also durable, but private buyers don’t really care much about durability, but do care about not having a brand new 1982 car that looks like it’s from the mid 1950s
The Beetle was an exception, it’s engineering and whole design ethos was so different from conventional American cars that it became endearing because of that, and was also very cheap, both of which caused people to overlook that it was from the 1930s
There’s always those folks who buy like fleet customers, funny to think that VW (and Checker) basically targeted them. These days, cars are so good that those folks can just buy lightly-used.
“In conclusion, the auto market is a land of contrasts.”
Oh yeah, there’s always some, just not enough to entirely rely on to support a product line
It’s 100% subjective. Like what Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart said about pornography: I know it when I see it.
I definitely think there’s just a difference when it comes to cars versus trucks. I think with cars and especially performance cars the performance of the car itself is the endgame. Most trucks and commercial vehicles, the truck is a tool helping you get to what your end game is, whether that’s work or a support vehicle for hobbies. So truck users largely don’t care about the bells and whistles so long as it does the job. With performance cars the perception is if you’re not constantly innovating you’re falling behind your competitors.