Mercedes-Benz: This truck is also called Advent calendar
BACKGROUND Cubic Mercedes front-steer trucks of the 1960s and 1970s were nicknamed Advent calendars because of the numerous maintenance hatches. Now on display as a close-up at the Mercedes Museum in Stuttgart.
The name of the Close-up series at the Mercedes-Benz Museum says it all. Each episode tells surprising as well as background stories and thus focuses on details of a vehicle or an element of architecture and design. For the year, the focus is on the LP 1513 fuel oil tanker from 1974 (Gallery Center).
The vehicle It comes from the generation of front-wheel drive cubic trucks and is nicknamed Advent Calendar.
It has three doors at the front, plus further flaps inside the cab. There aren't quite as many doors as on a real Advent calendar - and there's certainly no chocolate behind them.
Different variants of the front handlebar
In keeping with Mercedes-Benz tradition, the various versions of the forward control unit bear the abbreviation LP in front of the numerical sequence of the type designation. L stands for truck, P for Pullman, in this case for a forward control vehicle.
The combination of numbers 1513 on the exhibit in the museum indicates a gross vehicle weight of 15 tons and an engine output of around 130 hp. The exact figure was 131 hp from an inline six-cylinder engine with a displacement of 5.675 liters.
Production of the forward control cabs came to an end in the mid-1980s, with only the lightweight types being built at the end. In the following series, such as the New Generation (NG) produced from 1973 onwards, the tilting cabs have been standard right from the start. They can be tilted forward hydraulically, allowing convenient access to the technology.
Kits with 24 doors are available in the store
But real Advent calendars are already available in the Mercedes Museum store. There, fans of the brand can choose between four kits whose parts are hidden behind the 24 little doors. For example, a 300 SL Coupé or an AMG GT Coupé can be built between now and Christmas - it doesn't always have to be something edible.
The Mercedes-Benz Museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday from 9 am to 6 pm. For registration, reservations and up-to-date information, call +49 711 17-30000 or e-mail classic@daimler.com.
