L406 and L408 heavy vans from Mercedes

Sixty-eight was approaching, with all it could bring, the world was changing; The time of the post-war "economic miracle" in Germany and Europe was slowly passing away as the new season began.

It was January 1967 and Daimler Benz introduced a new and, in some way, taste "Heavy" vans L406 D and L408, which replaced the popular L319 was born immediately after the war. The new car was a great success and was produced at the factories of g. Dusseldorf, which would later become the home of Sprinter.

Nice and modern design

more wider and more powerful than a traditional urban delivery van, but more manageable and less heavy than the average truck, it can be considered the first, predecessor future class commercial vehicles. Several modifications were produced, both closed and glazed, as well as a "crew cabin" excluding passenger ones.

The success, especially in the first edition, brought about a pleasant and modern design, quite far from the rough and pragmatic style of the L319. If the style took a step forward, then too practicality and comfort driving improved significantly: the engine took up little space in the cabin, while the front axle has been offset forward for easy access on board.

Inside you had excellent visibility, which was quite rare at the time, thanks to the design of the front, which included only one thin metal "partition" join the center windshield from the side windows; the driver was thus placed in what would today be defined as one quite ergonomic position.

Modern features without abandoning fixed points

Thus, modern design and functions, but without giving up some well tested milestones that made the L319 a bestseller. Thus, the model L406, when it appeared, it was equipped with reliable two-liter diesel engine 55 hp prechamber, while the L408 was equipped with Gas engine 2,2-liter and 80 hp - both were Legacy L319.

In a couple of years, the new model has a kind of monopoly in some sectors where special equipment and good transport capacity are required, such as ambulances, i evacuators и minibus.

Ideal for displays

It was his great ease of customizationthe result of skillful modularity in assembly and, above all, in design, one of the main trump cards of Mercedes' hard commerce; modularity that has emerged over the years constantly improving... The Düsseldorf plant produced the car in three different types of weight, 3.490, 4.000 e 4.600 kg, and six frames, with and without a cabin.

At the end '68 pre-chamber motor OM 615 with 2,2 liters and 60 hp he replaced the old OM 621, and in '74 l'OM 616, from 2,4 liters to 65 liters. with. But times were changing rapidly, and in '77 Mercedes decided to launch a larger, more powerful engine on the market. 6-cylinder 5,7-liter 130 hp

The rise of a larger market

From that moment, thanks in part to a more powerful engine, they arrived. new configurations models capable of attack for steps and weights, other market segments, increasing the versatility of the vehicle and propelling it upward.

Production, which began in 1967, was soon discontinued. less than twenty years later, with
496.447 produced cars. During these twenty years, Casa della Stella has also sold more than fifty thousand vehicles in kits, which were then assembled in branches in Argentina, Spain, Turkey and Tunisia.